It’s that time of year again, so grab your joggers and call your gym buddy because Exercise Right Week is back from the 23-29 of May 2022. It’s the annual calendared event aimed at encouraging all Australians to be more active and to know where to get the ‘right’ advice when it comes to moving more.
This year’s theme is ‘Exercise for the Right Reasons’ because exercise can often be viewed as a chore or punishment, designed to be a weight loss tool or a way to create the ‘ideal’ body. That attitude can create a negative relationship between people and movement which Exercise Right Week aims to change. Exercise is not a chore, it’s not a punishment for “eating that chocolate”. We must think of exercise as a celebration to show us what our bodies are capable of! Movement is fundamental to a healthy life, and here is why.
Firstly, there’s physical benefits that go deeper than weight loss and muscle building. Although those are nice by-products of an active lifestyle, benefits to your physical health like improved cardio-respiratory fitness can help to reduce your risk of mortality allowing for a longer and greater quality of life. Regular exercise can also help with managing unnatural weight gain that is caused by certain medications, and improve the outcomes and adverse effects of chronic disease such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Regular exercise will also improve sleep quality, allowing you to enjoy the day and increase your productivity and overall quality of life. It also helps your physical capability through improved mineral bone density, reducing the risk of fractures and falls.
So regular exercise can help in a varying manor of physical ways that help people enjoy life, but it doesn’t stop there. There are a range of mental health benefits to being active that are often overlooked. Regular exercise has been proven to decrease symptoms of depression and anxiety through better self-esteem due to body image, as well as the release of endorphins and serotonin that occur naturally through activity. It has also been shown that an active lifestyle increases the volume of the hippocampus promoting improved memory and cognitive function. People who exercise regularly also have significantly reduced levels of stress, so exercise is a great way to clear your head and expel excess energy that can sometimes turn into mental stress.
Along with benefits to mental and physical health, an active lifestyle has a range of social health benefits. Team sports are one form of exercise where social health benefits are evident, they allow people to reconnect with friends over a shared interest as well as promoting general social and team building skills. Playing on a team or even going for a run can help to meet new people, boost motivation and build community engagement. Because when you’re outside exercising or a part of a team, you’re actively participating in your community.
You may be wondering what the healthy lifestyle or the definition of regular exercise is? Well the answer isn’t nearly as scary as you might think.
A recommendation for a healthy amount of exercise is between 2 ½ to 5 hours (150-300 minutes) of moderate intensity physical activity, 1 ¼ to 2 ½ hours per week (75-100 minutes) of vigorous intensity physical activity, or an equivalent combination of both moderate and vigorous activities. It is also recommended that you do muscle strengthening activities on at least 2 days each week.
This year’s Exercise Right Week is all about the incredible physical, mental, and social health benefits of exercise (that have NOTHING to do with the number on the scale!). So get out there, get involved and live your best life.
We offer NDIS Exercise Physiology services, so if you need help getting your exercise ‘right’, contact Hunter Primary Care on (02) 4925 2259 or email ndis@hunterprimarycare.com.au.
Written by Georgia Amess, Exercise Physiologist at Hunter Primary Care.