Exercise
Global obesity levels are on the rise and, with that, comes the need for us all to educate ourselves on what exercise is, the benefits of exercise and to have an understanding of types of exercises in order to find that which makes us feel well, happy and is sustainable. Only when exercise is sustainable can we reap the potential health and well-being benefits of regular exercise — of which there are many.
What is Exercise?
Exercise is bodily activity that raises your heart rate above resting levels. Put simply, it involves moving your body at a greater intensity than your normal levels of movement.
Exercise covers a wide range of activities, which we will discuss in more detail, and it is a crucial tool in preserving your physical and mental well-being.
Benefits Of Exercise
There are many benefits of partaking in regular exercise, both mentally and physically:
Assists with weight management. Exercise of any kind will burn calories and when performed alongside a calorie deficit, will elicit fat-loss
Lowers blood pressure. Regular physical activity — just 30 minutes of exercise per day can lower your blood pressure by about 5 to 8 mm Hg if you have high blood pressure. The key is to be consistent because if you stop exercising, your blood pressure could creep back up. A meta-analysis by The Journal of Brazilian Society of Cardiology found exercise, regardless of the participant and exercise performed, elicits a reduction in blood pressure in the hours that followed an exercise session
Improves circulation, particularly blood flow to the muscles
Aids restful sleep
Improves muscle strength and increases muscle mass. Muscles atrophy as we age and this can lead to health issues, keeping good levels of muscle mass through resistance training will help to mitigate this and can even reverse this process
Weight-bearing exercise helps with bone health. Osteoporosis risk increases as we age and this can be mitigated with regular resistance training
Reduces the risk of obesity-related illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke
Mood elevation. A study by The Primary Care Companion Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that the efficacy of exercise in reducing symptoms of depression has been well established and recommend that physicians should support and motivate their patients to exercise
Types of Exercise
Exercise is widely thought to be activities like resistance training, cardio, HIIT and sports; but there are actually many other day to day activities that you can incorporate or just perform more regularly, in order to get those 30 mins in per day.
Cardio Exercises
Cardio or cardiovascular, exercise is any repetitive bodily activity with sufficient intensity to raise your heart rate and increase blood and oxygen flow within the body.
Common cardio exercises are:
Running/jogging
Cycling
Swimming
Cardio classes, such as aerobics or circuit training
Skipping
Regular aerobic exercise will strengthen your cardiovascular system and increase endurance with each session, as well as burning calories and improving your mood.
Resistance Training
Resistance Training, which is the same as Weight Training or Strength Training, involves the weight-bearing exercise of a muscle or muscles.
Common resistance training exercises are:
These can be performed in a gym, or at home, with equipment such as barbells, dumbbells, resistance bands or cable machines.
Regular resistance training improves strength, endurance, elicits increased muscle mass and aids with bone health.
HIIT Workout
HIIT training stands for High-Intensity Interval Training — and is ultimately a form of cardiovascular exercise but rather than steady-state activity, like jogging, it involves intervals of very short maximal-intensity exercise, followed by a prolonged recovery period.
Examples of HIIT sessions are:
TABATA — four-minute sessions, consisting of intense exercising performed for 20 seconds with 10 seconds of rest in between each set
EMOM — an abbreviation of ‘every minute on the minute’, consisting of one exercise performed for a specified number of reps beginning at the start of every minute
This is a great choice for those with minimal time to train and without access to any equipment, it does not primarily aid in muscle building so is not an optimal choice for those wanting to undertake body recomposition. It is for many, however, a quick and fun way to raise the heart rate and burn additional calories.
The British Medical Journal conducted a meta-analysis into the benefits of HIIT and found that when performed at least 3 times per week, for 12 weeks, the result is a significant physiological adaptation that improves cardiometabolic health and can also reduce the development and progression of obesity-related risk factors.
Body Weight Exercise
Bodyweight exercises are strength-training activities that use your own body weight to provide resistance.
Example bodyweight exercises are:
Burpees with a press-up (not for the faint-hearted!)
Bodyweight exercises are a simple, effective and cost-free way to improve balance, flexibility, and strength without gym machines or equipment. You can do all these bodyweight exercises in the comfort of your own home.
Performing regular bodyweight exercise has been found to improve cardiovascular and muscle strength. A study by The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that A 5-week aerobic whole-body resistance circuit training of 30 minutes per session, using only bodyweight, is sufficient for improvements in cardiorespiratory power, anaerobic power output, and muscle strength. It is worth noting though that in order to progressively overload the muscles and continue to build muscle mass and strength, the training volume, intensity, frequency or time will need to increase and this can be challenging when using bodyweight only exercises.
Moving More
As well as scheduled exercise, a run, a weights session or a smashing out a quick HIIT session, generally moving more can also reap many benefits and can easily be integrated into your daily life. Getting pinned to your desk all day, or spending every evening glued to the sofa is not what our bodies were designed to do, so we should avoid falling into these traps too often — accepting that sometimes we will, and that’s ok.
Moving more could be as simple as:
Taking the stairs rather than a lift
Walking during your lunch break
Gardening
Being more active in your children’s playtime
Staying generally active and busy in the home
According to the British Heart Foundation, being active can reduce your risk of developing some heart and circulatory diseases by as much as 35% — so, little changes can have not so little impacts on your health.
Most of my clients have a daily step target, which can be anything from 7000 to 10000 steps per days
Workout Plan
The exercises we have discussed can be optimised by being incorporated into an effective, tailored training plan. There are lots of resources available online to help you create a training plan, you could choose a class, or really push your training to the next level by selecting a Personal Trainer or an Online Personal Trainer.
My Premium Online Personal Training Service has helped thousands of people, like you, to reach their goals whilst receiving an unrivalled 5-star service with bespoke nutrition and training plans as well as unlimited support.
Take your first step today by signing up and hiring me as your personal coach!