Why Every BODY needs to Move
I know its not what you want to hear, but YOU, along with every living person on this earth needs to Exercise. The old saying ‘Movement is Medicine’ is so true and yet greatly overlooked when we aren’t feeling 100%. But good news for you is that there are so many different forms of exercise, & its just finding that one that makes you move. It doesn’t have to be as hard as boot camp, or maybe the thought of yoga, running, swimming or even Pilates (!) might not float your boat. There are no rules for exercise and a lot of options for every single one of us, from toddlers to the elderly. There are many reasons why people shy away from exercise; time-poor, money, work/home responsibilities, feeling in a rut, an injury, illness or feeling like you’re so unfit that you don’t know where to start. Many people also have the misconception that they must be a sweaty mess for it to be of some benefit to us. But here’s some overlooked benefits that might inspire you to MOVE.
1. Psychological effects. Exercise is shown to improve mood, memory and focus. To decrease stress levels and release those great endorphins that make us feel happy (the same endorphins that get released when we eat chocolate or feel loved). And it is a great way to help those living with depression or anxiety. There’s a wealth of research that proves exercise helps with everyone’s mental health.
2. Reduces your risk of many chronic diseases How many of us know someone that’s had a stroke, dementia, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer or diabetes? Now heres a great tip; prevention is better than management of these life altering conditions. Exercise helps to prevent, delay or reduce the risk of all of these common health problems. Even low impact exercise like walking has shown to cause effective changes on your cardiovascular health. It also helps to improve your immune system to help fight of illnesses (particularly important in this COVID riddled world today).
3. Exercise improves sleep Besides exercise, the other big thing we can do to improve our health is get enough sleep. Sleep helps reduce major chronic conditions such as dementia and cardiovascular disease. Not to mention the daily benefits sleep gives us like improved memory, productivity, focus and better injury recovery. But if you’re having trouble with sleep then exercise can help boost this little health bonus as well. It’s a win-win really.
4. You’ll feel better I hate to state the obvious, but exercise really does make you feel better. It helps reduce pain and makes you feel happier, less stressed, work better and sleep better. Less joint pain, less tightness and fewer headaches will lead to a much happier you. What inspires you to move often changes as we age too. Here’s a pic of me as a sweaty mess finishing my first ½ marathon. As we age our priorities change, we have kids, we get busier than ever at work, we become more time poor. And I know this is a terrible excuse for me not getting back into what I used to do. But for me, spending hours per week training takes more time away from my family and it doesn’t inspire me. As we age our flexibility and strength may become more of a priority than getting back to playing high level netball. And we can struggle with the inner turmoil of knowing we need to be more active, when the simple answer is ‘something is better than nothing’. Find something that you enjoy doing and do that, don’t get caught up comparing yourself to your previous self & do nothing.
So now you’re sold on starting an exercise regime where do you start and how much is the minimum of what you need to do. The World Health Organisation recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week OR 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise. This means, 150 minutes of something that makes you moderately puffed or 75 minutes of something that gets you really puffed throughout the week. You need to do at least 10minutes at a time, which breaks down to about 22 minutes per day for moderate or 11 minutes if you really get a sweat on. Also strength training that covers all major muscle groups needs to be done twice a week. So my Pilates clients can tick one of those strength sessions off plus subtract 45 minutes off the weekly exercise goal. If you’re unsure of where to start, consult a health professional. They understand exercise and the best ones for you. And they will help support and motivate you to do things you like to do. But if you’re doing it alone then bodies like small incremental changes, so don’t try to run a marathon on your first try.
At Physio Pilates NP, our goal is to help support you with your fitness and wellness goals. We understand there are barriers to exercise (like injuries & health conditions) but we don’t want you to feel like exercise is not for you. There’s an exercise suitable for every BODY, let us help you find what’s best for you.