Exercise is defined as any movement that makes your muscles work and requires your body to burn calories. Physical activity and exercise can have immediate and long-term health benefits. Most importantly, regular activity can improve your quality of life.
Recommendations
Our bodies require movement every day to stay healthy. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends adults, aged 18–64, to do a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity a day. That can include active transportation (e.g. walking or cycling), occupational activity (i.e. work), household chores, play, games, sports or planned exercise, in the context of daily, family, and community activities.
More in detail the recommendations read:
1. Adults aged 18–64 should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week or do at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity.
2. Aerobic activity should be performed in bouts of at least 10 minutes duration.
3. For additional health benefits, adults should increase their moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity to 300 minutes per week or engage in 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity.
4. Muscle-strengthening activities should be done involving major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week.
To conclude, even though you should do a minimum of 150 minutes of physical exercise per week (30 minutes, 5 days a week), it’s even more beneficial to perform double the amount of active minutes.
Insufficient physical activity
One of the 10 leading risk factors for global mortality is insufficient physical activity. People who are insufficiently physically active have a 20% to 30% increased risk of all-cause mortality compared to those who engage in the minimum recommended 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week, or equivalent.
Global figures from 2016 show that 23% of men and 32% of women, aged 18+ years were insufficiently physically active.
Everyday activity
If you find it difficult to achieve 30 minutes of exercise every day, try to walk or bicycle to school/work and always take the stairs instead of elevators and escalators.
Why not take a refreshing walk with a friend and combine benefit with pleasure?!
If you have a sedentary occupation you could try and have active meetings, so called “walk and talks”. You could also consider standing up for a few hours a day, e.g. at a vertical adjustable desk, if possible. Being standing increase energy expenditure by 15-20%. If you stand up for three hours every day for a year you will increase your energy consumption by about 25.000 kcal, which is equivalent to about 10 marathons or about 3 kg in weight.
Try to incorporate the physical activity into your everyday life and remember that the small steps make a big difference!
Benefits
There are many health benefits and disease prevention effects from physical activity. You might know that exercising helps to build and maintain muscle mass, bone density and your cardiovascular health. Regular physical activity has also been shown to reduce the risk of:
• ischemic heart disease
• hypertension
• diabetes
• breast and colon cancer
• stroke
• depression
Furthermore, physical activity is a key determinant of energy expenditure and thus fundamental to energy balance and weight control.
Apart from all the above positive benefits there are actually a few more. Did you know that physical activity also contributes to your sleep quality, memory, beautiful skin and makes you happier? How cool is that?!
Get smarter
If you exercise on a regular basis you will actually get smarter. When exercising your blood flow will increase in your body, including the brain. The increased blood flow brings more oxygen, more nutrients and energy to brain cells.
After 20 minutes of sitting quietly After 20 minutes of walking
Figure 1. Red areas show increased blood flow
Research/scan compliments of Dr. Chuck Hillman, University of Illinois
Physical activity improves memory, cognitive performance and mental well-being. Being active prepares the brain for cognitive stimulation.
Cardiovascular exercise mostly affects the episodic memory (the hippocampus), while strength and coordination exercise affect other brain centers. Consequently, it’s a very good idea to vary your workout and combine different types of exercises.
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Short-term effects of exercise |
Long-term effects of exercise |
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• Increased attention |
• Improved executive ability |
Beautiful with exercise
A large amount of oxidative stress in your body can affect your skin negatively. Oxidative stress occurs when the body’s antioxidant defenses cannot completely repair the damage that free radicals cause to cells. This can damage their internal structures and deteriorate your skin. Tough and high-impact physical activity can contribute to oxidative damage. However, regular moderate exercise can instead increase your body’s production of natural antioxidants, which help protect cells.
As for the brain, the skin also benefits from the increased blood flow when exercising and can induce skin cell adaptations that can help delay the appearance of skin aging.
A happier you
Physical activity can increase the production of endorphins, which are known to help produce positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain. Additionally, physical activity help change parts of the brain that regulate stress and anxiety. It can also increase brain sensitivity for the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, which relieve feelings of depression and anxiety.
Support an active lifestyle with Wellness by Oriflame
As you now can imagine it’s very important being active for the sake of your health. Something else that’s vital is to recharge with healthy energy and support with important nutrients when you exercise.
Natural Balance Bars and Shakes
The Natural Balance Shakes serves as a healthy convenient snack for both adults and adolescents to re-energize between main meals. They contain both protein and carbohydrates that are important to prepare and recover from recreational sports.
Marine Calcium & Vitamin D
Apart from strengthening your bones by being active you can help support your bone strength further by eating food rich in Calcium and Vitamin D or you can take Wellness by Oriflame’s Marine Calcium & Vitamin D supplement.
Staying active offers incredible benefits that can improve nearly every aspect of your health from the inside out. If you do the exercise with a friend, you can also have more fun at the same time, and you can motivate each other.
Whether you practice a specific sport or follow the guideline of 30 minutes of activity per day, you will inevitably improve your health and quality of life.
Hope you are more motivated than ever to work that body!
