Regular physical activity improves lung function, improves bone mineralization to prevent osteoporosis, improves fat tissue metabolism and reduces the risk of obesity. Regular physical activity significantly improves cognitive abilities and reduces the risk of depression and anxiety. It reduces the risk of Alzheimer's dementia. Improves sleep quality.

What does physical activity mean and how to dose it? The more the better? What will movement bring me? Is aimless movement enough or do I have to engage in sports?

Physical activity can be carried out as part of free time (games, exercise, sports), transport (bicycle, walking, wheelchair), housework or movement at work. All this is movement. Whether you take the stairs instead of the elevator, move boxes, enjoy luxury, do sports, take care of the garden or are on the playground with the children. Every move counts and doesn't need to be complicated to plan or prepare for. Adults should do at least 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, or at least 75-150 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise per week to maintain their health.

Moderate intensity means movement during which we are out of breath, sweat slightly, but it is still possible to talk without interruption ( 3-5.9 MET - metabolic equivalent ) - e.g. fast walking, slow running, slow cycling. Adults should do moderate to heavy intensity strength training that involves all major muscle groups 2 or more times per week. The exercise should involve at least 6 large muscle groups (shoulders, back muscles, arms, buttocks, thighs, calves).

The more the better, but with caution

The benefits of physical activity increase, whatever the intensity. Anything is better than nothing! We can see the greatest positive impact precisely in the area of medium intensity and duration between 150-300 minutes per week. See below. It seems that with duration and frequency, the positive effects do indeed continue to increase, but no longer so markedly, and therefore the gain from high doses of movement is relatively smaller. There is a gradual increase in the risks of acute or long-term damage to the organism.

A greater amount of physical activity reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, cancer, the occurrence of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, while not increasing the risk for these diseases.

The benefits outweigh the risks!

Regular exercise reduces the risk of premature death in general, including death from cardiovascular disease. Diseases of the heart and blood vessels are the most common cause of all adult deaths in the world. Movement lowers blood pressure, lowers the likelihood of type 2 diabetes, lowers the risk of colorectal cancer and breast cancer. New research surprisingly shows that a higher level of physical activity reduces the risk of bladder cancer, endometrial cancer, esophageal adenocarcinoma, stomach and kidney cancer.

Regular physical activity improves lung function, improves bone mineralization to prevent osteoporosis, improves fat tissue metabolism and reduces the risk of obesity. Regular physical activity significantly improves cognitive abilities and reduces the risk of depression and anxiety. It reduces the risk of Alzheimer's dementia. Improves sleep quality.

With every physical activity comes the risk of injury to the ligamentous-muscular apparatus, the risk of fractures or the development of arthrosis of the knee or hip joints. Sudden cardiac complications are not frequent and are associated rather with high intensity of movement or are sudden events. Overall, it can be said that the risk arising from physical activity of medium intensity is very small, as well as from a careful, gradual and slow increase in the frequency of intensity and duration of the load.

It doesn't matter the type of activity

It is good to include strength training at least twice a week, but it is not sufficiently proven how long it should last. It is also not entirely clear whether the effects of organized sport or regular physical activity differ, so it is better to stick with the idea that any movement counts. In men, we even know about a higher risk of developing osteoarthritis, poor sleep quality and an increased risk of all causes of death with high physical activity at work.

Movement is therefore the basis of a healthy lifestyle and is a cure for many diseases. At CPM, we can offer diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the musculoskeletal system, which could be an obstacle to the inclusion of exercise in your life.

We offer a multidisciplinary and holistic approach to your health in both prevention and therapy. We offer solutions for short-term difficulties as well as diagnosis and gradual correction of chronic movement habits that can lead to injuries. Cooperation with leading experts allows us to offer an overall view of diseases of the locomotor system and propose their therapy.

Medical care, physiotherapy care and device rehabilitation are not the only things we offer you in the area of movement. We have experienced professional trainers at our disposal who, according to your difficulties and type of sport, will help you put together your exercise program. Furthermore, diagnosis of running, within the framework of sports medicine, diagnosis of lung and circulatory functions and the possibility of increasing your sports performance.

Movement is important to you and we know it!

Note: the information was drawn from the 2020 WHO recommendations for physical activity in adult patients. An interesting point in which the recommendations differ is the duration of individual movement blocks. From the available sources, it appears that every movement really counts, that it is not necessary to count even movement lasting more than 10 minutes in order to take advantage of all the positive effects of movement on the human organism. The body benefits from movement of any duration.

Resources:

WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behavior. Geneva: World Health ORganization, 2020. License : CC BY-NC- SA 3.0 IGO.