The Government wants more of us to get up and get active. So what is to be gained from doing so and what are the experts’ tips for avoiding injury? 

Sometimes the Government must feel like a patient parent, knocking on its teenager’s door reminding them for the umpteenth time to get up and do some exercise. There are two good reasons for its wish to see more of us exercising – one is that the latest figures suggest that many of us aren’t getting the recommended amounts of exercise and the other is that evidence abounds to suggest that exercise is essential for our health, from childhood right through to old age.

The Government says that people who exercise can reduce their risk of dying early by 30 per cent and lower their risk of coronary heart disease and stroke by between 20 and 35 per cent. But statistics suggest that only around half of all adults meet the chief medical officer’s guidelines of 150 minutes of physical activity per week, with more than a quarter of adults failing to achieve even 30 minutes of physical activity over seven days. For children and teenagers, the statistics are even worse – only 21 per cent of boys and 16 per cent of girls aged five to 15 are achieving the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day.

An All-Party Commission on Physical Activity, set up in response to what is described as ‘overwhelming evidence’ of the need for action to end the ‘physical inactivity epidemic’ in the UK, produced a report earlier this year calling for, among other things, the creation of a National Action Plan and a public health campaign focused on the benefits of physical activity. Speaking on the release of the report, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Simon Gillespie said: “Physical activity is a vital way of helping lower our risk of coronary heart disease, the UK’s single biggest killer. Put simply, we need to move more.”

Less activity and movement while at work and fewer people using walking as a form of transport are the main culprits for the reduction in people’s energy expenditure since the 1950s, according to John Buckley, professor of Applied Exercise Science at the University of Chester and chair of the International Council of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation. There is, however, some positive news in terms of the numbers of people exercising, he admits. “BHF data actually shows a small increase in people performing more sport and exercise,” he says. “However, this overall does not counter the loss of energy expenditure due to increased sedentary behaviour at home and at work,” he says. “Even those people who are seen to be exercisers and sporty are sitting much more during the rest of their day.”

Aside from people not exercising enough, sitting for too long is cause for concern, as even doing low level exercise, such as standing up, is important, experts believe. “Current evidence shows that people who stand at work for most of their day have a 15 per cent reduced risk of premature death compared to those who sit for most of their day at work,” says Professor Buckley. This is good news for community pharmacy staff – up to a point. “Pharmacy staff will certainly be healthier than other [people working in] occupations which involve most of the day sitting,” says Professor Buckley. This does not mean they can forget about doing aerobic exercise, however. “In order to gain fitness, activity needs to be at least of a moderate intensity,” adds Professor Buckley.

He describes sitting as “the new smoking” and says that, in the UK, the average person spends more than 60 per cent of their waking hours sitting. “Even if you do sessions of good exercise three or four times a week, if for the rest of your waking hours you are sitting, it’s a bit like being a ‘smoking exerciser’,” he warns. This ties in with research carried out at the University of Leicester, which suggests that those who sit for long periods have a two-fold increase in their risk of diabetes, heart disease and death, independent of how much physical activity they undertake.

Ways of reducing sitting time include having meetings standing up, taking a walk during the lunch break and cutting down on sedentary activities such as watching TV. The research, which combined the results of 18 studies, was published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association of the Study of Diabetes.

Active advantages

Reducing sedentary time would appear to be a good starting point, but there is plenty of research to show that physical activity can bring huge health benefits – at all stages in life. The Government’s advice is that adults aged 19 to 64 should aim to do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity, or a combination of the two. They should also aim to do muscle strengthening activities on at least two days – of a kind that works all the major muscle groups. The BHF says that if 150 minutes of physical activity a week seems a lot, it is okay to break this into 10 minute sessions throughout the day and to build from there.

Inspiring people to try out more inventive ways to be active could be the answer for people who might not be fond of traditional games and sports, says Julie Ward, a senior cardiac nurse at the BHF. “It’s important,” she says, “to make people more aware of the levels of activity they should be aiming for and to target the groups who are least physically active, such as adolescent girls.”

The benefits of exercise are there for the taking. It is credited with significantly reducing the risk of a whole range of health issues, including type 2 diabetes, cancer, dementia and depression. It is also important for heart health. “The evidence available suggests that being overweight or obese increases your risk of developing coronary heart disease,” says Julie. “Keeping physically active can help you maintain the healthy weight that can help to reduce your risk. It is also worth remembering that physical activity plays a role in reducing high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. These are significant risk factors for coronary heart disease and lifethreatening events such as a heart attack or stroke.”

People can do dynamic stretches as part of their warm ups and static stretches afterwards

 

The health benefits of exercise continue throughout life. Older people who do at least 25 minutes of moderate or vigorous exercise every day need fewer prescriptions and are less likely to be admitted to hospital in an emergency, research has revealed. The study, based at the Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences at the University of Bristol, looked at more than 200 people with an average age of 78. It found that those who did less than 25 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity, such as walking quickly, cycling or swimming, had 50 per cent more prescriptions over the following four to five years than those who were more active.

“Moderate to vigorous physical activity is any activity that raises the heart rate and makes you feel out of breath,” says Dr Bethany Simmonds, a research fellow and an academic with an interest in ageing, health and wellbeing at the University of Bristol, who was lead author of the research. “The forms of moderate to vigorous physical activity that could be recommended for the older age group, depending on functional ability and preference, would be brisk walking or walking the dog; dancing; gardening; active playing with children such as grandchildren; playing sport such as doubles tennis; or doing housework or domestic chores.”

Dr Simmonds says she would like to see more community-based physical activity groups being developed and led by older people. “The implications of this would be that being physically and socially active in later life would be normalised. This would have an impact on individuals’ health and wellbeing in later life, encourage other people in later life to be physically active and lessen the burden of health service usage in the NHS.”

Even if you do sessions of good exercise three or four times a week, if for the rest of your waking hours you are sitting, it’s a bit like being a smoking exerciser

Too much of a good thing?

It is worth remembering that when it comes to exercise, more is better “only up to a point”, says Professor Buckley. “If people expend more than 2,500 calories per week and/or participate in more than 250 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise, there is an increasing risk of illness – typically, immune responsiveness declines and there are heightened chances of musculoskeletal injury,” he says. “It must be remembered that training and performing for athletic competition is a hazardous occupation – this level of work is required for the job, but is not necessarily health promoting.”

Further information

• Arthritis Research UK has a booklet called Keep Moving as well as exercise advice for those with arthritis on its website 
• For more information on getting or staying active, visit the British Heart Foundation website.