An investigation by the World Health Organisation found that among developed nations, 50% of women and 40% of men are insufficiently active. Exercise is another crucial piece of the wellness and longevity puzzle and clearly eludes a large majority of us. In the modern world the biggest issue when it comes to exercise seems to be time. How do we overcome this issue?
We need to structure exercise in as part of our daily routine. One of the biggest issues in the modern world is the requirement within our jobs to sit for extremely long periods of time. There are a whole host of health issues that stem from this prolonged inactivity. However, there is some great new research suggesting that breaking up our day with light activities had significant benefits for our overall health, even more so than a structured gym session. What this research really tells us is that we need to make an effort to move as much as we can throughout the day, e.g. get off the bus one stop early, walk 30m to ask your colleague a question rather than emailing, set your printer outside of your office station. Although structured workouts are generally positive, this research shows that them alone will not be able to undo the harm of prolonged sitting.
Here are just some of the benefits of exercise:
- Reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s Disease and cardiovascular disease
- Reduced risk of osteoporosis, sarcopenia and obesity
- Improved brain health
- Better body composition
- Lessen the effects of ageing
- Improved self-esteem
- Reduction in stress and anxiety
Tips for exercise:
- Walk more – aim for 10000 steps a day
- Get off the bus one stop early
- Park at the back of the Westfield carpark
- Walk to the coffee shop that’s a little further from your office building
- Incorporate strength training in to your regime (2x a week)
- Dr Chaterjee’s 5-minute kitchen bench workout (see link here)
- Simple body weight exercises down at the park
- Do some form of HIIT
- Walk 1 minute fast out of your house… return slowly to your door, then repeat.
- Try and beat your distance from the previous attempt
- “Movement snacking”
- take the stairs instead of the elevator
- Dr Chatterjee’s kitchen gym routine
- Take a lunch break outside and get moving