What is physical activity?
According to the WHO, physical activity is defined as any muscle movement that involves the use of energy. All movement, whether done for recreation, transportation or while working is considered physical exercise. Any kind of exercise, intense or light are good for your health. Walking, cycling, any and all sports are all popular ways to stay active.
There are usually three barriers that could be stopping you from engaging in physical activity are:
- Lack of Energy
- Time
- Motivation
The degree of physical activity we engage in is significantly influenced by the environment we live in. The availability of gyms, biking trails, and walking paths are obvious contributing elements. Other elements that could have an impact include traffic, the accessibility of public transit, crime, and pollution. Our social surroundings, such as safe localities, support from family and friends, and sense of community are other environmental influences.
Life is becoming more sedentary due to important factors like the work-from-home trends since the pandemic as well. Higher work demands, time constraints, and just in-general lethargy. An absolutely sedentary lifestyle will not make much of a difference now, but it will affect your health and well-being in the long run.
You are already aware of the importance of regular physical activity for maintaining strength and agility as well as for preventing illness and injury. This could be anything from deep-cleaning your house to yoga sessions. It is astonishing how it helps maintain your cognitive mental health and stress levels and that’s why moderate to intense workout daily is the way to go. Additionally, studies demonstrate a beneficial correlation between regular exercise and better mental health, including reduced anxiety and depression. Even 30 minutes of exercise a day can enhance your cognitive abilities, information retaining capacities, brain cell growth and resilience, managing stress, memory, and can help manage mental illness and neuro-divergent diseases.
This is a two-way street: exercise enhances what you already have, and at the same time, not exercising enough will lead to a decline in mental and physical health. In fact, the human brain can begin to lose cognitive function after just 10 days of inactivity. Motivation to move becomes even low when you’re feeling down, but if you don’t at least leave your house, it will only get worse. When you’re anxious, under pressure, or sad, it’s totally expected that you will feel stagnant and uninspired, but it’s actually more important than ever to stay active during this time.
There are so many negative effects being overly sedentary can have on your physical and mental health. Experts have often discussed the detrimental effects of inactivity on our brains and the significance of movement in our daily life. The likelihood of anxiety and despair is often at risk of rising. When we exercise, the body produces “feel-good” chemicals into our brains, including anandamide and endocannabinoids. These substances promote sensations of happiness while blocking out pain receptors. We often experience increased anxiety and depression when we are lacking in these vital molecules. These hormones also affect pain, and there is a clear connection between the aches and pains of inactivity and our emotional well-being.You really don’t need to spend all day on a treadmill running to combat this problem. Tracking your steps is sufficient. Go for walks to ensure that you get up and move about frequently.
Through neuroplasticity and enhanced synthesis and expression of neuropeptides and hormones, physical activity enhances cognitive performance. These compounds support neuronal regeneration and neuroplasticity. Every stressful scenario triggers one of two reactions: fight or flight. For flight, we run away from our problems because we don’t want to face what lies ahead. If we choose to fight, we persevere, occasionally turning hostile or defensive. This biological adaptation is less useful today than it was at the time of the cavemen. Most of the time, people are able to balance these two extremes and deal with anxiety when it arises.
However, when we don’t follow a consistent workout schedule, our brain releases the stress hormone cortisol, making it more difficult to successfully control our emotions. Modern stressors are typically not transient and increase cortisol in a sustained manner. This rise in cortisol causes neurotoxic effects on the brain that can harm the hippocampus by reducing neuropeptide BDNF expression and cause sadness. Through aerobic exercise, we can naturally feel more at ease and in control because it lowers neuroendocrine reactivity and our biological reaction to stress.
So what can we conclude?
For optimum cognitive and emotional health, make physical activity a non-negotiable aspect of your day, be it a yoga session, walk, cycling ride, or cleaning out the garage, or walking your pet.
What is a sedentary way of living?
First, let us discuss what entails physical activity- physical activity is any movement of the body caused by the contraction of skeletal muscles that increases energy expenditure over the level of rest.
Couch potato. Sitting all day, binging Netflix. An inactive or sedentary way of life. They all mean the same thing, a lazy, inactive way of living, with little to no physical movement. Lack of physical activity or exercise refers to a daily routine that is so sedentary that it does not involve exercise or the recommended level of physical activity for good health and to prevent early death. Numerous dangers come with a sedentary lifestyle.
Physical fitness vs. physical activity
Some individuals mistakenly equate physical exercise with fitness. However, they are slightly different. Being physically fit means having the energy to engage in leisure activities, easily respond to crises, and do everyday tasks with vigor and focus. Cardiorespiratory endurance, muscle endurance and power, flexibility, balance, speed of movement, and body composition are some of the components that make up physical fitness. Any and all bodily movement that results from the contraction of skeletal muscles, by expending energy above a basal level can be termed as physical activity.
Physical fitness is determined by inherited genes and how much physical activity one engages in. Engaging in regular physical activity, however, alters our levels of fitness. The degree of physical activity itself influences whether fitness level improves in an individual.
People have been becoming more and more sedentary globally, ever since the pandemic began and the work from home trends worsened this condition. As it is, we spend a lot of our free time sitting down, whether it’s to watch a series or play video games. Most of our occupations now involve lengthy days spent seated at a desk and are therefore more sedentary. Even the mode of transportation involves sitting most of the time, like driving or being on trains and buses.
Your calorie expenditure also starts to decrease when you have a sedentary lifestyle. As a result, you become more prone to put on weight. You are not making use of your muscles, and it leads to weakening your strength and resilience. Not only that, your bones start to become less resilient and lose minerals. The metabolism in your body will also suffer, making it harder for your liver to break down sweets and other carbs. A weaker immune system, poor blood sugar regulation and imbalanced hormones are other symptoms that you can suffer due to a sedentary lifestyle.
Let’s not forget about chronic illnesses.
Chronic illnesses are among the leading causes of death today. Most chronic diseases are mostly brought on by physical inactivity. What are some of these conditions? It includes almost 35 maladies, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, peripheral artery disease, fatty liver disease, hypertension, stroke, and even congestive heart failure. Additionally, cognitive dysfunction, endothelial dysfunction, hemostasis, deep vein thrombosis, depression, and anxiety, also fall under this category.
Let’s discuss some of the major ones;
1. Obesity – The risk of obesity has been heightened by a lack of physical activity coupled with poor food, inadequate nutrition, and increased cigarette use. According to WHO estimates, around 2.8 million deaths worldwide have been linked to being overweight and obese. People of all ages can become victims of physical inactivity, which creates an avenue for a variety of serious medical conditions.
2. Type 2 Diabetes – Type 2 diabetes is a condition that develops when a person engages in little to no exercise or physical activity, which makes the body become more resistant to insulin and this raises blood sugar levels. According to the International Diabetes Federation, there were approximately 72.9 million adult diabetics in India in 2017. Type 2 diabetes can be lethal unless treated.
3. High Cholesterol and other Cardiovascular Diseases – People who do not exercise or engage in physical activity find their levels of LDL, or bad cholesterol, rise. Needless to say, this really affects the heart and how it supplies oxygen to cells, tissue, and other organs. If you end up with high cholesterol, there will be plaque soon built up along the artery, also called atherosclerosis. It makes your veins narrow and they cannot deliver the necessary blood flow to the heart. This inevitably leaves you highly susceptible to a heart attack.
Another dangerous ailment in this list of illnesses brought on by inactivity, is high blood pressure as blood vessels experience excessive strain due to the narrowed-down vessels. This causes blood pressure to rise. People who get their blood pressure reading at 149/90 definitely have high blood pressure. Notably, high blood pressure also limits the heart’s ability to receive blood.
4. Osteoporosis – Osteoporosis is a medical condition that causes the bone to become so fragile and weak that even minor pressures like bending over, coughing, or falling can cause a fracture. Bone health is severely impacted by osteoporosis. Exercises increase the formation of bone and if not done an appropriate amount, it increases the danger of calcium loss from the bone and osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is thus one of the most prevalent diseases of our skeletal system and is typically characterized as the loss of calcium in our bones. One in three women and one in five men over 50 are at risk for an osteoporotic fracture, according to the International Osteoporosis Foundation.
When we exercise, osteoblasts or bone cells adapt to the pressure on our bones by strengthening them to support the weight. The bones hibernate and lose strength if they aren’t challenged. Exercises involving body weight and resistance training are effective ways to increase bone mineral density (BMD). Walking, cycling, and practicing swimming, on the other hand, won’t always enhance bone density, but they will block or slow down bone loss and lower the risk of fractures.
5. Cancer – Lack of exercise increases the risk of developing several malignant cancers. These include lung, kidney, stomach, uterus, prostate, uterine, and prostate cancer. Regular exercise will help reduce the risk of contracting such diseases.
6. Stroke – Limited blood supply to the brain is the result of narrowed blood arteries.
For the brain to work efficiently, blood must include oxygen. When it does not receive the necessary amount of oxygen, it stops working, which causes people to have a stroke.
Now that more and more people are aware of the implications of a sedentary lifestyle, it should be figured out how to prevent these fatalities from happening. The holy trifecta of health includes physical activity as a supplement to a good diet and an optimistic perspective on life.
The harmful effects of physical inactivity is an internationally recognized problem, and estimates have revealed that an alarming 2 million people worldwide pass away as a result of this epidemic. Approximately 800,000 adults experience a stroke each year, just in the USA. Recent research also indicates that physical inactivity can be just as harmful as smoking and binge drinking, which continue to be the top risk factors.
Two of the most prevalent risk factors for stroke can be evaded just by doing a little exercise daily. Exercise increases metabolism and decreases blood pressure, which reduces the likelihood of developing hypertension and heart illness. By lowering blood viscosity, fibrinogen levels, and platelet aggregability and by boosting the breakdown of fibrin, physical activity serves as an antithrombotic. This helps prevent cardiac and cerebral events. To put it simply, exercise maintains your nervous and cardiovascular systems healthy, reducing your risk of stroke by at least 50%.
7. Rapid Aging – Research shows that the cells can delay aging through moderate amounts of physical activity. But not just any physical exercise has the power to work this type of miracle. Endurance training has the most promise, out of all the other types of exercise. By continually providing the cells with energy and nutrition, this strengthens the heart, improves the immune system, and speeds up blood flow. That is how the cells slow down their aging process. Regular moderate physical activity, even if done for 20 minutes, protects the DNA in our bodies, enabling healthy cell replication.
8. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) – Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a very rare syndrome. Rarely are those who are affected aware of this condition, which is why it usually goes untreated. Heavy weariness and even becoming a sloth are its hallmarks, to the point where the person can come off as apathetic and uninterested in everything.
Although the exact causes of CFS are unknown, research shows that a sedentary lifestyle is prominent in people with CFS. When a patient is diagnosed with CFS, doctors generally advise a slow but consistent introduction of physical activity, which has so far been demonstrated to have incredibly favorable results.
9. Stress and Anxiety – One of the most effective treatments for excessive stress and anxiety is engaging in physical activity. People who don’t exercise regularly report having higher anxiety levels, which makes it difficult for them to commit to their friends and family and even perform well at work. With people addicted to their screens while working around the clock, leading a sedentary lifestyle is turning into a very critical issue in such dystopian times.
Regular exercise and this means at least three to five times per week for at least 30 minutes has been recommended in Harvard Health publications. It significantly lowers cortisol levels, which reduces stress and hunger pangs. Most importantly, it promotes the kind of restful sleep needed for a hectic lifestyle.
10. Bowel Cancer – People of all ages are at risk of developing bowel cancer, often known as colon or colorectal cancer. People over 50 are among the high-risk populations, especially those who are inactive. Physical exercise shortens the amount of time food spends moving through the colon and exposing tissue to possibly carcinogenic chemicals, and has the power to drastically lower gastrointestinal transit time. It also lowers insulin levels, which may occasionally play a role in the development of cancer.
How can I get started with exercise?
You have to get started slowly and progressively add more exercise over time; you cannot begin practicing endurance or resistance training all at once. Your muscles will grow stronger the more you exercise. Do your best to avoid feeling overburdened and take action. Moving even for walking your dog, or engaging in about 20 minutes of physical activity is better than doing nothing at all. Your ultimate objective should be to exercise as per the recommended levels for your age and weight and health.
The heart, body, and mind all benefit greatly from physical activity, which also helps avoid noncommunicable diseases including diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. It improves thinking, learning, and decision-making abilities while reducing the signs of despair and anxiety. 1 in 4 adults worldwide do not engage in the required amounts of physical activity, and this includes more than 80% of the adult population.
How much exercise should you do?
Usually doctors advise kids and adolescents to take part in muscle-building exercises at least three times each week. Although many of the muscle-building activities fall under this category, not all of them were recorded or asked about in the ABS National Health Survey (ABS 2018), the data source for this section. Only teenagers aged 15 to 17 are included in these figures. In 2017–18, 22% of boys and 8% of girls aged 15–17 participated in muscle-strengthening exercises three or more days a week. Only 2% of 15 to 17-year-olds met the recommendations for both physical exercise and muscle building (ABS 2018).
In 2017–18, 55% of adults, or little over one in two, did not engage in enough physical activity. Insufficient activity was more prevalent among women than among males (59% versus 50%). With advancing age, the rate of insufficient physical activity typically rises. 41% of males and 48% of women aged 18 to 24 were not active enough. Insufficient activity was reported by 69% of men and 75% of women in the 65+ age group.