Cycling

Cycling trains your heart, circulation and leg muscles without putting strain on your joints – the saddle carries most of your weight. That makes it an ideal way to get started, especially for people with a higher body weight, knee problems or after a long break from exercise.

You decide how hard it is: leisurely cycling at under 16 km/h comes in at around 4 METs, brisk commuting at 16 to 19 km/h at about 6.8 METs (Compendium of Physical Activities, 2011). A person weighing 70 kilograms burns roughly 240 kilocalories in a brisk half-hour ride. The big advantage: journeys you'd make anyway become training. Riding 15 minutes each way to work or school on five days already adds up to 150 minutes a week – the WHO's full recommendation.

Just how healthy this is was shown by a British study of more than 260,000 working people (Celis-Morales et al., 2017, BMJ): those who commuted by bike had a risk of death around 40% lower during the observation period, and significantly less heart disease and cancer than people who commuted by car or public transport – even after other factors were taken into account.

For children, a bike means exercise and freedom at the same time. On a balance bike from around the age of two, they learn to balance almost without noticing, and the switch to a pedal bike then often works without stabilisers. A helmet is always a must (even though it isn't required by law in Germany), the bike has to fit (their feet reach the ground when seated), and in traffic, children are best accompanied until the end of primary school.

A family rhythm that works well: short everyday journeys during the week, and a ride with a destination at the weekend – a lake, an ice-cream parlour, a playground. And by the way, an e-bike still counts as exercise: studies show that commuters ride more often and further with one, so their overall activity often even increases.