Category: Exercise

But it’s not just doctors who’d be out of a job if people could take the stairs every now and then, it’s also psychologists.

That is because exercise has considerable benefits for the mind as well.

Here are 20 wonderful psychological benefits of exercise on the mind.

1. Physical activity increases stress resilience

Studies on mice have shown that one of the benefits of exercise is that it reorganises the brain so that it is more resistant to stress (Schoenfeld et al., 2013).

It does this by stopping the neurons firing in the regions of the brain thought to be important in the stress response (the ventral hippocampus).

This may be part of the reason that exercise…

2. Exercise reduces anxiety

A well-known benefit of exercise is that it has a relatively long-lasting protective effect against anxiety (Smith, 2013).

Both low and medium intensity exercise has been shown to reduce anxiety.

However, those doing high intensity exercise are likely to experience the greatest reduction in anxiety, especially among women (Cox et al., 2004).

3. Dementia risk lowered by physical activity

Almost any type of exercise that gets your heart working reduces the risk of dementia.

A review of 130 different studies found that exercise helped prevent dementia and mild cognitive impairment among participants (Ahlskog et al., 2011).

Regular exercise in midlife was associated with lower levels of cognitive problems.

Not only this, but participants who exercised had better spatial memory.

4. Exercise to escape a bad mood

If you want to raise your energy levels, reduce tension and boost mood, you can talk to your friends or listen to some music.

But, most agree that for the difficult job of transforming a bad mood into a good one, exercise is the most effective method (Thayer et al., 1994).

5. Cut down on cocaine

Or perhaps you’re getting a little too happy?

By all accounts, cocaine is a bit more-ish.

At least when you put it into the water of experimental rats, they suddenly develop quite a thirst.

Exercising rats, though, while still enjoying a little taste of Columbia best, tend to self-administer less cocaine (Lynch et al., 2010).

This suggests one of the benefits of exercise may help humans regulate their cocaine intake.

6. Physical activity fights depression

Just as exercise fights anxiety, it also fights its close relation, depression.

One review of 39 different studies involving 2,326 people has found that exercise generally provides moderate relief from depression (Cooney et al., 2013).

It won’t cure, but it can certainly help.

The beneficial effects of exercise may be as great as starting therapy or taking anti-depressants.

7. Speed up your mind

After 30 minutes exercise, people’s working memory improves.

Working memory includes what’s in your conscious mind right now and whatever you’re doing with this information.

There’s some evidence that accuracy drops a bit, but this is more than made up for by increases in speed (McMorris et al., 2011).

8. Consolidate long-term memory

The benefits of exercise for long-term memory are somewhat controversial.

However, at low-intensity, one recent study has found that exercise can benefit long-term memory (Schmidt-Kassow et al., 2013).

9. Physical activity boosts self-control

A review of 24 different studies on the effects of exercise on self-control, found that a short bout provides an immediate boost to self-control (Verburgh et al., 2013).

Although regular exercise didn’t show an effect on self-control, a period of moderate exercise did allow people to take better control of themselves.

10. Help with serious mental disorders

Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder often involving hallucinations, paranoia and confused thinking.

Despite its grave nature, there’s evidence that exercise can help for this, as well as alcoholism and body image disorder (Tkachuk et al., 1999).

11. Exercise reduces silent strokes

A silent stroke is one that seems to have no outward symptoms, but does actually damage the brain.

Without knowing why, sufferers can start experiencing more falls, memory problems and difficulties moving.

Exercise, though, reduces the chance of these silent strokes by 40 percent.

It has to be more than just walking or playing golf, though; things like jogging, biking, playing tennis or swimming are probably required to get the protective effect (Willey et al., 2011).

12. Physical activity protects against Alzheimer’s

In the most common form of dementia, Alzheimer’s, the brain literally wastes away; closely followed by the body.

Neurons and synapses are lost and the sufferer’s memory, personality and whole being slowly but surely disappear.

Exercise, though, provides a protective effect against Alzheimer’s by helping to produce chemicals which fight the damaging inflammation of the brain (Funk et al., 2011).

13. Improve children’s school performance

Children who are fitter and engage in more exercise do better at school (Tomporowski et al., 2011).

Incredibly, one study has found that the increased mental abilities of children who exercise makes them safer crossing the road when distracted by their mobile phones (Chaddock et al., 2012).

There’s a reason to get kids to exercise if ever I heard one.

14. Exercise stimulates brain cell growth

Part of the reason that exercise is beneficial in so many different mental areas is that it helps new brain cells to grow.

A study on rats has shown that, in response to exercise, the brain regions related to memory and learning grow (Bjørnebekk, 2007).

15. Increase executive functioning

What psychologists call ‘executive functioning’ includes all kinds of useful abilities like being able to switch tasks efficiently, ignore distractions, make plans, and so on.

Reviewing many studies in this area, Guiney and Machado (2012) find that a major benefit of exercise is that it reliably improves executive function, especially in older adults.

16. Exercise improves sleep

The relationship between exercise and sleep is a little more complicated than most imagine.

It’s not necessarily the case that exercise makes you tired, so you sleep better.

For example, one study on insomniacs found that 45 minutes on a treadmill did not make them sleep better that night (Baron et al., 2013).

However, the study found that exercise did help sleep in the long-term.

Participants with insomnia who kept to their exercise programs over 16 weeks did get better sleep than those who did no exercise.

17. Physical activity prevents migraines

Migraine sufferers are often afraid of exercise because it might bring on an attack.

But a study has shown that exercise can actually help prevent migraines (Varkey et al., 2011).

Participants who took part in three sessions a week on an exercise bike for three months showed improvements equivalent to taking the latest anti-migraine drugs.

18. Exercise benefits smoking cessation

Even something as simple as a short walk can help people give up smoking.

According to 12 different studies reviewed by Taylor et al. (2008), people who take a brisk walk, or similar exercise, experience less stress, less anxiety and fewer withdrawal symptoms when trying to give up.

The reason it helps is partly because it actually makes the cigarettes seem less attractive (Van Rebsburg et al., 2009).

19. Reduce motivation to eat

People tend to think that exercising makes you eat more to replace the lost calories, but new research questions this.

Recent studies have found that, after exercise, people show lower motivation to eat food (Hanlon et al., 2012).

Exercise may suppress appetite by decreasing the body’s levels of ghrelin, which is a hormone that stimulates appetite (Broom et al, 2008).

20. Exercise is more fun than we predict

The final effect exercise has on the mind is not so wonderful.

It’s the effect that we tend to predict it’s going to be horrible.

But this is short-sighted.

Research has shown that while exercising can be a drag at the start of the session, people soon warm up.

According to Ruby et al. (2011), people enjoy their workouts much more than they predict.

This was true across lots of different types of people and for both moderate and challenging workouts.

So, give it a go, it really won’t be as bad as you think.

You might even enjoy it.

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These quick activities performed throughout the day have a dramatic effect on the risk of dying from any cause.

Non-exercisers — by doing four one-minute bursts of activity — could lower their odds of dying prematurely from any cause.

Vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA) is a high intensity activity done in a very short period of time (one or two minutes long).

Power walking to get to work, running for the bus, active playing with children and stair climbing are all examples of VILPA ingrained in daily life.

Three to four one-minute sessions of VILPA each day is linked to an almost 50 percent reduced chance of dying from cardiovascular disease and 40 percent reduced chance of dying from any cause including cancer, a study reveals.

Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, the study’s first author, said:

“Our study shows similar benefits to high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can be achieved through increasing the intensity of incidental activities done as part of daily living, and the more the better.

A few very short bouts totalling three to four minutes a day could go a long way, and there are many daily activities that can be tweaked to raise your heart rate for a minute or so.”

Most people aged 40 or older do not exercise or play sports regularly, but this study shows how incidental physical activity can improve adults’ health.

Professor Stamatakis said:

“Upping the intensity of daily activities requires no time commitment, no preparation, no club memberships, no special skills.

It simply involves stepping up the pace while walking or doing the housework with a bit more energy.”

For this study, the physical activity of over 25,000 non-exercisers was measured using wrist-worn accelerometer data.

The study’s key findings:

• About 11 percent of non-exercisers didn’t do any VILPA.
• VILPA bouts mostly lasted up to 1 or 2 minutes.
• Most participant did eight VILPA bouts every day.

Those who did more VILPA bouts were healthier than the others.

The odds of dying form cardiovascular disease and cancer was lower by 65 percent and 49 percent respectively among subjects who did 11 bouts a day compared with those with zero VILPA.

This was comparable to those who exercised regularly, suggesting that vigorous activity — whether it is done as housework or as part of daily life — can cut the risk as much as gym-based exercise or sport.

Professor Stamatakis said:

“Our previous knowledge about the health benefits of vigorous physical activity comes from questionnaire-based studies, but questionnaires cannot measure short bouts of any intensity.

The ability of wearable technology to reveal ‘micropatterns’ of physical activity, such as VILPA, holds huge potential for understanding the most feasible and time-efficient ways people can benefit from physical activity, no matter whether it is done for recreation or as part of daily living.”

The study was published in the journal Nature Medicine (Stamatakis et al., 2022).

The number of steps that reduces dementia by 50 percent and the optimal dosage to lower cardiovascular disease.

Taking 9,800 walking steps is the optimal level for reduced likelihood of getting dementia, but the intensity of your walking could be the key.

A study found that the odds of developing dementia is reduced by 50 percent when people did nearly 10,000 steps.

The reduced risk was 25 percent among those who did 3,800 steps each day, showing that even low levels of physical activity can improve our health.

The benefit was greater when walking was at a brisk pace like power walking or high intensity like hill walking.

Dr Matthew Ahmadi, study co-author, said:

“The take-home message here is that for protective health benefits people could not only ideally aim for 10,000 steps a day but also aim to walk faster.”

Moreover, another study suggests that people who reached the 10,000-step goal are more likely to live longer, and less likely to develop cancer or heart disease.

The main findings

• For every 2,000 steps the odds for cancer, cardiovascular disease, and premature death were reduced, on average, by 10 percent.
• The more steps, the less chance for developing any type of dementia.
• The risk of dementia went down by 25 percent at as little as 3,800 steps a day.
• Walking about 9,800 steps per day was most effective, being associated with a 50 percent decreased dementia risk.
• In addition to number of steps, high intensity or fast walking was an important factor in reducing the chance of developing dementia, cancer and heart disease.

Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, studies’ senior author, said:

“Step count is easily understood and widely used by the public to track activity levels thanks to the growing popularity of fitness trackers and apps, but rarely do people think about the pace of their steps.

Findings from these studies could inform the first formal step-based physical activity guidelines and help develop effective public health programs aimed at preventing chronic disease.”

The research team used data from the UK Biobank on nearly 78,500 UK adults who were between 40 and 79 years of age.

To measure physical activity, participants had to wear a wrist accelerometer for 24-hours over a week.

A previous study found that walking 7,000 steps (5.6 km or 3 miles) each day lowers the risk of death by about two-thirds in adults compared to those who walk less.

Experts have looked into the 10,000 steps effect and say that people would see the physical and mental health benefits of walking even by just doing 7,500 steps.

The studies were published in JAMA Internal Medicine & JAMA Neurology (Pozo-Cruz et al., 2022; Pozo-Cruz et al., 2022).

How to reduce the risk of lung problems that are a leading cause of death in COVID-19 patients.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a serious lung condition that occurs in COVID-19 patients.

However, daily exercise training could reduce the likelihood of developing ARDS.

A review of medical studies suggests that exercise promotes the production of an antioxidant enzyme called extracellular superoxide dismutase (EcSOD) that can block or decrease ARDS severity.

According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 20 to 42 percent of COVID-19 patients who are hospitalised will have ARDS and about 45 percent of patients with severe ARDS won’t survive.

Professor Zhen Yan, the study’s first author, said:

“All you hear now is either social distancing or ventilator, as if all we can do is either avoiding exposure or relying on a ventilator to survive if we get infected.

The flip side of the story is that approximately 80% of confirmed COVID-19 patients have mild symptoms with no need of respiratory support.

The question is why.

Our findings about an endogenous antioxidant enzyme provide important clues and have intrigued us to develop a novel therapeutic for ARDS caused by COVID-19.”

The potent antioxidant EcSOD captures free radicals and so protects the cells from damage and illness.

People with coronary heart disease, acute lung disease, osteoarthritis, and kidney failure have low levels of the antioxidant.

A study in mice has shown that by blocking the production of EcSOD, heart conditions will get worse and by increasing its production, health problems will reduce.

Each session of cardio exercise boosts the amount of EcSOD naturally made by the muscles, which are then circulated around the body.

Professor Yan said:

“We cannot live in isolation forever.

Regular exercise has far more health benefits than we know.

The protection against this severe respiratory disease condition is just one of the many examples.”

The review suggests that EcSOD is not only a potential treatment for ARDS but can also work for other illnesses.

For instance, gene therapy can boost antioxidant production and protect the lungs from COVID-19.

EcSOD has already been suggested for treatment of diabetic retinopathy, a condition which can cause blindness.

The antioxidant might also benefit patients with multi-organ dysfunction syndrome, a progressive disorder which leads to multiple organ failure.

Professor Yan concluded:

“We often say that exercise is medicine.

EcSOD set a perfect example that we can learn from the biological process of exercise to advance medicine.

While we strive to learn more about the mysteries about the superb benefits of regular exercise, we do not have to wait until we know everything.”

The study was published in Redox Biology (Yan & Spaulding, 2020).

This form of exercise influences our future health and longevity more than any other type of physical activity.

A study on nearly 100,000 adults has found that higher-intensity activity provides more health benefits and longer life than low-intensity physical activity.

According to physical activity guidelines, adults should be active and move more during the day.

They should do at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, such as brisk walking, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise, such as running during the week.

For further health benefits, adults should undertake muscle-strengthening exercises such as cycling at least two days a week.

Past studies have suggested that moderate-to-vigorous-intensity exercise is much better for health compared to light activity.

Nevertheless, there was not enough evidence to say if engaging in more vigorous-intensity exercise is healthier.

Consequently, this study looked into the idea if doing more vigorous-intensity activity reduces mortality risk.

For a week the participants wore an activity tracker on their wrist so the intensity of their movement and its duration was recorded.

Then the research team calculated the energy used during body movement, which is known as physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE).

They also calculated the percentage of vigorous-intensity activity from the total volume of activity.

They found that using more energy of any type of activity resulted in a lower death risk over the three year follow-up.

For example, during the follow-up period, participants with a PAEE of 30 kJ per kg per day had a 50 percent lower chance of dying than those who had a PAEE of 15 kJ per kg per day.

The moderate intensity exercise in this case was 10 percent of the total volume.

This 10 percent is equal to an hour strolling plus walking briskly for 35 minutes.

Dr Tessa Strain, the study’s first author, said:

“Our results show that doing more activity of any intensity is beneficial, but that expending those calories in more intense activity is better still.

By gradually building up the intensity of physical activity we do each day we can improve our future health.”

Dr Søren Brage, study co-author, said:

“Our research shows how the use of wearable devices capable of measuring physical activity in large cohorts can help disentangle the roles of volume and intensity of activity in influencing future health.

The availability of data from nearly 100,000 participants in UK Biobank, backed up by a series of validation studies, allowed us to compare the impact of activity intensity in groups with similar overall volumes of physical activity, and demonstrate that more intense physical activity has health benefits beyond just contributing to total activity volume.

Our results also show that activity volumes accumulated almost exclusively through light activity could still halve the mortality risk.

Taken together, this means that there are several different pathways to maintain good health and people can choose the path that works best for them.”

The study was published in the journal Nature Medicine (Strain et al., 2020).

This type of workout is tied to a longer life expectancy and lower risk of death from any cause.

Any physical activity that makes you sweat and leaves you out of breath increases life expectancy considerably, research shows.

People who engage in some form of intensity exercise like competitive tennis, jogging, or aerobics live longer than those who take on moderate activities such as social tennis, household chores, or gentle swimming.

This finding is from a large Australian study that followed 204,542 middle-aged and older people over six years.

They suggest that higher levels of vigorous activity have a much better effect than moderate activity on human health.

Their results show that the risk of early death was 13 percent lower in people who undertook high-intensity exercise compared to those who carried out only moderate exercise.

Dr Klaus Gebel, the study’s first author, said:

“The benefits of vigorous activity applied to men and women of all ages, and were independent of the total amount of time spent being active.

The results indicate that whether or not you are obese, and whether or not you have heart disease or diabetes, if you can manage some vigorous activity it could offer significant benefits for longevity.”

The World Health Organization and health authorities in US, Australia, and UK currently advise adult population to do at least 75 minutes of vigorous activity or 150 minutes of moderate activity weekly.

The authors of this study suggest that public health and clinical guidelines should highly recommend vigorous-intensity exercises to improve people’s life expectancy.

Participants in this study were divided into two groups: those who exercised moderately and those doing at least 30 percent of their workout at a high intensity.

Those doing a little vigorous activity had a 9 percent lower risk of death rate compared to those who did no high-intensity exercise.

Those with did more than 30 per cent high-intensity exercise showed a 13 percent lower death rate.

Dr Gebel said:

“Our research indicates that even small amounts of vigorous activity could help reduce your risk of early death.

Previous studies indicate that interval training, with short bursts of vigorous effort, is often manageable for older people, including those who are overweight or obese.”

The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine (Gebel et al., 2015).

Women who can do this live longer and have a lower risk of dying from heart disease, cancer, and other causes.

Women who can do high-intensity exercise have a longer life and much lower risk of death from any cause, including cancer and heart disease.

For the study, researchers ran a stress echocardiography test on 4,714 women while they were exercising on a treadmill.

Echocardiography stress tests are a method that shows how well your blood vessels and heart are working.

The study asked subjects to walk or run on a treadmill while increasing the intensity little by little until they felt exhausted.

A rating system was used so for the highest levels of fitness the score was 10 metabolic equivalents (METs).

This is equivalent to going up three flights very fast without a break.

Women who scored 10 METs would have good exercise capacity but those who score below that would have poor exercise capacity.

The results showed that women with poor exercise capacity had four times the risk of dying from heart disease than those with good exercise capacity.

The number of cancer deaths in women with poor exercise capacity was twice as high.

Moreover, the number of deaths from other causes in this group was four times bigger than those with good exercise capacity.

Dr Jesús Peteiro, the study’s first author, said:

“Exercise as much as you can.

Fitness protects against death from any cause.

Good exercise capacity predicted lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other causes.”

Also during the exercise test, the researchers monitored the left ventricular chamber of the heart.

They saw that participants with poor heart function throughout exercise were more likely to die form cardiovascular disease.

Dr Peteiro said:

“Looking at both examinations together, women whose heart works normally during exercise are unlikely to have a cardiovascular event.

But if their exercise capacity is poor, they are still at risk of death from cancer or other causes.

The best situation is to have normal heart performance during exercise and good exercise capacity.”

The study was presented at EuroEcho 2019, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).