Exercise is a fundamental cornerstone of our health and it has many positive effects on our bodies and our mental wellbeing. This comes as no great surprise, of course, because our bodies are made to do one thing above all else – moving! The WHO recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week for adults, and in the following article you will learn the difference you can make for yourself and your health.
Strengthening the cardiovascular system
Endurance sports are the main method of training the heart muscle. During sport, the body needs more oxygen and nutrients, leading to increased blood flow and greater supply to the muscles and organs. As the body adapts due to regular physical exercise, the body’s ability to circulate blood improves and the blood vessels adapt too. This enhances performance and reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks, strokes or high blood pressure.
Strengthening the muscles
By strengthening our muscles in response to exercise, we stabilise our entire musculoskeletal system, become stronger and reduce the strain on our joints and spine. In addition, we increase our basal metabolic rate and help to improve our coordination and balance, which also has a positive effect on our body image.
Benefits to our mental wellbeing
Numerous studies from various universities show that we feel happier, can more easily switch off, sleep better and deal with psychological stress more easily when we exercise. The effects are produced by the change in brain activity brought about by exercise, among other things: the prefrontal cortex (responsible for ‘logical action planning’) shuts down for example, which helps to ‘clear the mind’. To benefit from improved mental wellbeing, it is important that we choose the right amount of exercise as too much can have the opposite effect. The optimum amount is three to five 30-60-minute training sessions per week.
Protecting your bones
Sport contributes to increased bone density. Muscles are connected to our bones by tendons. When we strain a muscle and shorten it in doing so, the force is transmitted via the tendon to the bone, which is stimulated by the strain. The body reacts to this stimulus by strengthening the bone, leading to increased bone density. This effect is of fundamental importance to our health, especially when we enter old age.
Strengthening the immune system
Comparing the blood samples of athletes with people who don’t exercise, a greater frequency of regulatory T-cells can be detected in athletes’ blood. T-cells belong to the group of white blood cells and help the immune system. In addition, sport reduces inflammation caused by stress hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol.
Lower risk of getting ill
Studies conducted by the WHO and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, among others, show that exercise reduces the risk of many common and often chronic diseases and injuries.
These include:
- Cardiovascular disease (i.e., a heart attack, stroke, or high blood pressure).
- Becoming overweight or obese
- Metabolic syndrome
- Type-2 diabetes
- Cancer (of the colon, lung, breast, uterus, stomach, oesophagus, kidney, bladder and prostate in particular)
- Depression
- Dementia
- Infectious diseases
- Hip fractures
- Falls
Increase your base metabolic rate
On top of our base metabolic rate required for essential bodily function, we also have a performance metabolic rate for when we’re doing sport, exercise, and physical and mental work. The number of calories we require daily is a combination of these two things, so exercise can lead to a decrease in body weight even if the calorie intake stays the same. In addition, an increase in muscle mass also contributes to an increased intake of oxygen and energy and, therefore, to an increased base metabolic rate.
Consequences of movement & lack of movement
The following table gives you a good overview of how exercise, or lack of it, affects the body:
|
Influence of exercise on |
Exercise |
Lack of exercise |
|
Energy metabolism |
Increases |
Decreases |
|
Body weight (with a constant calorie intake) |
Decreases |
Increases |
|
Cardiovascular system |
Becomes more efficient |
Becomes weaker |
|
Endurancee |
Improves |
Gets worse |
|
Blood pressure |
Decreases |
Increases |
|
Lipid metabolism |
Improves |
Gets worse |
|
Total cholesterol |
Decreases |
Increases |
|
LDL cholesterol |
Decreases |
Increases |
|
HDL cholesterol |
Increases |
Decreases |
|
Triglycerides |
Decreases |
Increases |
|
Sugar metabolism |
Improves |
Gets worse |
|
Insulin level |
Decreases |
Does not lower |
|
Blood sugar level |
Decreases |
Does not lower |
|
Musculoskeletal system |
Improves |
Gets weaker |
|
Muscle strength |
Improves |
Gets worse |
|
Bone density |
Increases |
Decreases |
|
Support function, stability |
Improves |
Gets worse |
|
Mobility, load-bearing capacity of joints |
Increases |
Decreases |
|
Immune defence |
Improves |
Gets worse |
|
Brain functions |
Improving |
Gets worse |
|
Cerebral circulation |
Improves |
Gets worse |
|
New formation of nerve cells |
Improves |
Does not improve |
|
Psyche |
Antidepressant effect |
No antidepressant effect |
In order to benefit from the positive effects of exercise on your health, it is important that you get enough exercise on a regular basis and at a moderate intensity.
