This article is for information purposes only. It is not a substitute for medical or professional advice. Consult your healthcare provider prior to starting an exercise routine.
Everyone knows exercise is “good for you.” However, beyond that common (and generally correct) assertion, a lot of misperceptions abound.
How much exercise does a person need to enjoy health benefits? What are those health benefits? A healthier heart and stronger muscles of course…but what about cancer prevention?
What about the effects of exercise on anxiety and depression? Is exercise a great tool to lose weight? How does a person get started? How “hard” do I have to exercise?
This article will provide you with insights into the mind and body benefits of exercise, along with current recommendations to optimize your health and well-being!
Born to move…and what happens when we do not!
From cradle to grave, we were designed to move. Currently, approximately 53% of adults meet the minimum activity guidelines for cardiovascular activity. Only 23% of adults meet the minimum activity guidelines for resistance training and cardiovascular training combined (CDC.gov, 2022b).
One in 4 of American adults are considered sedentary–i.e.- they do minimal to no physical activity outside of work (CDC.gov, 2022a). Sedentary behaviors are described as behaviors that require minimal exertion, such as reclining, laying, sitting (Panahi & Tremblay, 2018).
What happens to our bodies when we are sedentary? Research notes that sedentary behavior leads to the following negative outcomes (Panahi & Tremblay, 2018):
- Increased risk of premature death from cardiovascular disease as well as all-cause mortality by 10% for those that fail to meet the minimum aerobic guidelines.
- For adults who sit more than 10 hours per day, there is a 34% increased risk of death from all causes.
- Increased metabolic dysfunction such as decreased insulin sensitivity, and increased blood sugar levels.
- Increased risk for overweight/ obesity and a slower metabolism.
- Inability to maintain weight loss.
- Sedentary but stressful jobs/ tasks (or “stressful sitting”) promote overeating due to lack of movement paired with elevated cortisol levels.
- Reductions in sleep length and quality, further contributing to stress hormone increases and overeating.
What are the mind/ body health benefits of exercise?
The health benefits of exercise are impressive, aside from the most obvious being improved cardiorespiratory fitness and stronger muscles. These benefits include (Health.gov, 2018):
- Improvements in sleep quality (more deep sleep, quicker to fall asleep, more time spent asleep).
- Improved quality of life (people who exercise feel better about their mental/emotional and physical health).
- Improved energy levels: everyday tasks become easier, leaving more energy in reserve.
- Improvements in brain function: improved memory, attention, and executive function ( self control, self-starting tasks/ goals, emotional control, ability to plan and organize).
- Immediate reductions in anxiety and blood pressure–decreases become more sustained over time.
- Immediate improvements in insulin sensitivity.
- Decreased depression symptoms over time.
- Prevention of or slowing progression of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, and hypertension.
- Lower risk of death from heart disease and all causes.
- Lower risk of specific cancers such as stomach, bladder, breast, colon, esophagus, endometrium, and lung cancers.
- Lower risk of dementia (Alzheimer’s type).
- Improved bone health.
- Lower fall risk for older adults.
- Improved weight management: lose more weight when paired with calorie reduction, can slow or prevent weight gain.
Sleep better, feel better emotionally, have more energy, prevent death from some devastating cancers, heart attacks, or chronic illnesses in addition to stronger muscles? A major payoff when considering the minimal amounts required to realize these research-backed benefits!!!!
What if I hate to exercise?
Many people find it difficult to start and maintain an exercise program. It does not help that a common misconception of exercise is that it has to involve intense discomfort in order to be effective.
However, this couldn’t be further from the truth! Even mild increases in activity including gentle exercise improves health outcomes significantly for persons who are sedentary! (Health.gov, 2018).
As such, finding a form of movement that you like and will stick with is what is truly important. Yoga, biking, trail walks/ hikes, walking, martial arts, weight lifting, exercise classes, doing it alone in reflection/ as an escape from the demands of others, there are endless possibilities.
Additionally, in time exercise becomes a habit that sustains itself. Most regular exercisers are quick to say that they work out because they love how it makes them feel.
The following tips can make exercising more enjoyable and sustainable particularly when it is still new (ACE, 2019):
- Tie it to your values: know why it’s important to you to create and sustain an exercise habit and keep this in mind when your motivation is low.
- Listen to music, podcast, or audiobook, or watch a video: providing distractions can ease discomfort and boredom.
- Dial it down! If the exercise is uncomfortable so that you dread it, decrease the intensity. It’s more important to establish the habit than to push yourself to where you are unlikely to continue.
- Set low, easy, specific achievable goals that focus on the processes instead of outcomes. “I will walk 3 times a week for 30 minutes each time, for the entire month of January” instead of “I will exercise to lose 50 lbs.”
- Social support: group classes or exercise buddies can be a great strategy. However, exercise buddies can be unreliable. Finding people already in the habit or joining classes with individuals similar to you may be of greater use in establishing your habit.
- Track it: goals are much easier to achieve if you track them, journal your goals daily and log your successes in achieving them or use a wearable device like a smartwatch.
How much exercise do I need?
The CDC recommends adults get the following MINIMUM amounts of exercise in order to realize the benefits described above (CDC.gov, 2022c; Health.gov, 2018):
- A minimum of 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week, which could be accomplished with 30-minute sessions of brisk walking or similar intensity aerobic activity OR
- A minimum of 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week such as jogging or running/ equivalent intensity aerobic activity OR
- A combination of vigorous and moderate intensity between 75 and 150 minutes per week.
- Two days per week (or more) of resistance training/ muscle strengthening exercises for each major muscle group (defined as the legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms).
The exercise amounts are cumulative and can be obtained in bouts as little as 10 minutes in duration, spread through multiple episodes in a day.
Moreover, the benefits increase as adults increase aerobic exercise towards 300 minutes or more of moderate-intensity exercise per week (Health.gov, 2018). Ideally, this time is spread out over 5-7 days per week.
In fact, 300 minutes or more of moderate-level aerobic activity may be required for adults who desire to lose more than 5% of their body weight or who have lost that amount of weight and desire to keep the weight off/ prevent weight regain (Health.gov, 2018).
Interestingly, the CDC (2022c) notes that 1 minute of vigorous exercise activity is equal to 2 minutes of moderate-level aerobic activity. This means that similar results can be achieved in shorter amounts of time for those who are safely able to tolerate vigorous activity.
What is “moderate” exercise, what is “vigorous activity”?
The CDC (2022c) and American Council on Exercise (ACE, 2019) describe exercises and activities that fall into moderate and vigorous categories.
Examples of moderate exercise and activities
- Walking at 3 to 4 mph
- Water aerobics
- Gardening/ yard work
- Cleaning, vacuuming, mopping
- Shooting hoops
- Tennis when playing doubles
- Golfing (walking/ pulling clubs)
People may be surprised to learn that everyday activities such as cleaning count towards their 150 to 300 minutes per week moderate exercise goals! For cardiovascular fitness adaptations, activity ideally should be sustained for at least 10 minutes at a time (Jo, 2019).
Vigorous exercise can be more effective and time efficient in terms of achieving cardiovascular fitness and assisting with weight loss goals. However, it is also associated with higher risks (ACE, 2009; ACE, 2019).
As such, it is recommended that men over 45, women over 55, or anyone with heart disease, kidney disease, or diabetes (or signs of these diseases) receive medical screening and clearance before engaging in the below vigorous exercise activities.
Examples of vigorous exercise/ activities
- Hikinghunting
- Biking
- Walking 4.5 mph or faster
- Jogging or running
- Shoveling (such as snow), digging, or carrying heavy loads
- Construction work
- Soccer
- Singles tennis
- Swimming
- Volleyball
It is interesting to note that shoveling (such as snow shoveling) is vigorous activity. This explains why heart attacks increase when deconditioned persons shovel snow in the winter (Cleveland Clinic, 2021). Vigorous activity is healthy but can be dangerous for people who do not routinely exercise already.
Safety strategies for exercise: all the gains with minimal pain
With so much to gain from even small amounts of exercise, developing an exercise habit is more important than going extreme right from the start.
Many people associate exercise with vigorous activity, not realizing their goals can be met more safely and easily starting with a moderate and gradual, gentle exercise plan.
Following some commonsense principles, nearly everyone can benefit from exercise while reducing their risk for injury or an adverse outcome. The “Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans” (Health.gov, 2018) offers these tips:
- If starting out after a long period of being sedentary (3 months or greater): 2-3 days of 5 to 15 minutes of moderate exercise is a VERY safe place to start.
- Moderate exercise is the safest exercise, carrying one third the risk of vigorous exercise activities.
- Prior to increasing intensity, increase frequency and duration of exercise. For example, instead of walking 3 days a week, walk 4. Instead of walking 30 minutes, work up to 45 minutes.
- Make increases in total time per week of approximately 10%. If you walk 30 minutes 3 times per week, add a fourth day at 10 minutes, and build over several weeks to a fourth day at 30 minutes.
- Older adults may need 2 to 4 weeks between activity level increases whereas younger adults may be able to handle weekly increases in activity levels and intensity.
- Use appropriate protective equipment such as helmets and other protective equipment depending on the activity.
- Consider air quality as high pollution areas can trigger asthma attacks and increase cardiovascular complication risks.
- Stay hydrated.
- Avoid or adjust accordingly when there are extremes in temperatures, especially if you are at risk, as these place additional stresses on your cardiovascular system
- Persons regularly engaging in moderate exercise may gradually progress to vigorous activity.
- Pregnant women generally tolerate light to moderate exercise but should discuss with their doctor any potential risks. Precautions include avoiding doing exercises on your back during 2nd and 3rd trimesters and avoiding high impact activities or activities that have a risk of impact/ collision.
A few safety tips around beginning a resistance exercise routine
Resistance training 2 to 3 days per week for all major muscle groups is recommended as part of the basic CDC guidelines. Strength training can be thrilling, as beginners can realize relatively rapid increases in their strength and changes in body composition.
However, unlike walking, resistance training is not something many people simply “know” how to do.
As such, it is highly recommended that you seek out a qualified trainer such as a certified personal trainer to at least introduce you to various exercises, ensure you conduct them safely, and who can provide you with tips on properly constructing a routine.
A few basic strategies when starting a resistance training routine (ACE, 2019; Rohman, 2014).
- Emphasize compound exercises targeting multiple joints first before doing single joint exercises for a muscle group. For example, squats or deadlifts involve movements at the ankles, knees, and hips and are thus considered compound exercises. Leg extensions are an example of an isolated joint exercise, with only the knees flexing and extending. As such, squats or deadlifts would be completed first, followed by leg extensions or other single joint leg exercises if desired.
- Start with lighter weights and work up to 3 sets. One single set can be effective in older adults and novices. Use a weight that causes you to feel fatigue at 10-15 repetitions. After reaching 15 repetitions, you may add a second set, and finally, after achieving 15 repetitions on the second set, you may add a third. From here on out you may do 3 sets for this exercise. Increase the weight after getting 15 repetitions on all 3 sets.
- Rest anywhere from 30 sec to 2-3 minutes between sets. Rest 48 hours before exercising a specific muscle group again.
- Two to three NON-CONSECUTIVE days per week for each major muscle group is sufficient for general health/ fitness resistance training goals. This can be accomplished with total body training protocols 2-3 days per week.
Suggested movement patterns for functional training according to ACE (2019):
- Bend and lift exercises (squat and deadlift varieties)
- Single leg exercises (lunge variations, step ups, other single leg exercises)
- Push (push-ups, bench press variations, overhead press variations)
- Pulls (row variations, pull-up, or pull-down variations)
- Rotation (rotational movements of trunk/ abs such as cable chops, etc.)
Wrap-up
Exercise is powerful medicine for the mind and body. Decreases in both physical and mental
health disease occurrences and severity, improvements in how you rate the quality of your life, improved clarity of thought, improved confidence, strength, and body composition, the benefits go on.
Starting an exercise habit can be challenging as is creating any new habit. However, starting
out low, gentle, and increasing intensity/ duration slow as your body adjusts is a minimal pain, maximal gain strategy.
So, what are you waiting for? Get moving and live well!!
References
American Council on Exercise. (2009). Before you start an exercise program. Retrieved from https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/blog/6648/before-you-start-an-
exercise-program/
American Council on Exercise. (2014). Youth fitness: fitness training-phase 2. Retrieved from https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/blog/5064/youth-fitness-fitness- training-phase-2/
CDC.gov. (2022a). Adult Physical Inactivity Prevalence Maps by Race/Ethnicity. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/data/inactivity-prevalence-maps/index.html
CDC.gov. (2022b). Exercise or physical activity. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/exercise.htm
CDC.gov. (2022c). How much physical activity do adults need? Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm
Cleveland Clinic. (2021). Can shoveling snow be dangerous for your heart. Retrieved from https://health.clevelandclinic.org/snow-shoveling-a-real-risk-for-heart-attack/
Health.gov. (2018). Physical activity guidelines for Americans, 2nd Ed. Retrieved from https://health.gov/sites/default/files/201909/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf
Jo, S. (2019). The power of physical activity. J. A. Matthews, C. X. Bryant, J. S. Skinner, & D. J. Green (Eds.). The professional’s guide to health and wellness coaching (pp 209-249). American Council on Exercise.
Panahi, S., & Tremblay, A. (2018). Sedentariness and Health: Is Sedentary Behavior More
Than Just Physical Inactivity?. Frontiers in public health, 6, 258.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00258
Rohman, R. (2014). Strength training workouts for beginners. Retrieved from
https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf
