Those who opt to walk or bike rather than drive a car are more likely to be physically fit — and yes, we needed a study to reach this conclusion, even though I could have told you as much (in fact, I just did).

The AP reports on the research that appeared in the Archives of Internal Medicine:

Walking or biking to work, even part way, is linked with fitness, but very few Americans do it, according to a study of more than 2,000 middle-aged city dwellers.

In what may be the first large U.S. study of health and commuting, the researchers found only about 17 percent of workers walked or bicycled any portion of their commute.

Those active commuters did better on treadmill tests of fitness, even when researchers accounted for their leisure-time physical activity levels, suggesting commuter choices do make a difference.

For men in the study, but not women, the active commuters also had healthier numbers for body mass index, blood pressure, insulin and blood fats called triglycerides. Women walked or biked shorter distances and they may have done so less vigorously, the authors speculated.

This is akin to saying that people who spend 30 minutes on a treadmill each day will be more physically fit than couch potatoes. Well, yes!