Well-Being and Exercise Importance

by Tia Dewick in News | Training

well-being | exercise

Recommendations

Research has recommended a minimum level of 30 minutes of moderate intensity or above for at least 5 days a week. However, research has also recommended a minimum of 5 fruit or veg a day to provide an easier target and more achievable target as it is suggested that in fact you need 10 a day. Potentially the same thing could be happening for exercise and in fact you need 60 minutes per day but they advertise 30 minutes to encourage more people to reach these targets.

Physical Well-Being

Exercise is classified as ‘planned, structured bodily movement to improve or maintain fitness’. It is the highest intensity and calorie burning classification. Exercise will not only enhance your physical aesthetics to the naked eye, it will also have internal health benefits. The most detrimental place for fat storage is around the abdomen due to excess fatty deposits around the vital organs. Therefore exercise will not only reduce the fat content around your abdomen (provided you maintain or improve your diet) but it will also reduce your health risks of cardiovascular disease, heart disease, stroke, reduced mortality risk and so many more health benefits.
Alongside reducing health concerns your fitness will be enhanced. You will have increased heart efficiency and so more blood can be pumped around the body per beat, reduced blood pressure and increased ability to deliver oxygen.

Psychological Well-Being

Exercise is commonly known to prevent disease but it is less known to enhance your psychological well-being and quality of life. Exercise as an intervention has been shown to reduce many psychological disorders such as anxiety, stress and depression.
The most recent statistics show that 1 in 6 people in the UK suffer from a psychological disorder. There are three potential causes for this which includes genetics, brain chemistry and environmental factors. It was also found that in the UK alone over £9 billion has been spent on preventing depression through pharmaceuticals. Depression has also caused a loss of 109.7 million working hours. Research has actually found that an exercise intervention has more health benefits than pharmaceuticals such as anti-depressants. Exercise could potentially reduce the strain on the NHS and save the country millions.
Exercise releases endorphins and serotonin (also known as happy hormones!) to enhance mood and it improves the quality of sleep! These hormones can be released through pharmaceuticals; however, they have been shown to be less effective and also come with side effects such as nausea, dizziness and headaches.

Exercise is becoming increasingly popular to enhance fitness, aesthetics and PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING

Are you exercising?

After reading this would you be more inclined to start exercising if you aren’t already?

If so and you would like some guidance please feel free to email us and we can see if we can help you