This month we have been highlighting mens health as part of #MensHealthMonth. MHM includes supporting men to increase or maintain physical activity levels depending on current activity levels (often tricky in older years as knee and join pain become more apparent!). Cycling has the potential to help many people achieve suggested physical activity goals, especially if incorporated into everyday life. However, not everyone can cycle sufficient distances due to poor physical fitness, long commuting distance and steep Scottish hills! Electric bikes (e-bikes) can make cycling more accessible to the wider population providing uphill and long distance assistance. Of course, some people will believe that e-cycling does not constitute exercise due to the assistance given by the bike, BUT continual pedalling is still required before assistance from the bike kicks in. Furthermore, a recent systematic review reports e-bikes provide moderate intensity physical activity for both physically active and inactive individuals [1].
Continue reading “Men’s Health – #Aboutabike”
Spring has sprung and very welcome it is too. Nights are lighter, the weather’s a little better…and every single member of the human race has made their individual way to precisely the same outdoor places as me!
Continue reading “Confessions of a Converted Pedestrian: When Worlds Collide”
More than two thousand years ago Hippocrates, the Father of Modern Medicine, noted that if we all had “the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health”. In general, all too few of us are following Hippocrates’ advice today.
In cancer terms, we know that 4 in 10 cancer cases in the UK could be prevented largely by changes to lifestyle. In this blog post I’ll be looking at one of these changes: being physically active. Continue reading “Cutting Cancer Cases – Ready Steady Go!”
The European Code Against Cancer site provides a clear message, a range of frequently asked questions and a link to the published evidence base on physical activity and cancer risk reduction. So if you plan to talk to folks about cancer prevention and the role of physical activity this is a perfect starting point.
Continue reading “Be Physically Active Every Day and Enjoy #AboutABike”
I have always for as long as I can remember cycled in cities. As a medical student I bravely rode from University College Hospital in central London over Hampstead Hill to Golders Green. I rode come rain, come shine. It saved me so much money and kept me super fit. It cast a dice for future cycling adventures much later in my life; TransAmerica: Los Angeles to Boston, Cambodia, Rajasthan India, Austria and St Malo to Nice.
At an early age I remember crying myself to sleep after I overheard my parents’ conversation about getting me a “push bike”. I wanted a big bike, one on wheels that did not require pushing like a toddlers toy! A lovely real (second hand) bike did arrive complete with blocks on the pedals for my wee legs and so began my cycling history. I have owned a bike for almost 50 years (no longer with blocks) and (if asked) it would be high on the list of possible luxuries to take to a desert island.
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