Why we need to move more

The popularity of yoga, pilates and guided exercise classes in general is on the rise as we gain better
understanding of how certain lifestyle factors can play huge role in development of disease states.
The importance of weight bearing exercise cannot be over emphasised, it has benefits in so many
ways.

Reduces body fat and increases lean muscle mass

Muscle has a higher metabolism per than any other tissue in the body apart from the brain. At rest
the brain burns more energy per pound than muscle at rest, but during exercise muscle metabolism
increases, and the more intense the exercise the more energy it burns. The more muscle tissue there
is the more energy it burns, even at rest. That means that over the course of a day, more calories will
be burned even when you are sedentary, leaving less unused calories to be converted to fat.
Reduces age related strength losses.

I don’t think it’s a reach to understand that as we age, muscle mass reduces. The more sedentary we
get as we age therefore, the more muscle wasting there will be. Regular exercise reduces the effect
of age related muscle wasting and can even be reversed if you work the body hard enough.

Increases metabolic rate

As already discussed, the more muscle mass there is, the more energy it burns, even at rest, so
metabolism is more efficient.

Reduces the ratio of bad fats in the blood

Exercise burns calories that would otherwise be converted to storage fats. Also, hormonal changes
stimulated by exercise leads to a more favourable outcome for dietary fats circulating in our blood
vessels. This reduces the accumulation of fat cells on the blood vessel walls that can develop into the
type of plaques that increases risk of heart disease.

Increase bone density

It has been known for a long time that weight bearing exercise reduces risk of developing
osteoporosis and is recommended to improve bone density in those that have been diagnosed.

Improves insulin sensitivity and improves lifestyle factors generally in type 2 diabetics

It stands to reason based on factors already discussed above that improving metabolism will
positively affect symptoms of a metabolic disease like Diabetes

Reduces resting blood pressure

Regular exercise is essential to control higher blood pressure in those where it has been identified as
a risk factor in the future development of cardio-vascular disease. Regular bouts of moderate to
moderately intense exercise ( where possible, some individuals may struggle to exercise intensely)
are prescribed to improve oxygen delivery around the body. With improve efficiency of oxygen
delivery, blood pressure reduces and puts less pressure on the heart.

Improves sleep quality

Exercise will reduce the amount of stress hormones in circulation leading to a calming of the brain.
Modern lifestyles are so filled with stressors, that it is easy to fall into a trap of allowing the brain to
run away with thoughts that are distracting and keep us awake at night. These thoughts drive the
release of stress hormones, which if not metabolised efficiently continue to circulate and keep us in
a stressed state. When this persists, then sleep will be disturbed, we will feel less rested, more
fatigued and less likely to want to exercise. A vicious cycle emerges.

Improves motor control, and ability to maintain normal daily activities. Reduces symptoms of

back and joint pain as well as reducing the risk of future injury

For what I do, this is what i spend the most time managing as when injury or pain affects motor
control, then even normal tasks become more difficult. I often see patients that have avoided
exercise because they believe that pain is telling them to stop.

We know through thorough research that the weaker the tissue, the more risk of injury there is.
Strengthening the tissues does not guarantee that you will not sustain injury but it definitely reduces
the risk. This has an inverse correlation, where if the tissue is de-conditioned and not regularly
exercised then the risk of injury is higher.

I often hear from patients presenting with back pain that the stimulus of injury was just bending
over to fill the dish washer or pick up a set of keys off the floor. Not really something we would
expect to cause serious injury, but these people experience significant pain. If low stimulus can
cause such intense back pain then those individuals feel their back is weak. Significantly weaker than
normal! This is not so. The whole structure is not weak but maybe a muscle didn’t have the strength
and control to allow a certain movement because it hadn’t been exercised in that position for a
while, and it strains. This leads to a low level of tissue injury, but the level of pain is huge. ( please
see my previous blog “Seven Things You Should Know About Pain Science” to understand why the
pain may be so intense in these individuals).

If you want advice on what levels of activity you should be doing, how to progress exercise intensity,
discuss possible pit falls and where you may have gone wrong in the past or even just find an
appropriate starting point, then please do not hesitate to contact Matthew Oliver at The Body Matters Clinic off Leigh Broadway in Southend-on-Sea, Essex.