Hello and welcome back to the blog! Today I am not going to be talking about nutrients (shockingly) or even food for that matter rather exercise. Today’s topic as evident in the title is about the physical and mental benefits of exercise. I thought I would change it up from the “Nutrients Explained” series I have been doing and talk about another topic I am very passionate about. I like to think I am someone who succeeds in keeping fit and staying active, but it can be so difficult when you’re busy and tight for time. Personally I find it easiest to motivate myself to exercise by choosing to do activities I actually enjoy. I think there is a misconception that going to the gym 6 days a week is the only way to keep fit which is so so far from the truth. Walking, running, playing sport, dancing, swimming, cycling, there’s so many ways to keep your body moving! To me the most important thing of all is to exercise by doing something you enjoy and not dread, because it’s not fun, rewarding or sustainable for anyone to do something you hate every day. The point being we all like different things and it’s about finding what works for you (much like diet). In today’s post I am going to outline and discuss the UK national guidelines for physical activity, briefly discuss the negative effects of inactivity and sedentary behaviour and then focus on the benefits mentally and physically exercise has on our bodies! So I hope you enjoy this read and I would be more than happy to hear your thoughts or any comments in the feedback section. For now enjoy!
Guidelines
The UK chief medical office has recently updated their guidelines for physical activity. The guidelines state that adults aged between 19-64 should aim to undertake 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week (fast walking, casual cycling) or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity (running or intense HIT workout classes). They also have outlined the importance of improving or maintaining muscle strength and advise to undertake muscle strengthening or resistance training two days a week. However this guideline may not be feasible for all and so everyday activities such as carrying heavy shopping, heavy duty gardening, stair climbing and carrying children can also classify as muscle strengthening/ resistance training. Interestingly the report also mentions the importance of reducing the amount of time spent sedentary each day. (Department of health and social care,2019) All in all this may seem like a lot of guidelines and un-achievable. But if you break it down 150 minutes a week is approximately 21 minutes a day and your walk to and from work or the gym or school all make up part of that 21 minutes. These guidelines act really as minimums because the more exercise you do the better (within reason of course).
Physical activity versus exercise
What’s the difference between the words physical activity and exercise/ intense physical activity? By definition physical activity is “any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure. “ So technically this refers to all body movements from standing up, to moving your arm, to twiddling your toes. Whereas health enhancing/ rigorous exercise refers more to the typical cardiovascular/ muscle strength training, it is more defined. I think it is important to note the difference between these words when interpreting the national guidelines!
The government are striving to reduce the amount of physical inactivity in the UK, as statistics released have estimated 39% (20 million) of the UK population to be failing to meet the activity recommendations. (British heart foundation-BHF, 2017). The impact of physical inactivity goes beyond individual health, economically physical inactivity has created a major burden, with annual healthcare cost in the UK alone equating to approx 1.2 billion a year (BHF,2017).These statistics are indicators that we need to make people aware and encourage regular exercise. A paper in the internationally renowned study “The lancet” has reported that over 5 million deaths a year are due to physical inactivity and this number will increase unless interventions are made (Guthold et al, 2018).
Exercise types and intensity. Taken from: Netherlands Physical Activity Guidelines 2017
Sedentary Behaviour
I just want to do a quick overview of sedentary behaviour, what it is and its potential negative effects because it is something that is ubiquitous to our society today. The new body of evidence in this field of research outlines the detrimental effects sedentary behaviours can have on our bodies including adverse cardio-metabolic effects, increasing the risk of various types of cancers and therefore early mortality. (Schmid & Leitzmann,2014). The World Health Organization have ranked sedentary behaviour among the top 10 leading causes of death globally .Sedentary behaviour and physical inactivity are not necessarily synonymous to one another. Sedentary behaviour includes prolonged periods of sitting (at a desk, watching TV or on a phone) (Lynch,2010). Interestingly you can be physically active and also live a sedentary life, how? Well if you do an hour long circuit class a day but you spend the other 22 hours sitting down in front of the television. The benefits of physical activity don’t outweigh the risks associated with sedentary behaviour (sadly) (Lynch, 2010). Therefore it is so important to ensure that if you are someone who because of their job or lifestyle is forced to be sedentary for much of the day that you make an effort to break those sedentary windows. Something as simple as standing up from your desk and going for a 5/10 minute walk around the office can be beneficial. According to research published by the BHF the average person in the UK spends the equivalent of 78 days each year sitting and on average 30 hours a week watching TV (BHF,2017). Eye opening statistics really!
The Benefits
Ok so let’s get away from all the negatives and start to focus on the benefits / positives, be more optimistic! The benefits include managing existing health conditions, reducing the risk of disease, and developing and maintaining physical and mental function.
Physical Benefits
- Improves nutrient blood and oxygen flow to working muscles.
- Prevents musculoskeletal dysfunction, so developing conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis for example.
- There is strong evidence demonstrating the protective effects physical activity has on a number of chronic conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure , stroke and cardiovascular disease. Aerobic exercise helps to improve cardiovascular fitness through improving the efficiency of the lungs, high physical activity levels are associated with lower risk of heart related diseases.
- Contributes to maintaining a healthy weight status and aids in weight loss.
- Strength/weight training has been associated with improving bone strength and muscle/joint function which ultimately helps to prevent osteoporosis.
- Helps to develop a new skill for example learning to play football.
Mental Benefits
- Exercise has been found to help the body deal with anxiety/ mental stress.
- Can improve memory function and increase learning and attainment ability.
- Taking part in physical activity can encourage people to be more social and therefore decrease social isolation.
- During exercise the body produces the happy hormone endorphins which can lead to mood improvement.
- In addition our quality of sleep and relaxation time can be greatly enhanced through additional activity.
The above diagram is based off an image found in the Department of health and social care report.
“Some is good more is better”
Really the benefits are endless and I have listed off some of the main ones I can think of however I’m sure there are more to be added to the list. I hope that by reading over the lists above you can see the wide range of positive outcomes that are a result of taking part in exercise. I haven’t included individual references however much of the information has been taken from the national UK guideline publication wherein all references are available. (Department of Health and Social Care, 2019). The term “some is good more is better “ is something I think we all can resonate with. It means that there are no thresholds to exercise, physical and mental benefits are experienced at levels above and below the guidelines. This is seen in the diagram below where it illustrates those who currently do the lowest levels of exercise benefit the most from an increase no matter how small. Furthermore it can also be seen as demonstrated by the line that as the minutes of weekly physical activity increase the health benefits also increase. I thought this was a nice illustration to demonstrate this concept!
Area of highest impact physical activity-https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/832868/uk-chief-medical-officers-physical-activity-guidelines.pdf
Conclusion
To conclude I just want to reiterate the fact that it’s important to find exercise you enjoy doing and makes you feel good. Exercising doesn’t have to be something you dread but something that acts as an escape. Take it step by step and make achievable goals you feel are at reach for you . Just like everything in life don’t compare your level of fitness to anyone else’s, doing that will only cause you distress. I hope you found this blog post interesting and useful, until next time!
References and additional reading
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE,2019. Physical activity guidelines, chief medical officer’ report. Department of health and social care. [Viewed September 2019]. Available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/832868/uk-chief-medical-officers-physical-activity-guidelines.pdf
BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION,2017. Physical Inactivity and Sedentary Behaviour Report.British heart foundation. [Viewed September 2019]. Available from: https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/publications/statistics/physical-inactivity-report-2017
GUTHOLD, REGINA., STEVENS, GRETCHEN.,RILEY, LEANNE., BULL,FIONA., 2018. Worldwide trends in insufficient physical activity from 2001 to 2016: a pooled analysis of 358 population-based surveys with 1·9 million participants. The Lancet [Online].6 (10), e1077–e1086. Available from: https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2214-109X%2818%2930357-7
SCHMID, DANIELA., & LEITZMANN, MICHAEL F., 2014. Television Viewing and Time Spent Sedentary in Relation to Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis. Journal Of The National Cancer Institute. [Online] 106 (7). Available from: https://academic-oup-com.gcu.idm.oclc.org/jnci/article/106/7/dju098/1008529 LYNCH,
BRIGID M., 2010. Sedentary behaviour and cancer: a systematic review of the literature and proposed biological mechanisms. Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology. [Online]. 19 (11), pp 2691–2709. Available from: https://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/19/11/2691
The featured image has been taken from an online website and can be found at https://www.google.com/search?q=physical+activity&rlz=1C1GCEA_enIE843IE843&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi59fKDseXkAhXZVRUIHVLLDBwQ_AUIESgB&biw=1366&bih=608#imgrc=N4TMU7tah-jGZM:
I have attached the official UK physical activity document if you want to take a quick read and maybe look at the recommendations for the other population age groups. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/832868/uk-chief-medical-officers-physical-activity-guidelines.pdf)
Health Aligned 