Find Moments for Movement

It has been amazing to see the promotion and coverage for Mental Health Awareness Week already this week. There is much more awareness now of the huge benefits of exercise on, not only our physical health, but our mental health too. This article discusses the benefits of exercise on the brain and the body, what’s stopping us moving more and how to overcome these barriers.

How much exercise is recommended?

It is recommended that adults do 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week (like swimming, walking or cycling) or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise (such as running, sport or walking upstairs). More recently the guidelines have also added strength-based exercise to this such as the gym, yoga or carrying heavy bags. This is important to keep bones, muscles and joints strong.

What are the benefits of movement to mental health?

The mental health benefits of movement and exercise are huge. The body releases feel good hormones that improve mood and boost energy. Movement can reduce stress, tension, anxiety and fatigue, and calm the mind from challenging emotions. It can improve motivation, concentration, focus and sleep. It also helps boost our self-esteem and confidence.

When we exercise there is an increase in blood flow and oxygen to the brain, and Endorphins, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Serotonin are release.These hormones and neurotransmitters increase the function of the Temporal Lobe and Hippocampus for memory, increase levels of the Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor (BDNF) which maintains and regenerates nerve cells, and help the Pituitary Glands release endorphins.

They have the following impact in the brain and the body

• Endorphins relieve pain, reduce stress and improve your sense of wellbeing
• Dopamine gives you feelings of pleasure, satisfaction and motivation. It also plays a role in learning
• Oxytocin reduces stress and anxiety and stimulates positive social interactions
• Serotonin influences learning, memory, happiness, body temperature, sleep and hunger.

What barriers do we face and how do we overcome them?

The main barrier most of us face in relation to exercise is motivation. If we can just motivate ourselves to get moving, we will reap the benefits and feel so much better. Other barriers we find are time and finances.

Some tips for overcoming lack of motivation include:

• Planning ahead and write a schedule
• Find a partner or team, this holds us to account and adds a social element
• Choose an activity that is interesting or suites your lifestyle
• Motivational tools including Smart watches, Apps and Socialising
• Remember the feel-good feeling and benefits of exercise.
• Use finance as an incentive. If we’ve paid for a class it can motivate us to attend

We can also try adding NEAT into our day - Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. This is essentially all the calories that a person burns through their daily activity excluding purposeful physical exercise. This is about small low-effort movements that you can put together over the course of your day. These can include moving your legs about under your desk, walking to the furthest water station or toilet at the office, taking the stairs instead of the lift, walking around the supermarket, cycling to work, getting off the bus a stop earlier or dancing whilst boiling the kettle. Research shows these additional movements as part of NEAT compound and have a huge beneficial effect on our overall health.

We are all stretched for time, but if we don’t priorities our wellbeing, we will eventually burn out mentally and physically. Exercise really is stress management for the brain and the body, and we always feel better after moving more. Finance is often an easy excuse, but moving does not have to cost us anything.

Think about how you can find Moments for Movement this Mental Health Awareness Week.

Can you revamp your working day to add in small movement?

How can you embed these into your lifestyle, so this develops long term behaviour change and not just for this week?