Evidence shows that being physically active through regular exercise helps preventing or managing a variety of health problems and concerns, such as high blood pressure, stroke, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, many types of cancer, arthritis as well as depression and anxiety. Physical exercise is especially important in childhood and young adulthood as regular exercise has been proven to help against a range of medical conditions and diseases. The benefits are huge and they are both physical as well as mental.

Different types of exercises bring specific different benefits. For example, regular aerobic exercise can aid in weight management and prevention of diabetes. Resistance exercise, such as weight lifting, can increased strength, bones and joints, while exercise that promotes flexibility, such as yoga, can be particularly beneficial to the musculoskeletal system.

The mechanics of exercising

There are 11 organ systems in our body (brace yourself, these are: integumentary, muscular, skeletal, nervous, circulatory, lymphatic, respiratory, endocrine, urinary/excretory, reproductive and digestive – don’t worry we won’t test you on this!) that work together in a harmonised way to keep us healthy.

Whenever we do any type of exercise, our muscles begin to make demands on the rest of the body. For example, during strenuous exercise the heart beats faster so that it can pump more blood to the muscles while the stomach shuts down so that it does not waste energy that the muscles can use. This is why during physical activity we can experience changes in ventilation and even changes in muscle activity.

One single episode of physical activity can cause great but brief changes in the physiology of the body organs, but for specific long-lasting health changes we have to repeat the exercise over and over with dedication and persistence. Simply put we need an exercise or fitness routine: we need training! Repeated activity can change the shape of our bodies, their size and even their functionality but in order to maintain fitness and continue seeing results we need to push the cardiovascular, respiratory and musculoskeletal systems to work harder by increasing and changing the exercise. Why? Because as our body gets fit, it also gets used to the exercise. The good news is that we don’t need to be athletes, who undergo intense regular fitness, to feel the positive effects of regular exercise as benefits can be achieved even by doing moderate and regular physical activity.

The response of the body to long term exercise varies from person to person. This is because we have very unique genetic differences. However, many of the beneficial effects of training exercise, be it weight lifting or aerobics, diminishes with a matter of weeks if the physical activity is substantially reduced. Furthermore, the beneficiary effects can even disappear in a matter of months if training exercise is not resumed. Bye-bye muscles and flat belly!

Interestingly, although for many years the recommendation for treating chronic pain was to rest and be inactive, recent studies have shown that exercise can actually relieve chronic pain and improving the quality of life. Some of these conditions that have shown to be improved by regular exercise are chronic low back pain, fibromyalgia and chronic soft tissue shoulder disorder. Additionally, it can also increase pain tolerance.

Evidence and benefits of physical activity explained

As mentioned above the benefits are huge. But what are they? Let’s take a look:

• Improving blood pressure and preventing strokes

Exercise improves blood pressure which in turns helps preventing strokes. Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to stroke by damaging and weakening your brain’s blood vessels, causing them to narrow, rupture or leak. High blood pressure can also cause blood clots to form in the arteries leading to your brain, blocking blood flow and potentially causing a stroke. Of course, some people have risk factors for cardiovascular disease which are independent of lifestyle, for example, having a family history of heart disease. But even for these people, being fit and active is still important and can offset their relative risk of mortality.

• Can help preventing cancer

There is also a lot of evidence suggesting that exercise can help prevent cancer. Being physically active reduces the risk of developing colon cancer by approximately 35%, and breast cancer by approximately 25% when compared with people who remain inactive. There is also a lot of evidence to suggest that it can even prevent other diseases such as endometrial cancer.

• Supporting fast metabolism

Exercise is crucial in supporting a fast metabolism, burning calories, maintaining muscle mass and losing weight. Inactivity can cause weight gain and obesity. Daily physical activity is essential to maintaining a healthy weight and reducing the risk of chronic disease. Studies show a strong link between the lack of regular physical activity and chronic disease as inactivity can lead to significant increases in belly fat, which in turns increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and early death. There is a lot of supporting evidence showing that waist size has a direct link with type 2 diabetes risk.

As recommended by the British NHS (National Health Service) regardless of your height or BMI, you should try to lose weight if your waist is 94cm (37ins) or more for men and 80cm (31.5ins) or more for women. You are at very high risk and you should contact your GP if your waist is 102cm (40ins) or more for men and 88cm (34ins) or more for women.

• It is good for our muscles

Exercise such as weight lifting, for example, can stimulate muscle building when paired with adequate protein intake. This is because exercise helps release hormones that promote the ability of your muscles to absorb amino acids which helps them grow and reduces their breakdown. With age we tend to lose muscle mass and function, which can lead to injuries and disabilities. This is why it is so important to keep being active as we age.

• Promoting bone strength

Exercise is also very good for our bones as it helps build bone density while we are young and preventing osteoporosis later in life. The activity, however, must be such that force is transmitted through the bone. For example, jumping will be more beneficial than swimming. This is because jumping is weight-bearing and the impact with the ground encourages the maintenance of bone mineral density. This also explains why impact exercise such as running, gymnastics, soccer and baseball have been shown to promote higher bone density over non-impact sports such as cycling and swimming.

A healthy musculoskeletal system is associated with psychological well-being, improved quality of life and functional independence which is especially important for people later on in life.

• Improving blood flow and antioxidant protection

If you thought it could not get any better, then hear this: regular moderate exercise can provide antioxidant protection and promote blood flow, which can protect your skin and delay signs of ageing! This is because when the body’s antioxidant defences cannot completely repair the damage that free radicals cause to cells, oxidative stress occurs and it can deteriorate your skin.

• Improving blood flow and brain health

As regular exercise improves blood flow to the brain it is also thought to help brain health, memory and mental function. This is true both for adults and children. In fact, there is evidence to suggest that regular physical activity can lower the risk of cognitive decline by approximately 20%. Furthermore, very interestingly, exercise has been shown to reduce changes in the brain that can cause Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia.

• Improving mood and helping with depression, anxiety and stress

Exercise has been shown to improve the mood as well as decreasing feelings of depression, anxiety and stress. This is because exercise can increase the production of endorphins, which are known to help produce positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain. It can also increase brain sensitivity for the hormone’s serotonin and norepinephrine, which relieve feelings of depression. Needless to say, physical activity can provide a distraction and improve mood, in fact, there are many studies over the benefits of regular exercise to combat negative and low moods.

A study in 24 women who had been diagnosed with depression showed that exercise significantly decreased feelings of depression and one study across 26 healthy men and women, who normally exercised regularly, showed that those who stopped exercising for two weeks experienced increases in negative mood.

• Boosting energy levels and reducing feelings of fatigue

Exercise is a real energy booster and studies have shown that engaging in regular physical activity can increase energy levels in healthy people. It can even reduce feelings of fatigue in people who suffer from chronic diseases syndrome (CFS) and increase energy levels in people suffering from progressive illnesses such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis.

• Stimulating good sleep

Regular exercise can help relax, sleep better and feel more energized during the day. Studies have shown beneficial effects for the elderly, who tend to be affected by sleep disorders, and even people with insomnia. This is because during exercise we use lots of energies which stimulates recuperative processes during sleep.

• Improving sex drive

Lastly, exercise can help improve sexual desire as well as function and performance in both women and men. It is also thought to help decrease the risk of erectile dysfunction in men. This is because engaging in regular exercise can improve blood circulation, strengthen the cardiovascular system, enhance flexibility and tone muscles, all of which can improve your sex life. Plus, as you look and feel better due to the exercise, you also become more confident.

Summary

The benefits of exercising are huge. Whether you walk to work, train for a specific sport, opt for a mix of exercise classes or simply take up dancing in your own sitting room, as long as you follow the guideline of 150 minutes of activity per week (30 minutes a day 5 times a week), inevitably you will improve your health in more than one way! So, what are you waiting for?

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Dr. Nixon used this graph to show his patients the stages of health: from a bored and inactive stage, to a healthy tension level and eventually to feeling exhausted, ill and burned out. He found that high levels of pressure and stress caused psychological deterioration as well as physical illness and believed that people could learn from their personal experiences how to live a balanced and successful life by using their mental, physical and spiritual energies in a wiser way.

You’ll probably find some of these stages quite familiar. First on the scale to the left is the lame, inactive, unfulfilled and frustrated stage followed by the comfort zone stage and the healthy stress stage characterized by the feeling of being stimulated, full of energy and focused. It is however once we cross over to the other side of the spectrum that we find ourselves feeling anxious and irritable. It is in this stage of low self-esteem that we start to make mistakes and eventually we get ourselves physically and mentally ill and eventually reaching burn out point.

This diagram is an excellent illustration of the different stages of pressure and stress and how they link to one another. Most importantly, it’s a useful tool to help us read and understand the alarm bells and preceding signs that can lead to illness as well as us help us manage our feelings and expectations.

Healthy Stress vs Distress

We all experience a certain level of stress every day. To experience stress is basically normal and part of life. Stress, or the level of stress, is generally a good indicator of where we are on the “Human Function Curve” and, as we have seen, there’s two types of “stress”:

• healthy stress
• distress

Healthy stress, also known as short-term stress, is beneficial to our health. It’s what gives us the determination and focus to do things and achieve goals, which are very important for good mental health and personal growth. Some examples are staring a new job, giving a presentation, passing an exam, going out with new friends and buying a house. Once healthy stress passes people normally feel relieved and even a little euphoric.

Distress, or unhealthy stress, is long-term and a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very difficult and demanding circumstances.

The level of stress we can handle and how we experience it differs from person to person. What one might find stressful, another might find challenging and even rewarding. How long one can hold the pressure also varies from subject to subject and this is why it is so important NOT to obsess over comparing ourselves to others! Beating ourselves up won’t help. But what does help is to understand our weaknesses and strengths and learn from experience.

The first step is to understand what the alarm bells are. Do I feel anxious? Do I feel irritable, exhausted, overloaded and am I dealing with too much pressure? If so, perhaps it’s time to stop and reflect. Taking a break to reassess what we are trying to achieve may be the best course of action and it may include having to think of a different route.

Beware of the comfort zone!

What about the middle of the road “comfort zone”? Comfort zones are comfortable and that’s why it’s so difficult to move away from them. However, they are also unchallenging and in the long term they leave us with a feeling of flatness and lack of motivation.

From time to time, it is good practice to challenge ourselves both physically and mentally. It helps us expand our mind, triggers creativity, expands our horizons, helps us identify our goals, our beliefs and our priorities and it can motivate us to get rid of boredom and unhappiness. Also, with every unsuccessful change we learn something new and with that we get a sense of contentment and gratification.

The strains of Distress on body and mind

It is well-established knowledge that when we are under stress our body is no longer able to maintain the high levels of pressure caused by the release of neurochemicals and hormones and our performance falls. More worryingly, the side effects on our body and mind can be very damaging. As distress, or long-term stress, gets a grip on us and settles in for the long run, we start to experience feelings of exhaustion and, as our mind descends into low self-esteem, our body’s immune system also takes a turn for the worse and illnesses and diseases begin to manifest.

COMMON EFFECTS OF STRESS ON THE BODY MAY INCLUDE:

• Headache
• General malaise or weakness
• Fatigue
• Sleep problems
• Recurrent colds and infections
• Aches, pains, and tense muscles
• Change in sex drive
• Gastritis and heartburn
• Unexplained symptoms
• Worsening of existing conditions
• Cardiovascular disorders, chest pain and rapid heartbeat
• Angina

COMMON EFFECTS OF STRESS ON THE MIND, MOOD AND BEHAVIOURS MAY INCLUDE:

• Poor mood, sadness, depression and unexplained feelings of despair
• Excessive anxiety
• Insomnia
• Restlessness
• Lack of motivation or focus
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Irritability or anger
• Angry outbursts
• Drug, alcohol or tobacco abuse
• Social withdrawal

Living in a constant state of stress takes its toll on our physical and mental health. Too much stress can cause devastating and fatal effects on our physical health: for example, under lots of stress gastritis could turn into internal bleeding and angina, which occurs when the heart works harder due to exertion or mental or emotional stress, can lead to a heart attack. Our mind also can break down: paranoia, overwhelming fear and various mental illnesses can take hold of our mind.

The body simply cannot cope long-term with the huge levels of adrenaline, cortisone and elevated hormone levels that stress can generate. It can cause arteries to become clogged, muscles to melt away and cause atrophy, nerves to become slow, bones to become brittle, vision to become blurred and hearing deafen.

How to de-stress

• LIFE EVENT STRESS AS A PREDICTION OF ILLNESS

There is a strong correlation between stressful events and illnesses. In 1967 psychiatrists Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe examined the medical records of over 5,000 medical patients as part of their study to understand the correlation between stressful events and illnesses. Together they compiled the Holmes and Rahe stress scale: a list of 43 stressful life events that can contribute to illness.

They discovered that certain life events are more likely to lead to stress, for example the death of a loved one, getting divorced, losing a job and having financial difficulties are among the top ten causes of stress, but even some positive life changes, such as moving home, going on holiday or getting married can be sources of stress. 

Stress can make us experience feelings of anxiety, fear, sadness, anger or frustration which can produce actual physical symptoms, for example headaches, nausea and indigestion, and it has even been linked to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), or stomach ulcers as well as conditions like cardiovascular disease. Finally, it can massively affect our behaviors, for example we may become withdrawn, indecisive, irritable and tearful and in some people, stress can lead to aggression, have an impact of their intake of alcohol, smoking habits and even affect sleeping patterns. Stress can even contribute to symptoms of depression.

Click here to learn how to prevent stress and illness by preparing ahead of potentially stressful events.

• SACRIFICING AND DENYING YOUR OWN NEEDS

Stress life events are not the only factor in contributing to illness. Sometimes we inflict stress on ourselves by actively sacrificing and denying our own needs to please others and, in so doing, essentially treating ourselves as less important than other people, feeling guilty for prioritizing our necessities and as if we have no control over our own life and choices.

Click here to find out how to identify and deal with subjugation lifetraps.

• WORK: HONEYMOON TO BURNOUT

For many, work is source of unhappiness and stress. Of course, some of us are lucky enough to say that they love their jobs and feel fulfilled at work, but for the majority of people and for most people at times in their lives, work is simply boring, repetitive and does not bring so much joy or fulfilment.  

Click here to find out how work’s initial honeymoon can lead to burnout.

• THE POWER OF YOUR THOUGHTS

Our thoughts influence the way we feel and experience life events. Negative and unhelpful thoughts are responsible for causing anxiety and stress. When negative thinking takes residence within our minds for too long, it creates familiar habits that shape our mood, temperament and personality trait. In the short-term they can be managed, but in the long-term they become toxic and can cause mental and/or physical illness.

However, as Dr. Joe Dispenza explains, if it’s true that thoughts have such an influence on our well-being, then is it also true that our thoughts can make us well. This is why, from time to time, it’s important to re-evaluate our behaviours and habits, which are often linked to our memories and past experiences, and challenge their existence within ourselves, just the same way as we do with core beliefs.

Click here to learn how to live in the moment, keep a positive frame of mind and attitude, and create a positive narrative of your life.

• THE FINE ART OF BEING HAPPY

According to the 2019 Happiness Report, Finland is the happiest country in the world, with Denmark, Norway, Iceland and The Netherlands holding the next top positions. What we learn from the Nordic countries is that from a societal point of view we need to look at building a well-functioning infostructure where people can feel supported, valued and taken care of.

As individuals, though, we also have a duty to ourselves to actively try to be happy. Happiness is not something we stumble across and keep forever. It requires a constant effort of positivity and willingness. Miek Wiking, founder of the Happiness Research Institute, explains that we can and should be the architects of our own memories. Memories are not random. We have the power within ourselves to build a bank of happy memories.

Click here to read more on the fine art of being happy.

• THE BENEFITS OF EXERCISING

Evidence shows that being physically active through regular exercise helps preventing or managing a variety of health problems and concerns, such as high blood pressure, stroke, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, many types of cancer, arthritis as well as depression and anxiety. Physical exercise is especially important in childhood and young adulthood as regular exercise has been proven to help against a range of medical conditions and diseases. The benefits are huge and they are both physical as well as mental.

Whether you walk to work, train for a specific sport, opt for a mix of exercise classes or simply take up dancing in your own sitting room, as long as you follow the guideline of 150 minutes of activity per week (30 minutes a day 5 times a week), inevitably you will improve your health in more than one way!

Click here to find out more on the benefits of exercising.

Click here for more cognitive articles

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