Sport: Small dose, big effects

Even short periods of activity have an impact on our mental and physical health. In this session, we’ll share some tips on which type of training is most efficient in terms of its ‘return on investment’ (ROI).

Here’s how to enjoy the positive effects of physical activity with relatively little effort.

Sport: Small dose, big effects

Exercise has many benefits: being in better physical shape, strengthening the immune system, or increasing self-esteem and the list goes on.

The good news is that there’s no need to spend hours on the treadmill or at the gym to experience these effects. Small doses of exercise throughout the day and week are actually better for us than doing several long training sessions.

We’ve all got at least 10 mins to spare in our day – so get up off that sofa!

Physical activity helps us enjoy better sleep, more resilience, and improved performance – if it really were that simple though, there wouldn’t be so many of us dealing with back issues, obesity and cardiovascular diseases.

So how much exercise do we need to stay healthy?

Rule of thumb: The more we exercise, the greater the benefits for our health. But just how much we need is different for everybody and depends on our physical condition and age.

The World Health Organisation (WHO)’s general recommendation is that we should get at least 2.5 hours of medium-intensity exercise a week. This can be spent walking up stairs, taking a brisk walk, or cycling.

Alternatively, 75 mins/week of high-intensity exercise will do: running, swimming, or strength training. Getting our heart rate up on a regular basis is nothing to be afraid of!

Those who are the least active benefit the most.

For those who do very little to no exercise, the ‘return on investment’ (ROI) principle has the greatest return. Even by doing a little, the health benefits are maximised for this particular demographic.

The more training we do, the more these additional benefits decrease. For example, someone who already runs 50 km or swims 5 hours per week will hardly benefit from even more training.

The dark side of exercise

There can actually be a ‘bad’ side to sport and exercise. Training at the extreme levels required in professional sports like the Olympics can actually damage both the passive and active locomotor system (the system that allows our body to move).

A sport that provides little variation can be bad for the body if continuously repeated multiple times a day.

But unless you’ve got your heart set on making the national team in the near future, there’s no reason to be afraid of building more physical activity into your daily life.

Every step counts!

Let’s come back to the many positive effects of physical activity. After all, a little exercise goes a long way.

If you haven’t got time for spending hours at the gym or your body needs a break even after 5 mins of working out, no worries.

What’s most important is making the effort to be more active. As soon as exercising becomes a habit, it becomes a natural part of your routine. Along the way, you’re also likely to be motivated to try out different types of activities.

Any activity is better than inactivity!

Even if you don’t manage to meet the weekly WHO recommendations, you’ll still benefit from the positive effects of exercising.

Exercise…

… slows the loss of bone mass and reduces the risk of breaking your bones if you fall.

… improves the circulation to the brain, which reduces the risk of suffering from neurological diseases (e.g. dementia) and depression. It also helps you sleep better.

… positively affects your metabolism and cardiovascular system, which reduces the risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases (stroke, high blood pressure, etc.), type 2 diabetes, and lowers blood fat levels.

… reduces the risk of bladder, breast, colon, cervical, esophageal, kidney, lung, and stomach cancer.

All of these benefits can be yours for the low price of 10 mins of exercise a day! Well, if it weren’t for the following catch…

The ‘right’ kind of exercise

The truth is, there’s no such thing as the ‘right’ kind of exercise. After 10-15 mins, any physical activity has its own set of benefits.

There is a rule though, that the heart rate must go up during these short sessions in order to reap the benefits. At the same time, the muscles should be activated with a few targeted exercises (more on that later).

For now, let’s discover what happens in the body after certain periods of physical activity.

Breathing and heart rate

Regular and longer periods of endurance training develop the muscles associated with breathing, among other functions. This helps us make better use of our lung capacity and our breathing becomes more efficient.

Repeated endurance exercises also affect the heart, which forces it to adapt. Our heart volume increases and begins to perform better, boosting the amount of blood it pumps with every beat.

As a result, the heart works less to transport the same amount of blood, and thus oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, hormones and antibodies throughout the body.

Metabolism

During exercise, many of us dream of getting our energy from burning fat right away. Sadly, it isn’t as easy as it seems. Since our bodies are genetically made for maximum efficiency, sugar is the body’s go-to as a first source of energy.

Metabolising or burning fat only takes place once we’ve exercised for a long period of time and our glycogen (sugar) reserves have been exhausted.

Short bouts of exercise are unlikely to have an effect on burning fat. It’s also worth mentioning that our calorie balance is what counts when it comes to reducing fat stores. Only a calorie deficit can lead to lower fat stores.

If you’re really looking to reduce body fat with exercise, consider doing longer and/or more intense training.

Bones, tendons, ligaments, and muscles

When we expose the musculoskeletal system to pressure and tension in strength training and endurance sports, this positively affects our health in many ways.

It improves bone density, which makes the skeleton stronger and helps prevent broken bones. Our tendons and ligaments also become thicker and more flexible.

When we train, the blood circulation to the muscular system improves and provides it with more nutrients. We also build more muscle, which increases our need for energy – not just during the activity, but also at rest.

All this helps prevent injuries and physical ailments.

Training intensity and frequency

It’s a good idea to spread training sessions out over the week rather than doing it all in one shot. After 60 mins of exercise, our cortisol levels become so high that the body is exposed to a lot of stress and we end up experiencing few to no positive effects by training more.

Note that warm-up and cool-down aren’t part of the 60 mins, so it’s best to do a few short training sessions a week rather than attempting to get it all done in one day.

What about intensity?

What’s the recommended intensity for training sessions, especially when they’re over a short period?

Many studies have shown that High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has the same effect as longer periods of moderate running. Although a training session is kept short, the benefits can be balanced out by an increased intensity.

HIIT sessions are just as much about training endurance as they are about training strength. HIIT combines short periods of very intense exertion with less intense periods in under 30 mins.

While high intensity periods have your heart working at 80-100% of its capacity, this goes down to 40-50% during the less intense periods. What’s great about HIIT is that it’s compatible with a host of different sports.

You can sweat just about anywhere: on the treadmill or cross-trainer, while swimming, cycling, or skipping, or simply while out for a run in nature. You can also add strength training to your endurance run or do your workouts at home.

The main thing is that you stick to a plan that involves both high and low intensity.

As you can see, HIIT is simple to do and offers variety.

Are there any other rules?

With these intense training loads, it’s important to start out slowly and ideally, do a 10-min warm-up beforehand. Otherwise, you risk injuring your muscles, tendons, and joints.

Choose the duration of each of the intensity periods and determine how long the entire workout will last. For beginners, 30 secs of high intensity and 60 secs of rest is a good place to start.

Over time, your training will get easier and in about 8-12 weeks, your body will have gotten used to the exertion. Soon, you’ll be able to handle longer periods of intensity and shorter periods of rest.

As with any exercise, don’t exaggerate and always give your body at least 24 hours to recuperate. It’s also important to consider any health issues you may have. Those with cardiovascular issues should definitely seek medical advice before attempting HIIT training.

Enough with the reasons and tips

Get set, go!

Now that you know just how good even short periods of physical exercise can be, there’s nothing left to hold you back!

If you want to enjoy better mental and physical health, there’s no getting around exercise.

For extra motivation, find yourself a partner and get moving together!