Movement

Moving our bodies makes us feel good and is an important part of keeping us healthy and mobile . Physical activity is one of the major modifiable risk factors for both physical and mental health and includes a range of activity from lower intensity movement such as yoga, pilates, and walking to moderate-high intensity movement such as running, swimming and cycling (1). 

The overall benefits of exercise applies to all bodily systems and research has shown that it can:

  • Reduce mortality (2,3)

  • Support the control of blood sugar (4,5)

  • Improve functional mobility and wellbeing (6)

  • Have benefits for individuals with pain or disability, particularly using pilates (7,8)

  • Improve functional movement patterns with repeated pilates sessions (9)

  • Support heart health including lowering blood pressure and cholesterol (10)

  • Improve memory and attention (11)

  • Prevent cognitive and physical decline (3,12)

  • Improve mood, particularly depressive symptoms (13)

  • Support gains in muscle and bone strength (14)

Interestingly, with regards to brain health, research has shown that the more your brain must process whilst exercising, the greater the benefits. For example, walking in the woods when you must avoid obstacles or choosing to take a yoga or pilates class, which require concentration in order to perform the moves correctly. At Camphora Wellbeing, we support these benefits by offering you the opportunity to introduce more movement to your body with pilates classes and summer nature walks. These sessions also incorporate two of our other pillars, breath and connection and therefore provide a holistic wellbeing experience.

Movement has a crucial role in maintaining a healthy body and mind

References:

  1. Posadzki, P., Pieper, D., Bajpai, R., Makaruk, H., Könsgen, N., Neuhaus, A. L., & Semwal, M. (2020). Exercise/physical activity and health outcomes: an overview of Cochrane systematic reviews. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1-12.

  2. Abell B, Glasziou P, Hoffmann T. The contribution of individual exercise training components to clinical outcomes in randomised controlled trials of cardiac rehabilitation: a systematic review and meta-regression. Sports Med Open. 2017;3(1):19.

  3. Anderson D, Seib C, Rasmussen L. Can physical activity prevent physical and cognitive decline in postmenopausal women? A systematic review of the literature. Maturitas. 2014;79(1):14–33.6 Barbaric M, Brooks E, Moore L, Cheifetz O. Effects of physical activity on cancer survival: a systematic review. Physiother Can. 2010;62(1):25–34.

  4. Aljawarneh YM, Wardell DW, Wood GL, Rozmus CL. A systematic review of physical activity and exercise on physiological and biochemical outcomes in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. J Nurs Scholarsh. 2019.

  5. Achten J, Jeukendrup AE. Effects of pre-exercise ingestion of carbohydrate on glycaemic and insulinaemic responses during subsequent exercise at differing intensities. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2003;88:466–71.

  6. Abdin S, Welch RK, Byron-Daniel J, Meyrick J. The effectiveness of physical activity interventions in improving well-being across office-based workplace settings: a systematic review. Public Health. 2018;160:70–6.

  7. Abdulla SY, Southerst D, Cote P, Shearer HM, Sutton D, Randhawa K, Varatharajan S, Wong JJ, Yu H, Marchand AA, et al. Is exercise effective for the management of subacromial impingement syndrome and other soft tissue injuries of the shoulder? A systematic review by the Ontario protocol for traffic injury management (OPTIMa) collaboration. Man Ther. 2015;20(5):646–56.

  8. Alanazi MH, Parent EC, Dennett E. Effect of stabilization exercise on back pain, disability and quality of life in adults with scoliosis: a systematic review. Eur J Phys Rehabil Med. 2018;54(5):647–53.

  9. Laws, A., Williams, S., & Wilson, C. (2017). The effect of clinical pilates on functional movement in recreational runners. International journal of sports medicine, 38(10), 776-780.

  10. Duncan JJ, Gordon NF, Scott CB. Women walking for health and fitness. How much is enough? JAMA. 1991;266:3295–9.

  11. Chaire, A., Becke, A., & Düzel, E. (2020). Effects of physical exercise on working memory and attention-related neural oscillations. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 14, 239.

  12. Barlow PA, Otahal P, Schultz MG, Shing CM, Sharman JE. Low exercise blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis. Atherosclerosis. 2014;237(1):13–22.

  13. Adamson BC, Ensari I, Motl RW. Effect of exercise on depressive symptoms in adults with neurologic disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2015;96(7):1329–38

  14. Hagen KB, Dagfinrud H, Moe RH, Østerås N, Kjeken I, Grotle M, Smedslund G. Exercise therapy for bone and muscle health: an overview of systematic reviews. BMC Med. 2012;10(1):167.