Commuting on Foot or by Bike: Counting It Towards Your Fitness

Yes, an active commute counts, and for many people it is the single biggest block of exercise in their week. The UK Chief Medical Officers recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, and a brisk 20 minute walk each way, five days a week, is 200 minutes before you have set foot in a gym. A cycle commute counts in the same way. What it does not do is cover the other half of the guidelines: strength work on at least two days a week. So the honest answer is that your commute can carry your cardio, and your training time can then go almost entirely on getting stronger.

What the guidelines actually ask for

The UK physical activity guidelines for adults have two parts that people tend to blur together. The first is aerobic: 150 minutes of moderate activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or a mix, spread across the week. The second is muscle strengthening, on at least two days, working the major muscle groups. There is also a line about reducing long periods of sitting. You can read the full version on the NHS physical activity guidelines page.

The guidance no longer asks for activity in bouts of a minimum length. Ten minutes here and fifteen there all add up. That matters for commuters, because the walk from your front door to the Tube, the stairs at the other end and the stretch to the office are all legitimate minutes, provided they are brisk.

When does a commute count as moderate activity?

Moderate means your breathing is faster and you feel warmer, but you can still hold a conversation. Vigorous means you can only say a few words before you need a breath. The talk test is the most useful measure here, far better than a step count, because pace and gradient vary so much.

Commute type	Usually counts as	What tips it either way
Strolling, stopping to look at your phone	Light, not moderate	Pick up the pace until talking takes a little effort
Brisk walk with a bag	Moderate	Hills push it higher; crowded pavements pull it lower
Steady cycling on the flat	Moderate	Frequent stops at lights break it up but still count
Cycling up a long hill, or running	Vigorous	Each vigorous minute counts roughly double
E-bike on full assist	Often light	Drop the assist on flats to get the benefit

North London geography helps here. Anyone who has walked or cycled up Highgate Hill or the length of Archway Road knows how quickly a gentle commute turns into hard work. Going downhill into town in the morning and climbing home in the evening is a fairly common pattern, and the climb is the part doing most of the work.

What an active commute will not do for you

Walking and cycling are excellent for the heart, lungs and mood, and they help with energy balance. They are not strength training. The load is low and the movement is repetitive, so the muscles are not challenged enough to get stronger once you are used to the route. Cyclists in particular often have strong-looking legs that tolerate hours of easy work but very little capacity in the upper body, the trunk or the hips in any direction other than forwards.

Three gaps come up again and again with regular commuters:

• Upper body and grip. Neither walking nor cycling asks much of the back, chest or arms. Carrying a laptop bag is not a training stimulus.
• Bone loading. Cycling is low impact, which is good for joints but provides little of the loading that helps maintain bone. Strength work fills that gap, and our post on bone health and strength training goes into what the guidance says.
• Posture under load. A rucksack worn on one shoulder, or a long ride hunched over the bars, tends to leave the upper back stiff. Rows and face pulls do more for this than stretching alone.

How to build your training around the commute

The most useful shift is to stop thinking of the commute as a bonus and start treating it as your cardio. Once you do, the rest of the week becomes simpler.

1. Log a normal week. Note how many minutes are genuinely brisk, and on how many days. Most people find they are either well over 150 minutes or well under, rarely in between.
2. Decide what else you need. If you are already at 150 minutes or more of moderate activity, you do not need extra steady cardio for health. Add one short interval session a week if you want more fitness, and spend the rest of your time on strength.
3. Book two strength sessions. These should cover a squat or lunge pattern, a hinge, a push, a pull and a carry. Forty-five to sixty minutes is plenty. A two-day-a-week strength plan is a good template for commuters with little spare time.
4. Place them sensibly. If you cycle hard both ways, avoid heavy leg training on the day of your longest or hilliest ride. A cycled commute the morning after heavy squats is fine at an easy pace and miserable at a fast one.
5. Use the commute for recovery on lighter days. An easy walk home is active recovery. You do not need a separate recovery session.

A sample week for a cycle commuter

• Monday: cycle both ways, easy pace.
• Tuesday: strength session before work, lower body focus; cycle in gently.
• Wednesday: cycle both ways, include the long climb home at a harder effort.
• Thursday: walk or take the Tube; strength session in the evening, upper body and carries.
• Friday: cycle both ways, easy.
• Weekend: something you enjoy, or nothing.

Practical details that make it stick

Commutes collapse for boring reasons: no shower at work, rain, a heavy bag, an early meeting. Solving those in advance matters more than motivation.

• Walk part of it. You do not have to do the whole journey on foot. Walking from Highgate to Archway station, or getting off one or two stops early, adds a brisk 15 to 25 minutes without changing your route much.
• Keep a change of clothes at work. A couple of shirts left in the office removes the main barrier for cyclists.
• Use a proper rucksack with both straps. Two straps and a hip belt if it is heavy. One-shoulder carrying day after day is where a lot of neck and upper back stiffness starts.
• Look at the Cycle to Work scheme. Many employers offer it through salary sacrifice, which spreads the cost of a bike and equipment. Details are on gov.uk.
• Have a wet-weather plan. Decide now what you do when it pours: walk with a proper coat, or take the Tube and do a 20 minute walk at lunch instead.

Common mistakes

• Counting every step as exercise. Shuffling between platforms is movement, which is good, but it is not moderate activity. Use the talk test.
• Adding hard cardio on top of a demanding commute. If you already cycle 90 minutes a day, a tough spin class on top often does more for fatigue than fitness.
• Treating the commute as a race. Pushing every ride as hard as possible leaves you tired for strength sessions and raises the risk of a crash. Keep most rides comfortable and pick one or two hard efforts a week.
• Ignoring the evening slump. An active commute raises your appetite. That is normal; plan a decent lunch with protein rather than relying on willpower at 6pm.

If you are returning to exercise after a long break, have a heart condition, or are pregnant, check with your GP before stepping up to vigorous cycling or long walks with heavy hills.

Where the studio fits

For commuters, coached sessions tend to be about filling the gaps the commute leaves: strength, trunk control and upper back work, with the cardio already taken care of. The studio sits on Archway Road, about five minutes from Highgate station, which makes it easy to fit a session before or after the journey in or out of town. You can read how a private 1-1 personal training session in Highgate is structured, and we take your weekly commute into account when we plan the programme.

Questions we get asked

Does walking to the station count as exercise?

If it is brisk enough that talking takes a little effort, yes. Ten minutes each way, five days a week, is 100 minutes of moderate activity, two thirds of the weekly target.

Is cycling to work enough to stay fit?

It is usually enough for the aerobic side of the guidelines. You still need muscle strengthening on at least two days a week, which cycling does not provide.

Should I cycle on the same day as a leg session?

Yes, at an easy pace. Ride gently on the day after heavy leg work and save harder efforts for days when your legs are fresh.

Can an e-bike commute still count?

It can, if you are working hard enough to raise your breathing. Lower the assist on flat sections and use it for hills or heavy traffic.

If you want a programme built around the way you actually get to work, our personal trainer in Highgate page explains how we start.

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