Benefits Of Physical Activity

KVK SMF KT 29_1 GR.

LAVANDA BABEŠKO
AUKSĖ GALBUOGIENĖ
 Key Facts About Physical Activity (PA)
 PA has significant health benefits for hearts, bodies and minds,

 PA contributes to preventing and managing noncommunicable* (NCDs)

diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (-35 %) , cancer (-20 %) and II type
diabetes (-40 %),

 PA reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety, emotional stress, also

others mental disorders (-30 %),

 PA enhances thinking, learning, concentration and judgment skills,

 PA ensures healthy growth and development in young people,

 PA improves overall well-being and quality of life and etc.

* NCDs share 5 major risk factors: tobacco use, physical inactivity, the harmful
use of alcohol, unhealthy diets and air pollution (unhealthy life style)
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity
 1. What Is Physical Activity (PA)?

• WHO defines PA as any bodily movement produced by skeletal

muscles that requires energy expenditure (more energy than resting).
• PA refers to all movement including during leisure time, for transport
to get to and from places, or as part of a person’s work.
• Both moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activity improve
health.
• Popular ways to be active include walking, cycling, wheeling, sports,
active recreation and play, and can be done at any level of skill and for
enjoyment by everybody.
• Regular PA is proven to help prevent and manage noncommunicable
diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and several cancers.
• It also helps prevent hypertension, maintain healthy body weight and
can improve mental health, quality of life and well-being.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity
 2. Physical Activity Types

• Main types of PA

1. Aerobic (Endurance, Cardio),

2. Muscle strengthening and Bone strengthening,
3. Balance and flexibility activities are also beneficial.
• By understanding the different types of physical activity, benefits, and
recommendations, you can create a plan to
add physical activity into your healthy lifestyle.
 2.1. Aerobic Activity
(also called Endurance, Cardio activity)

 moves Major muscle groups include the legs,

back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms.
• Endurance exercises improve the health of
Heart, Lungs, and Circulatory system and able
to work (makes Heart beat faster than usual
and also breathe harder during this type of
activity),
• Depending on personal Fitness level, aerobic
activity can be light, moderate, or vigorous in
intensity,
• Examples of aerobic activity
• Gardening,
• Walking, hiking, jogging, running
• Swimming, Water aerobics
• Bicycling, skateboarding, rollerblading,
• Jumping rope, Dancing,
• Tennis, soccer, hockey, and basketball

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/heart/physical-activity/types
2.2. Muscle-strengthening Activities
• Muscle-strengthening activity
 Muscle-strengthening activities improve the
strength, size, power, and endurance of
your muscles.
 A strength exercise is any activity that makes
your muscles work harder than usual.
 The activities involve using your body
weight or working against a resistance,
lifting weights, resistance bands
 Doing pushups and situps, lifting weights,
climbing stairs, and digging in the garden are
examples of muscle-strengthening activities.
 You should try to do 2 sessions or more of
muscle strengthening exercises a week.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joim.13344
 2.2. Muscle-strengthening and Bone-
Strengthening Activities
• Bone-strengthening activity
 With bone-strengthening activities, your
feet, legs, or arms support your body's
weight, and your muscles push against
your bones. This helps make your bones
strong.
 Running, walking, jumping rope, and
lifting weights are examples of bone-
strengthening activities.

• Muscle-strengthening and bone-strengthening activities also can be

aerobic, depending on whether they make your heart and lungs work
harder than usual.
• For example, running is both an aerobic activity and a bone-
strengthening activity.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise
 2.3. Balance and Flexibility Activities

• Balance activities
 These kinds of activities can improve
your ability to resist forces that can
make you fall, either while stationary
or moving.
 Walking backward, standing on one
leg, walking heel-to-toe, practicing
standing from a sitting position, or
using a wobble board are examples
of balance activities.
 Strengthening muscles of the back,
abdomen, and legs also improves
balance.
 2.3. Balance and Flexibility Activities

• Flexibility activities
 Stretching helps improve your
flexibility and your ability to fully
move your joints.
 Touching your toes, doing side
stretches, and doing yoga exercises
are examples of stretching.
 Health professionals believe that
improving your flexibility can
improve your posture, reduce aches
and pains, and lower your risk of
injury.
 3. How much of PA is recommended?
• WHO guidelines and recommendations provide details for different age
groups and specific population groups on how much PA is needed for
good health.
3.1. WHO recommendations for adults ( aged 18–64 years)
• Adults for Substantial health benefits
throughout the week :
• should undertake regular PA;
• should do at least 150–300 min. of
moderate-intensity aerobic PA;
• or at least 75–150 min. of vigorousintensity
aerobic PA;
• or an equivalent combination of
moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic
PA
3.2. WHO recommendations for adults ( aged 18–64 years)

• Adults should also do muscle-

strengthening activities at
moderate or greater intensity
that involve all major muscle
groups on 2 or more days a
week, as these provide
additional health benefits.
3.3. WHO recommendations for adults ( aged 18–64 years)

• Adults may increase moderate-

intensity aerobic PA to more than
• 300 minutes;
• or do more than 150 minutes of
vigorous-intensity aerobic PA;
• or an equivalent combination of
moderate- and vigorous-intensity PA
throughout the week for additional
health benefits.
 4. Proven Benefits of PA

1. Helps maintain a healthy body weight,

2. Lowers blood pressure,
3. Decreases the risk of heart disease,
4. Lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes,
5. Reduces the risk of certain cancers,
6. Increases muscle strength and function,
7. Improves bone health and strength,
8. Helps to promote positive mental health
9. Reduces the risk of dementia
….

https://www.eufic.org/en/healthy-living/article/9-proven-benefits-of-physical-activity
 4.1. Proven Benefits of Physical Activity

1. Helps maintain a healthy body weight

Low physical activity can increase someone’s risk of becoming
overweight or obese. While exercising alone does not necessarily
lead to weight loss, in combination with a balanced calorie-
controlled diet, it can support successful weight reduction. In
addition, there is evidence that regular physical activity can help
maintan in a healthy body weight over time.

2. Lowers blood pressure

High blood pressure (or hypertension) is a risk factor for many
diseases, particularly stroke and heart disease. Regular physical
activity can increase your hearts strength, which reduces the effort
needed to pump blood around the body. This decreases the force on
your arteries, reducing blood pressure. There is good evidence that
regular physical activity helps maintain a healthy blood pressure. 1, 3
4.2. Proven Benefits of Physical Activity
3. Decreases the risk of heart disease
Regular exercise, especially aerobic exercise, such as brisk
walking, running and cycling, has been shown to reduce the
risk of developing heart disease. 1, 3 This benefit is observed for
people of all body sizes. People with overweight
or obesity who are physically active are far less likely to get
heart disease compared to those who aren’t.

4. Lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes

Exercise is known to help in the regulation of blood sugar
levels and improves our bodies sensitivity to insulin. Physical
inactivity, on the other hand, has been consistently shown to
increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. 1, 3 Furthermore,
regular exercise is often recommended to people with diabetes
to aid in their control of blood sugar levels.
4.3. Proven Benefits of Physical Activity
5. Reduces the risk of certain cancers
Cancer is a complex disease influenced by many
controllable (e.g. smoking, unhealthy diet, high alcohol
consumption) and uncontrollable (e.g. genetics, radiation,
environmental pollutants) factors. Evidence suggests that
regular moderate to vigorous exercise can help reduce our
risk of developing certain types of cancers, including
colon, colorectal, lung and breast cancers. 1, 4
4.4. Proven Benefits of Physical Activity
6. Increases muscle strength and function
Skeletal muscle serves many functions, it helps maintain posture,
controls movement and generates body heat. As we age, our
muscle mass tends to decrease, often due to a more sedentary
lifestyle. This loss of muscle mass can reduce our mobility and
increase our risk of falls and muscular diseases such
as sarcopenia. 5 Regular exercise, particularly resistance training
(such as lifting weights or bodyweight exercises such as squats and
push-ups) can help improve muscle strength and resilience and
reduce our risk of muscular disorders like sarcopenia. 3, 5

7. Improves bone health and strength

Weight-bearing exercise (e.g. running, dancing), as well as
resistance training, have been shown to improve bone density in
adolescents and help maintain bone density in adulthood, reducing
the risk of osteoporosis 1 This is particularly important for older
adults and menopausal women as it can help to slow the natural
loss of bone density that occurs with age.
4.5. Proven Benefits of Physical Activity
8. Helps to promote positive mental health
Regular exercise has been shown to have a positive effect on our mental
health and psychological well-being. 1 The exact mechanism for which
exercise benefits our mental health is not fully understood. What is known
is regular exercise can promote the release of endorphins as well as help
relieve stress and promote a healthy sleep pattern, which can all work
together to improve our mood. In addition, there is some evidence to
suggest that exercise may even help in the treatment of depression and
other mental disorders. 6

9. Reduces the risk of dementia

Regular exercise has been consistently shown to protect against cognitive
decline. 1 Although it is still not fully understood how exercise reduces
cognitive decline, recent evidence suggests that the release of proteins
known as neurotrophic factors likely play an important role. These
beneficial factors help promote neuron growth and repair which help
support normal cognitive functioning. 7 This may partly explain why older
adults who remain physically active throughout life have a much lower
risk of developing cognitive disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer's
disease. 7, 8
 Key Facts About Physical Inactivity (PI)
"the biggest public health problem of the 21st century"

• Globally, 1 in 4 adults do not meet the

global recommended levels of PA,
• More than 80% of the world's
adolescent population is insufficiently
PA,
 PI is ranked as the fourth leading risk
factor for global mortality, killing
approximately 3.2 million people (~6% of
the total deaths,
 Research shows that PI kills more people
than smoking, diabetes and obesity
combined.
Figure
Percentage of deaths attributable to low fitness (i.e. inactivity) compared to
smoking (s), diabetes (d) and obesity (o) combined
(in men (m) and women (w)).
https://www.physio-pedia.com/Tackling_Physical_Inactivity:_A_Resource_for_Raising_Awareness_in_Physiotherapists
 Conclusions
ADVICES and GOOD PRACTICE STATEMENTS
• Adults should limit the amount of time spent
being sedentary,
• Replacing sedentary time with PA of any
intensity (including light intensity) provides
health benefits.
• To help reduce the detrimental effects of high
levels of sedentary behaviour on health,
adults should aim to do more than the
recommended levels of moderate- to
vigorous-intensity PA.
• Some PA is better than doing none. By
becoming more active throughout the day in
relatively simple ways, people can easily
achieve the recommended PA levels.
Aerobic PA  Activity in which the body’s large muscles move in a rhythmic
manner for a sustained period of time.
 Aerobic activity – also called endurance activity – improves
cardiorespiratory fitness.
 Examples include walking, running, swimming, and bicycling

Anaerobic PA  Anaerobic physical activity consists of brief intense bursts of

exercise,
 Examples include weightlifting and sprints, where oxygen demand
surpasses oxygen supply

Balance  Static and dynamic exercises that are designed to improve an

training individual’s ability to withstand challenges from postural sway or
destabilizing stimuli caused by self-motion, the environment, or
other objects.

Bone-  PA primarily designed to increase the strength of specific sites in

strengthening bones that make up the skeletal system.
activity  Bone-strengthening activities produce an impact or tension force on
the bones that promotes bone growth and strength.
 Running, jumping rope, and lifting weights are examples of bone-
strengthening activities.
Cardiometabo  The interplay of blood pressure, blood lipids, blood glucose and
lic health insulin on health.

Cardiorespirat  A health-related component of physical fitness.

ory  The ability of the circulatory and respiratory systems to supply
fitness (endur oxygen during sustained physical activity.
ance)  Usually expressed as measured or estimated maximal oxygen
uptake (VO2 max).

Cognitive  Cerebral activities, i.e. reasoning, memory, attention, and language

function that lead to the attainment of information and knowledge. This can
also include learning.

Domains of  Diferent PA levels can be assessed in various domains, including one

physical of more of the following: leisure-time, occupation, education,
activity household and/or transportation.
 Such activities include sports participation, exercise conditioning or
training, and recreational activities such as going for a walk,
dancing, and gardening.
Exercise  A subcategory of PA that is planned, structured, repetitive, and purposeful
in the sense that the improvement or maintenance of one or more
components of physical fitness is the objective. “Exercise” and “exercise
training” frequently are used interchangeably and generally refer to
physical activity performed during leisure time with the primary purpose
of improving or maintaining physical fitness, physical performance, or
health.

Fitness  A measure of the body's ability to function efficiently and effectively in

work and leisure activities, and includes, for example, physical fitness and
cardiorespiratory fitness.
Flexibility  A health- and performance-related component of physical fitness that is
the range of motion possible at a joint. F
 lexibility is specific to each joint and depends on a number of specific
variables including, but not limited to, the tightness of specific ligaments
and tendons.
 Flexibility exercises enhance the ability of a joint to move through its full
range of motion.

Functional  Exercises that can be embedded into everyday tasks to improve lower-
exercises body strength, balance, and motor performance. Examples include tandem
and one-leg stands, squatting, chair stands, toe raises, and stepping over
obstacles.