Health gem

IF YOU DO ONE THING THIS WEEK . . . PEDAL THE POUNDS AWAY

THE ROCK group Queen were partial to singing about bicycles and the ladies with sizeable derrieres who might cycle them.

But new research published in the Archives of Internal Medicinefound that turning the pedals can help keep the excess pounds at bay in young women as they age.

A 16-year follow-up study of over 18,000 pre-menopausal women in the US looked at their weight change between 1989 and 2005. Between those years the women tended to gain weight, but those who had not cycled in 1989 and had started to pedal by 2005 had generally put on less weight than those who had been cycling at the start of the study period but were no longer in the saddle by the end of it.

It’s hardly surprising that a form of exercise can help stave off the pounds, but, as the study authors pointed out, cycling is an activity that you could work into your usual requirements to get from A to B rather than needing to carve out special time for it.

So what are you waiting for? Get on yer bike.