The true benefits of exercise

The start of a New Year usually prompts people to join a gym or undertake resolutions to do more exercise. These resolutions are hard to stick to, so knowing just how good exercise is for us may help you to keep that motivation up. The sheer number of benefits that exercise confers may surprise you as it goes well beyond weight loss and improved cardiovascular fitness. 

Fundamentally, humans are designed to be active. In the distant past our ancestors lived as hunter gatherers, which meant very long, active days searching for food or participating in the hunt. At our core, we are built for endurance. 

For example, every year in the Welsh town of Llanwrtyd Wells, a 35km race between people and horses takes place. Most people would never dream of outcompeting a horse in a foot race through the countryside but, often, a person wins.

Our bodies tell us that they love being active – a surge of endorphins (which are ‘feel good’ neurotransmitters) is released by exercise – and the reason our bodies do this is because evolution has taught our bodies that exercise is good for us.

• Reduced cardiovascular risk
• Reduced risk of Diabetes
• Reduced cancer risk
• Reduced risk of dementia
• Mental health

Regular exercises reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes in a number of ways. Firstly, it lowers blood pressure which reduces the stress on our arteries that contributes to the build-up of the atherosclerotic plaques that underlies cardiovascular disease. This includes not only heart attacks and strokes, but peripheral vascular disease and some forms of chronic kidney disease. Exercise also lowers cholesterol and improves the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol which further reduces the risk of atherosclerosis. Overall, regular exercise reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease by over a third. 

Exercise lowers blood sugar levels and improves insulin sensitivity. It is therefore a cornerstone of avoiding the development of Type 2 diabetes and should be undertaken alongside dietary changes. Exercise is thought to reduce the risk of diabetes by nearly 60%.

There is very good evidence that regular exercise reduces the risk of colon, breast and endometrial (womb) cancer. In contrast, being overweight increases the risk of over a dozen cancers including prostate cancer. Not only this, but being physically fit puts you in a better position to go through intense cancer treatment should the worst happen, and exercise has also been shown to improve survival rates and lower the rate of cancer recurrence in common cancers such as breast, colon and prostate cancer.

Regular exercise has been shown to reduce the risk of dementia by up to 20%. Combining both aerobic and strength based training achieves best results and it appears to be particularly important to maintain exercise through middle life to protect yourself from dementia in old age.

The benefits of exercise on our mental health is perhaps the most surprising facet of regular exercise. Beyond the post workout endorphin rush, exercise can bring about significant and sustained improvement in our mental health. Numerous studies have now shown that exercise is at least as effective, if not more effective, than anti-depressant medication or treating anxiety and depression. More than this, the positive effects of exercise persist through time in a way that the positive of effects of antidepressants do not.

Exercise improves our moods by increasing levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline. It actually increases the size of areas of the brain, such as the hippocampus and amygdala, that shrink in people suffering with depression.

Being active is good for low level mental health problems and daily stresses, all the way through to severe mental health problems such as psychosis. It is also beneficial at all ages and all stages of life. 

For example, exercise has been shown to:

• Reduce the incidence and severity of depression in pregnancy and the post-partum period.
• Effective treatment for major depression in elderly patients. 

It is, of course, also very good for the mental well-being of children as well as improving their self-confidence, social skills, and reducing the incidence of childhood obesity.

With regards to mental health, we should simply never stop being active.

Conversely, being sedentary is actively harmful to our health.

Many people in the UK spend as many as 10 hours a day sitting down. Up to a quarter of the UK populations is physically active for less than 30 minutes each week. 

Such levels of physical inactivity are thought to be responsible for around:

• 25% of breast and colon cancer
• 27% of diabetes
• 30% of the ischaemic heart disease

Worldwide, physical inactivity is thought to contribute to as many deaths as smoking and obesity.

So, whether you favour the carrot or the stick in terms of motivation, there are numerous reasons to stick with any new resolution to increase activity levels.

With increased levels of exercise you will start to see visible changes to your body, whether that be weight loss or muscle toning for example. However you won't know how exercise is impacting your general health.

A blood test provides an enormous amount of helpful information about your current health status and allow you monitor changes/improvements.

There are a wide variety of full body blood tests, also known as health MOT tests that access multiple body systems and functions such as Cholesterol levels, Diabetes risk, Organ health, hormone levels and immune system.

Review the wide range of tests below.

As you will have read, and probably to no surprise there are plenty of health related benefits to completing regular exercise. What may have been a surprise however is the actual impact exercise has on the body. 

As a society we all lead busy lives but making time, even short amounts of it, for exercise really can make a huge impact.