This Friday, May 17^th is National Bike to Work Day. Here in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area there are 70 pit stops throughout DC, Maryland, and Virginia. In 2001, only a few hundred participated, but over 12,000 participated last year. I was one of those participants and I had a blast!

Last year, I saw lots of people on bikes and many who typically don’t ride. Bikes, bikes, bikes, everywhere I looked I saw bikes! What a joy!  I met one lady while riding along, asked where she was going and it turned out we were both riding to NIH that day. We chatted the last few miles of our commute together and time just flew by! The commute felt shorter than usual and I really enjoyed getting to know someone new. When we arrived at the NIH campus, we were greeted with coffee, some light snacks, prizes, and music. I can’t think of a better way to start the work day.

Above: NIH Bike to Work Day

One of my friends asked me why I participated in Bike to Work Day, especially if I ride my bike to work every day anyway. So what makes Bike to Work Day special? That is a great question. Although I am committed to riding on most days of the week, not everyone else has the “know how” or the skills yet to try it out. Bike to Work Day is a great way to bring awareness to active commuting. It provides a great way for people to start thinking about alternate modes of transportation. People who are a new cyclists, new to bike commuting, or just want to learn more can check out DC’s Bike to Work website. The website includes some great information on all of the pit stops available in the DC Metro area as well as some ideas about how to get involved. For information on Bike to Work Day in your area, or to arrange your own group, visit the  League of American Bicyclists National Bike Month page.

Riding to work can cause fitness to sneak up on you too! Without even really thinking so much about exercising, commuting by bike, even just a couple days of the week will slowly start to build your fitness. It is a great way to get two things done at once – commute to work and get your physical activity in! Also, riding a bike either for recreation or for commuting automatically engages you in a community no matter where you live, work, or play.

Above: To Bike or Ride?

But beyond all of that, it is just plain fun. Riding bikes is fun. You get to see all sorts of things on your ride that you might not see from your car. What a joy! Once you have your route mapped out and ride it a few times, the bike commute can be as easy as hopping in your car.

Above: My friend and I getting ready for a long ride.

Imagine a commute that includes more bikes than cars. If you can’t imagine it, check out what a morning rush hour in the 4^th largest city in the Netherlands looks like: Bicycle Rush Hour.

Above: You never know what  you will see or who you will meet while out riding your bike.

What are you doing for Bike to Work Day tomorrow? Share your stories!

Did you get in your “Instant Recess” today?  Don’t worry, it will only take 10 minutes and no special equipment or shoes are required. 

Antronette (Toni) Yancey, researcher and professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health was the founder of “Instant Recess” – a “MOVEment of ACTIVE-ists dedicated to making America healthier 10 minutes at a time.”  She believed that exercise could be done in short bursts in workplaces, schools and places of worship and wrote a book about the movement, "Instant Recess: Building a Fit Nation 10 Minutes at a Time." 

Sadly, with her recent passing, the physical activity community lost a tremendous leader.  This week, individuals and communities decided to celebrate Toni’s work by promoting Instant Recess at 4 pm ET on Tuesday, May 7^th.  Individuals were encouraged to rally their colleagues to do a short activity break.  And to make it even easier, Toni and Los Angeles Sparks created an easy, 10 minute session video you can follow.

I was at a President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition meeting on Tuesday and President’s Council member Donna Richardson Joyner led the Council and the audience in Instant Recess during the meeting.  It was a great way to get up and move and I definitely felt better when the next presentation started.  Toni was also honored at this meeting with a Lifetime Achievement Award, celebrating her commitment and dedication to the promotion of physical activity.

Even if you missed the movement on Tuesday, add it to the calendar today (and every day)!  10 minutes is an easy way to improve your health and productivity.  And, did you know, short bouts of physical activity 10 minutes or longer count toward meeting the Physical Activity Guidelines, which recommend 2.5 hours (150 minutes) of moderate-vigorous physical activity each week.

What are YOU doing to add small amounts of physical activity into your day?   

Barbara Lockhart, a BYU exercise science professor, says she hasn’t run more than a mile in forty years. But that doesn’t jive with the fact that Lockhart recently completed a day-long hike without a problem. Her secret? Interval training.

What It Is

Interval training is when you do any kind of intense activity to get your heart rate up, and then let your heart rate go down again. Then you repeat the process multiple times. For example, you sprint 800 meters. Then you rest for a minute. Then you go again at 100 percent.

Who’s Doing It

Interval training seems to spit in the face of accepted get-fit tactics, which say sustained high heart beat is the way to go. But Lockhart says steady state exercise isn’t the king of fitness.

“You see people go round and round the track,” she says. “But that isn’t how today’s athletes train.”

She says modern athletes, even distance runners, do interval training, splitting their workouts into sections of high intensity and rest. 

Why

This kind of training improves how well the heart delivers oxygen to the muscles, and how well those muscles receive that oxygen. It is better than regular aerobic exercise at improving the cardiovascular system. In short, interval training improves athletic capacity in ways that steady state training cannot.

Other Benefits:

• Short time commitment, great results.
• Muscle toning.
• Mental benefits: You train yourself to lower heart rate, which helps when you want to lower stress.
• Integrate body and mind: Learn how to control your body better with the constant mental exertion that distance training doesn’t always demand.
• You don’t give up stamina (remember Lockhart can hike all day, no problem).

One woman Lockhart worked with ran a nine-minute mile in her runs. The woman started interval workouts, and decreased her mile pace to seven minutes, even though she ran less mileage to train.

Still, Lockhart says, it isn’t a matter of either or. Steady state workouts have their scientifically proven benefits, as do interval workouts. Mixing it up might be what you need.

A Running Interval Workout to Try

Shuttles. Some shudder at this word. Shuttles are a form of interval training that really hits.

But it is effective, and can be done almost anywhere, be it a basketball court, football field or on the track. In a typical shuttle, you will run about five yards to a marker or line, and then run back to the starting point, all at full speed.

But you don’t stop there. You turn around and run at full speed to a marker ten yards away, turn around and run back. Repeat the process at 15, 20 and 25 yards. After completing the shuttle, rest for two minutes, then do it again.

It sounds brutal, and it is brutal. The sudden changes in direction transitioning into full sprints gives your muscles an excellent workout, and strengthens those fast twitch muscles that distance running doesn’t touch.