Riding the bus and a beach body: The surprising connection

For most of us, there’s absolutely nothing sexy about riding the bus to work in the morning: It’s crowded, someone is always yammering away on a cell phone and if you’re lucky, at least your seat neighbor with the over-sized duffel in his lap showered before leaving home. Surely it’s the last place you’re thinking about sexiness on the beach — or that you might even be bringing yourself one step closer to a beach body.

But, oh, how wrong you are. According to a recent study in the British Medical Journal, taking the bus to work may very well lead to just that: a beach body (well — maybe not a beach body, but at least a lower body mass index).

According to the study, which compared those who drove to work in their cars against those who took public transportation (such as the bus or subway) or actively commuted (thinking walking or cycling), those who commuted by active or public modes of transport showed a positive association with reduced BMI in contrast to their driving peers. BMI, a measure of one’s weight relative to one’s height, is widely used to determine obesity rates and related health risks in both clinical settings and elsewhere.

The most important takeaway from this study — which surprised even me — was that the positive effects for those who walked or cycled to work were nearly identical to the effects experienced by those who took public transportation.

This implication is huge.

We’re constantly getting beat over the head to walk or bike to work, but it seems that hopping on the bus or subway can provide very much the same result, at least as far as BMI is concerned. (Take note that I said as far as BMI is concerned — not cardiovascular health or fitness, which, uh, is pretty important too. So perhaps for maximal effect, being a little behind schedule and having to chase after the bus would provide the greatest results!)

This study might sound pretty shocking to you, but it’s not as sensational as it seems. It actually has some pretty “neat” implications. NEAT, an acronym for non-exercise activity thermogenesis — or in layman’s terms, the energy or metabolic demands of daily physical activity excluding exercise — is one of the most overlooked methods of weight loss, weight maintenance and general preservation of your body’s ability to perform basic functions.

For most of us who are not agricultural or manual laborers, our levels of NEAT have plummeted in modern times, while our obesity rates have done just the opposite.

The problem with NEAT, however, is it’s just that: “neat.” It’s not sexy, sensational or TV-friendly. In our culture of extreme workouts and extreme weight loss, we have lost sight of the single most easily accomplished and highest impact activity we can do with our bodies: simply move more.

And moving more isn’t just about reducing your BMI. Studies have found that when compared to others, those who simply move more on a regular basis (including seemingly frivolous acts like nervous fidgeting):

1. Burn up to an additional 350 calories a day.

2. Get sick less often.

3. And are more sexually active.

If that isn’t a reason to fidget in your seat like a 3-year-old while taking the bus to work in the morning, I don’t know what is.

So, seriously, here’s my challenge to you: Forget that CrossFit box you were going to join and forget the cleanse you were going to start next week, and instead leave your car at home and take the bus. How’s that for an intense, and totally unsexy, healthy lifestyle challenge?

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Riding the Bus and a Beach Body: the Surprising Connection originally appeared on usnews.com

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