This Friday, May 17^th is National Bike to Work Day. Here in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area there are 70 pit stops throughout DC, Maryland, and Virginia. In 2001, only a few hundred participated, but over 12,000 participated last year. I was one of those participants and I had a blast!

Last year, I saw lots of people on bikes and many who typically don’t ride. Bikes, bikes, bikes, everywhere I looked I saw bikes! What a joy!  I met one lady while riding along, asked where she was going and it turned out we were both riding to NIH that day. We chatted the last few miles of our commute together and time just flew by! The commute felt shorter than usual and I really enjoyed getting to know someone new. When we arrived at the NIH campus, we were greeted with coffee, some light snacks, prizes, and music. I can’t think of a better way to start the work day.

Above: NIH Bike to Work Day

One of my friends asked me why I participated in Bike to Work Day, especially if I ride my bike to work every day anyway. So what makes Bike to Work Day special? That is a great question. Although I am committed to riding on most days of the week, not everyone else has the “know how” or the skills yet to try it out. Bike to Work Day is a great way to bring awareness to active commuting. It provides a great way for people to start thinking about alternate modes of transportation. People who are a new cyclists, new to bike commuting, or just want to learn more can check out DC’s Bike to Work website. The website includes some great information on all of the pit stops available in the DC Metro area as well as some ideas about how to get involved. For information on Bike to Work Day in your area, or to arrange your own group, visit the  League of American Bicyclists National Bike Month page.

Riding to work can cause fitness to sneak up on you too! Without even really thinking so much about exercising, commuting by bike, even just a couple days of the week will slowly start to build your fitness. It is a great way to get two things done at once – commute to work and get your physical activity in! Also, riding a bike either for recreation or for commuting automatically engages you in a community no matter where you live, work, or play.

Above: To Bike or Ride?

But beyond all of that, it is just plain fun. Riding bikes is fun. You get to see all sorts of things on your ride that you might not see from your car. What a joy! Once you have your route mapped out and ride it a few times, the bike commute can be as easy as hopping in your car.

Above: My friend and I getting ready for a long ride.

Imagine a commute that includes more bikes than cars. If you can’t imagine it, check out what a morning rush hour in the 4^th largest city in the Netherlands looks like: Bicycle Rush Hour.

Above: You never know what  you will see or who you will meet while out riding your bike.

What are you doing for Bike to Work Day tomorrow? Share your stories!

Blog post written by: Donna B Bainbridge, PT, EdD, ATC; James Michael Gleason, PT, MS; and Victoria S T Tilley, PT, GCS

People with intellectual disability are at risk for poorer health and earlier death than the general population. People with intellectual disability may have more difficulty understanding advertisements and media messages intended to enhance or promote health, and they often depend on family or caregivers to provide support and guidance in daily decision making. Many people with intellectual disability are underemployed or unemployed with limited financial resources, especially discretionary income to allow them to participate in recreational and physical activity programs. Many coaches and volunteers who work with sports teams in local communities may be reluctant to include children, youth, and adults with disabilities, or do not have the knowledge to teach sports-related skills to those who have difficulty learning or need extra time to learn or practice basic skills. As a result, people with intellectual disability may not have access to the many programs available to the nondisabled population that are extremely important to staying active and avoiding many chronic health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, overweight, and other health problems. 

In response to these needs, physical therapists (PTs) have become important contributors to the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes screening and other healthy lifestyle initiatives. In 2000, a fitness screening protocol called FUNFitness was developed by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) in collaboration with Special Olympics to evaluate flexibility, strength, balance, and aerobic fitness in Special Olympics athletes. FUNfitness volunteers have screened over 160,000 Special Olympics athletes, collected data on physical performance, and provided individual instruction and referrals to physicians and to physical therapists as needed as a result of these screenings. The screening tests reveal that most Special Olympics athletes with intellectual disabilities have limitations in flexibility and poor balance skills. Much also needs to be done to improve their athletic skills, promote better daily function and health, prevent falls, and enlist more health care providers to provide needed services. Special Olympics has trained thousands of PTs and PT students to conduct the screenings and provide meaningful information and advice to athletes. FUNfitness has developed close collaborative ties with APTA in the United States and has developed a network through the World Confederation for Physical Therapy to expand these discussions and efforts globally .

These screening efforts have become a routine part of Special Olympics activities in many states and in countries around the globe. In addition, FUNfitness has developed a range of fitness materials and protocols for Special Olympics coaches to use for promotion of fitness with their athletes. Currently, FUNfitness and Special Olympics programs are developing and pilot testing a variety of community-based year-round fitness programs for athletes, such as the Special Olympics Get Fit for Sport designed for the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award, or PALA+. These resources will be posted on the Get Fit for Sport Special Olympics webpage so that Special Olympics programs, families, and physical therapists can use them to encourage individual and group fitness activities.

People with intellectual disabilities need access to knowledgeable health and fitness resources and to practitioners who can provide information and programs that are barrier free, can be easily understood, and encourage participation in physical activity and fitness. PTs are ideally suited to help make this happen. We challenge PTs to become more involved in their communities and to include people with intellectual disability who are frequently underserved by health promotion efforts. 

What is your experience with working with people with intellectual disability? How can we promote improved fitness and physical activity for this population?

Cross-posted from the President's Council of Fitness, Sports and Nutrition blog.

By: Karin Allor Pfeiffer, PhD, FACSM, Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and faculty in the Center for Physical Activity and Health at Michigan State University, Member of the PCFSN Science Board, and Subcommittee Member of the Physical Activity Guidelines Midcourse Report

In 2008, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the first-ever Physical Activity Guidelines (PAG), which describes the amount and types of physical activity Americans need for overall health and well-being.

To mark the fifth anniversary of the PAG, the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN) convened a subcommittee of experts to conduct a midterm review of effective interventions that promote physical activity opportunities for youth ages 3-17.

After reviewing the relevant science, the subcommittee developed a report - Physical Activity Guidelines Midcourse Report: Strategies to Increase Physical Activity Among Youth - that focused on five key settings that provide opportunities for youth to be active for 60 minutes or more a day where they live, learn, and play.

School: Make quality physical activity a part of the school day in a variety of ways. Overall, findings supported school-based interventions as having the most evidence to increase physical activity among youth. With the average school day lasting 6-7 hours, it is not surprising that enhanced PE classes, classroom activity breaks, recess, and before and after school activities have played a large role in advancing childhood health. Active transporation, which includes walking or biking to and from school, also provides a great opportunity for kids to get their daily physical activity.

Preschool and Childcare: Start healthy habits for life with active play in preschool. Preschool and childcare centers showed excellent results in starting healthy habits for youth. Increasing time children spend outside and providing portable play equipment on playgrounds were especially effective. The findings also demonstrated that training staff in the delivery of structured physical activity sessions is a productive way to get youth active at an early age.

Community: Build the physical environments of cities, towns and neighborhoods to encourage physical activity. Community settings were found to be promising in impacting physical activity at the population level. Changes to the built environment, such as altering the mix of residential and retail space to be more walker-friendly can encourage more physical activity and shape the sociocultural environment of a community.

Family and Home: Be physically active with your kids and help them develop active lifestyles at a young age. Research shows that children develop physical activity behaviors, attitudes and values in the home, but there is not yet enough evidence to make firm recommendations in this area.

Primary Care: Physical activity is critical for overall health. Talk to your patients about the importance of being active every day. Health care providers remain critical to monitoring children's health, but more research should be conducted to determine specific recommendations on enhancing physical activity.

Parents and caregivers, childcare providers, teachers, healthcare professionaks and policymakers have an opportunity to work together to ensure that children are able to achieve 60 minutes or more of physical activity each day. By providing support at home, integrating physical activity into the school day and building smarter communities, we can enable youth to adopt healthier, more active lifestyles.

To download the Physical Activity Guidelines Midcourse Report: Strategies to Increase Physical Activity Among Youth and infographic, visit www.health.gov/paguidelines.