Benefits of physical activity

Though people often use physical activity and exercise interchangeably, the terms have different definitions. “Physical activity” refers to any body movement that burns calories, whether it’s for work or play, daily chores, or the daily commute. “Exercise,” a subcategory of physical activity, refers to -planned, structured, and repetitive- activities aimed at improving physical fitness and health. Exercise is a bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. Physical activity is number one most common health issue in the world. Staying physically active can help prevent or delay certain diseases, including some cancers, heart disease and diabetes, and also relieve depression and improve mood.

A research Physical Activity Fundamental to Preventing Disease published by U.S. Department of Health & Human Services claims that virtually all individuals can benefit from regular physical activity, whether they participate in vigorous exercise or some type of moderate health-enhancing physical activity.

Immediate benefits

Brain activity

The benefits of physical exercise, especially aerobic exercise, have positive effects on brain function on multiple fronts, ranging from the molecular to behavioral level. According to a study done by the Department of Exercise Science at the University of Georgia, even briefly exercising for 20 minutes facilitates information processing and memory functions.

Exercise affects the brain on multiple fronts. It increases heart rate, which pumps more oxygen to the brain. It also aids the bodily release of a plethora of hormones, all of which participate in aiding and providing a nourishing environment for the growth of brain cells.

Exercise stimulates the brain plasticity by stimulating growth of new connections between cells in a wide array of important cortical areas of the brain. Research from UCLA demonstrated that exercise increased growth factors in the brain—making it easier for the brain to grow new neuronal connections.

Exercise can come down to improving cognitive skills, decreasing chances of dementia along with reducing damage and deterioration of the brain tissue. Scientist believe that by maintaining physical fitness it keeps the blood flowing normally to brain tissue. When the blood flows normally to the brain tissue it reduces the risk of damage and deterioration. Blood flow is very important when it comes to keeping the brain young and healthy. There have also been studies that show that aerobic exercise stimulate the release of growth hormones, which continues to improve brain function. When getting to a certain age it is prone that one exercises regularly to keep the brain strong and well functioning, rather than deteriorating. It also reduces the chances of dementia as it keeps the find functioning and lessens the chances of deterioration.

Some benefits of physical activity on brain health happen right after a session of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Benefits include improved thinking or cognition for children 6 to 13 years of age and reduced short-term feelings of anxiety for adults. Regular physical activity can help keep your thinking, learning, and judgment skills sharp as you age. It can also reduce your risk of depression and anxiety and help you sleep better.

Weight management

Both diet and physical activity play a critical role in maintaining a healthy body weight, losing excess body weight, or maintaining successful weight loss. Physical activity helps control weight by using excess calories that would otherwise be stored as fat. Most foods we eat contain calories, and everything we do uses calories, including sleeping, breathing, and digesting food. Balancing the calories we eat with the calories we use through physical activity will help us reach and maintain a healthy weight.

Long-term benefits

The most common health risks include cardiovascular diseases, diabetes type 2 and some cancers.

Obesity is a complex disease that affects whole body metabolism and is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and Type 2 diabetes (T2D). Physical exercise results in numerous health benefits and is an important tool to combat obesity and its co-morbidities, including cardiovascular disease. Exercise prevents both the onset and development of cardiovascular disease and is an important therapeutic tool to improve outcomes for patients with cardiovascular disease. Some benefits of exercise include enhanced mitochondrial function, restoration and improvement of vasculature, and the release of myokines from skeletal muscle that preserve or augment cardiovascular function. In this review we will discuss the mechanisms through which exercise promotes cardiovascular health. Regular physical exercise has several beneficial effects on overall health. While decreasing body mass and adiposity are not the primary outcomes of exercise, exercise can mediate several diseases that accompany obesity including T2D and CVD. Several recent studies have shown that sustained physical activity is associated with decreased markers of inflammation, improved metabolic health, decreased risk of heart failure, and improved overall survival. There are several risk factors leading to the development and progression of CVD, but one of the most prominent is a sedentary lifestyle. A sedentary lifestyle can be characterized by both obesity and consistently low levels of physical activity. Thus, lifestyle interventions that aim to increase physical activity and decrease obesity are attractive therapeutic methods to combat most non-congenital types of CVD.

Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Regular physical exercise is associated with numerous health benefits to reduce the progression and development of obesity, T2D, and CVD. Several randomized clinical trials have demonstrated that lifestyle interventions including moderate exercise and a healthy diet improve cardiovascular health in at-risk populations. Individuals with metabolic syndrome who participated in a 4 month program of either a diet (caloric restriction) or exercise intervention had reduced adiposity, decreased systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure, and lower total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol lipid profiles compared to the control group. Both the diet and exercise intervention improve these cardiovascular outcomes to a similar extent.

Several previous studies have investigated the effects of diet and exercise, independently or in combination, on metabolic and cardiovascular health and have determined that diet, exercise, or a combination of diet and exercise induces weight loss, decreases visceral adiposity, lowers plasma triglycerides, plasma glucose, HDL levels, and blood pressure, and improves VO2max. Importantly, several of these beneficial effects of exercise are evident independent of weight loss. Studies have shown that exercise can improve metabolic and cardiovascular health independent of changes in body weight, including improved glucose homeostasis, endothelial function, blood pressure, and HDL levels. These data indicate exercise, independent of changes in body mass, results in significant improvements in cardiovascular and metabolic health. Although a detailed analysis of the vast impact of diet on cardiometabolic health is outside the scope of this review, the importance of diet and exercise in tandem should not be ignored, as many studies have shown that cardiometabolic health is improved to a higher extent in response to a combined diet and exercise programs compared to either intervention alone.

Exercise has a similar effect on cardiovascular improvements in lean and overweight normoglycemic subjects. In a 1 year study of non-obese individuals, a 16–20% increase in energy expenditure (of any form of exercise) with no diet intervention resulted in a 22.3% decrease in body fat mass and reduced LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol/HDL ratio, and C-reactive protein concentrations, all risk factors associated with CVD. In overweight individuals, 7–9 months of low-intensity exercise (walking ~19 km per week at 40–55% VO2peak) significantly increased cardiorespiratory fitness compared to sedentary individuals. Together these data indicate that exercise interventions decrease the risk or severity of CVD in subjects who are lean, obese, or have type 2 diabetes.

Cardiac rehabilitation

Exercise is also an important therapeutic treatment for patients who have cardiovascular diseases. A systematic review of 63 studies found that exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation improved cardiovascular function. These studies consisted of various forms of aerobic exercise at a range of intensities (from 50 to 95% VO2), over a multitude of time periods (1–47 months). Overall, exercise significantly reduced CVD-related mortality, decreased risk of MI, and improved quality of life. Another study looked specifically in patients with atherosclerosis post-revascularization surgery. Patients who underwent 60 min of exercise per day on a cycle ergometer for 4 weeks had an increase blood flow reserve (29%) and improved endothelium-dependent vasodilatation. A recent study provided personalized aerobic exercise rehabilitation programs for patients who had an acute myocardial infarction for 1 year after a coronary intervention surgery. The patients who underwent the exercise rehabilitation program had increased ejection fraction (60.81 vs. 53% control group), increased exercise tolerance, and reduced cardiovascular risk factors 6 months after starting the exercise rehabilitation program. This improvement in cardiovascular health in patients with atherosclerosis or post-MI is likely the result of increased myocardial perfusion in response to exercise, however more research is required to fully understand these mechanisms.

One defining characteristic of heart failure is exercise intolerance, which resulted in a prescription of bed rest for these patients until the 1950s. However, it has now been shown that a monitored rehabilitation program using moderate intensity exercise is safe for heart failure patients, and this has now become an important therapeutic for patients with heart failure. Meta-analyses and systemic reviews have shown that exercise training in heart failure patients is associated with improved quality of life, reduced risk of hospitalization and decreased rates of long-term mortality. One study of heart failure patients found that aerobic exercise (walking or cycling) at 60–70% of heart rate reserve 3–5 times per week for over 3 years led to improved health and overall quality of life (determined by a self-reported Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire, a 23-question disease-specific questionnaire). Other studies have shown that exercise-based rehabilitation at a moderate intensity in heart failure patients improves cardiorespiratory fitness and increases both exercise endurance capacity and VO2max (12–31% increase).

More recent studies have examined the effects of high-intensity exercise on patients with heart failure. A recent study found that 12 weeks of high intensity interval training (HIIT) in heart failure patients (with reduced ejection fraction) was well-tolerated and had similar benefits compared to patients who underwent moderate continuous exercise (MCE) training, including improved left ventricular remodeling and aerobic capacity. A separate study found that 4 weeks of HIIT in heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction improved VO2peak and reduced diastolic dysfunction compared to both pre-training values and compared to the MCE group. These studies indicate that both moderate and high intensity exercise training improve cardiovascular function in heart failure patients, likely related to increased endothelium-dependent vasodilation and improved aerobic capacity.

Other benefits

Bones and muscles

Routine physical activity is important for building strong bones and muscles in children, but it is equally important as we get older. Your bones and muscles work together to support every movement you make on a daily basis. When you are physically active you strengthen your muscles. Your bones adapt by building more cells and as a result both become stronger. Strong bones and muscles protect against injury and improves balance and coordination. In addition active adults experience less joint stiffness and improved flexibility. This becomes especially important as we get older because it helps to prevent falls and the broken bones that may result. Even if you have arthritis, exercise that keeps the muscles around the joint strong can act like a brace that will react to every move you make without the hassle of an actual brace that you have to put on and take off.

Daily activity

The ability to perform daily activities and maintain independence requires strong muscles, balance and endurance. Regular physical activity or exercise helps to improve and prevent the decline of muscle strength, balance and endurance, all risk factors for falling. Balance plays an important role in everyday activities such as walking, getting up out of a chair or leaning over to pick up a grandchild. Balance problems can reduce your independence by interfering with activities of daily living. The good news is that participating in regular physical activity can significantly improve balance and reduce your risk for falling.

Cancer

Exercise increases the chances of surviving cancer. If one exercise during the early stages of cancer treatment it may allow time to reduce the detrimental side effects of the chemotherapy. It also improves physical functions along with reducing distress and fatigue. Studies have shown that exercise has the possibility to improve the chemotherapy drug uptake, thanks to the increase in the peripheral circulation. This also makes changes to tumors vasculature from the increase of cardio and blood pressure.

Sleep

Exercise triggers an increase in body temperature, and the post-exercise drop in temperature may promote falling asleep. Exercise may also reduce insomnia by decreasing arousal, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Insomnia is commonly linked with elevated arousal, anxiety, and depression, and exercise has effects on reducing these symptoms in the general population. These issues count among the most common among most of population. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year. A 2010 review suggested that exercise generally improved sleep for most people, and may help with insomnia, but there is insufficient evidence to draw detailed conclusions about the relationship between exercise and sleep. A 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis suggested that physical activity has little association with sleep in healthy children. However, there have been several research findings indicating that certain forms of physical activity can improve the quality and duration of sleep. In fact, a 2019 study at The Federal University of São Paulo concluded that moderate physical activity resulted in an increase in sleep efficiency and duration in adults diagnosed with insomnia. The duration refers to the hours of sleep a person gets on a nightly basis, while the quality indicates how well or sufficient it was. Having poor sleep quality can lead to negative short term consequences like emotional distress and performance deficits. The psychosocial issues associated with these consequences can vary between adults, adolescents, and children. Some of the long term effects of poor sleep quality can lead to conditions like hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and even weight-related issues.

References

 This article incorporates text by Kelsey Pinckard, Kedryn K. Baskin, and Kristin I. Stanford available under the CC BY 4.0 license.

External links

• Physical activity - it's important | betterhealth.vic.gov.au Better Health, May 22, 2020 "Physical activity - it's important"
• Exercise & Fitness Health Harvard, May 22, 2020. "Exercise & Fitness"
• Physical Activity CDC, May 22, 2020. "Physical Activity"