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We have written frequently about the workplace wellness benefits of biking to work, including:

• Pedal to the Metal: Growing Bike to Work Efforts
• Bike-to-work Days Can Help Cities Promote Healthy Bicycling
• Company Offers Bikes to Employees

And with the benefits of summertime, the health benefits of a physical commute like biking seem fairly obvious. But what about an electric bike? It turns out that “cheating” a bit with an electric bike might bring benefits of its own.

“An electrified bicycle might be a way to make exercise both tolerable and practical, according to an encouraging new study of bicycle commuting,” writes the New York Times.

The study, titled “Pedelecs as a physically active transportation mode” and published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, sought to “to quantify usage patterns over 4 weeks of real-world commuting with a pedelec and to determine if pedelec use would improve cardiometabolic risk factors.”

Conclusion: “Participants rode a pedelec in the real world at a self-selected moderate intensity, which helped them meet physical activity recommendations. Pedelec commuting also resulted in significant improvements in 2-h post-OGTT glucose, and power output. Pedelecs are an effective form of active transportation that can improve some cardiometabolic risk factors within only 4 weeks.”

Or, as the NYT interprets: “The riders were healthier and more fit now, with significantly greater aerobic fitness, better blood sugar control, and, as a group, a trend toward less body fat.”

Why might electric bikes be useful? The NYT: “Their motors shore up your pedaling as needed — or, with some electric bikes, do the pedaling for you — making climbing hills or riding for long distances less taxing and daunting than the same ride on a standard bicycle.”

“In the process, they could make cycling a palatable alternative to commuting by car, allowing people with jammed daily schedules to work out while getting to work.”

Bottom line: Ride a regular bike to work, if you can. But if a minor “cheat” will help you get going, then you just might want to go for it!