Welcome to 2013. The year that we all get back on the bike. As in literally: I’m on a bike right now getting exercise by accident.
The last few months of Fitmodo taught me a few things, one of them being that I really don’t like working out. It’s not that I’m naturally lazy, it’s just that I would rather be doing other things.
I crave productivity and have been accused by my wife and family of being a workaholic more than once. Going into a hot, smelly room and running on the spot for an hour wasn’t working for me.
I tried doing stuff while I was in the gym. Reading, watching stuff, even trying to write. All I came away with was more proof that human beings can’t multitask.
I was at a crossroads. I had become disillusioned with the gym because it was taking time out of my already busy day and started going less and less in favour of doing other things. Time for a change.
What I needed was something that could get me to work out and get fit by accident. Something I could do once or twice a day that also served a purpose. Eventually I cracked it: ride my bike to work.
I recently moved to Sydney and discovered quite a vibrant cycling culture thanks to dedicated bike lanes and a slew of cycling-related stores all over the city. Hell I live right by a cycling path which takes me all the way into work.
I’m now riding 16 kilometres a day (combined to and from work) on a Giant Cypress bike. According to MyFitnessPal, this sort of thing has me burning between 1000 and 1200 calories per day, which is more than I ever used to do at the gym.
If you’re having trouble getting the gym into your regime, it might be worth figuring out how you can exercise by accident, too.