From our experience at WCH, the clients who have adequate levels of physical activity in their average week tend to be much healthier than those who do not exercise enough. The reasons why physical activity is so important to health are many and varied. In short, physical activity acts to:
· Reduce levels of body fat, particularly in those with predominantly abdominal fat
· Lower blood pressure
· Raise the levels of HDL or ‘protective’ cholesterol, which acts to protect the arteries from clogging
· Lower the levels of LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol, which acts to clog the arteries
· Lower the risk of developing diabetes, by improving glucose clearance from the blood into the body’s cells thereby lowering fasting blood glucose levels
These effects all add up to lower your risk of developing an artery blockage that may lead to a myocardial infarction (‘heart attack’).
Healthy Body Fat Levels
The main focus of exercise is to maintain body fat levels within a ‘healthy’ range. Being ‘overfat’ increases the risk of heart disease. Having a high proportion of your fat stored around your belly increases the risk of heart disease even further. It appears that abdominal fat, termed visceral fat (as opposed to the fat just under the skin such as the ‘love handles’ or ‘pinch-able fat’), greatly affects glucose and cholesterol metabolism, leading to higher risk of diabetes and an assortment of defects known as Metabolic Syndrome.
It is better to have a ‘pear’ (with fat stores mainly on the hips and thighs) than an ‘apple’ (fat stored around the middle). Common-sense can often be used to tell if you are gaining weight, such as when you move up a pant size or notice an increase in fat around the stomach or hips.
A simple test of whether you are ‘overfat’ is to measure your abdominal girth (around the level of your belly button). A girth above 102cm for males indicates a greatly increased risk of developing conditions such as diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and high blood pressure.
The Fat Loss Formula
There is a simple formula to long-term fat loss:
Calories Burned > Calories Eaten
Too often a sudden loss of weight will be followed by a subsequent rebound in weight once the initial hard work has been done and the good habits have started to slip. In addition, sudden weight loss may not be solely due to a loss of body fat but, (especially when dieting) may also be loss of muscle and body water. Losing muscle and body water does nothing to improve your health, even if your weight may have dropped.
Think Long-term!
Fat loss needs to be viewed as a marathon rather than a sprint – “I need to change to a healthier lifestyle involving regular aerobic exercise and a balanced diet, and keep this going for the rest of my life!”
After this gradual transition to a healthier lifestyle, and hopefully a reduction in your body fat levels, the challenge now becomes arguably harder – keeping it off for good!
Exercise is crucial to long-term weight loss. While a good, balanced diet may limit calorie intake, the body in response often may decide to limit weight loss by slowing down the metabolic rate, an inbuilt mechanism to limit this sudden decrease in energy stores. Recent research has found ghrelin, a hormone released from the gastro-intestine, to play a big role in the rebound weight gain. Regular exercise helps to maintain the body’s metabolic rate and therefore increase the ‘calories burned’ side of the equation.
The message is to do a little bit more each day, whether it be taking the stairs at work, taking a walk during lunch time or even joining a social sports competition.
What is the best type of exercise for health benefits?
The two main types of exercise are aerobic and resistance. Aerobic exercise includes walking, jogging, cycling and swimming. Resistance or weights training should be used complementary to aerobic exercise.
The respective health benefits of aerobic exercise and resistance exercise.
Resistance exercise has similar health benefits to aerobic exercise leading to a reduction in coronary risk factors. While aerobic exercise has a direct effect on fat loss by burning calories during the exercise bout, resistance exercise acts to increase lean body mass and increase metabolism thereby indirectly lowering body fat levels.
What intensity gives optimal health benefits?
Optimal exercise intensity depends on what health benefits you are after—losing body fat or improving cardiovascular fitness.
The optimal intensity for losing fat is controversial—is lower intensity better than higher intensity? The optimal rate of fat ‘burning’ occurs at a lower intensity, such as a brisk walk. For the average 80kg male, a 60 minute walk would burn ~ 400kCal including 20grams of fat. A higher intensity 30 minute run may similarly burn ~400 kCal but only ~12 grams of fat, due to a reliance on carbohydrate as the main energy source. But when taking into account total energy expenditure and fat burning over the course of a 24-hr period after the exercise bout, it appears there is little difference between the two intensities.
So, if your limiting factor when exercising is the time you have available, try to exercise at the highest intensity that can be comfortably maintained, whether that be 15 minutes or 45 minutes. However, if time is not an obstacle, the low-moderate intensity exercise sessions of long duration (e.g. 60 minutes+) are still recommended.
Women burn fat at a faster rate than men (after taking into account body size) and require a slightly higher exercise intensity to achieve optimal fat burning. Fasting before exercise also helps to optimise fat burning during the bout, due to having low carbohydrate stores in the body. However, since glucose is the sole energy source for the brain, you may feel more fatigued and lethargic. It’s the classic trade-off—burn more fat but feel lousier while doing it!
If cardiovascular fitness is your goal, a moderate-high intensity is best. Again, a trade-off occurs. High intensity gives greater cardiovascular benefits but has a higher risk of injury and need for adequate recovery.
Secret to Regular Exercise
Find exercises you enjoy and want to do week-in, week-out for life. Exercise should not be viewed as a chore but as an opportunity to a healthier life. So choose ‘fun’ activities.
For more information
Wesley Corporate Health
Level 2 / 46 Edward Street
Brisbane Qld 4000
Phone: 07 3234 2600
Email: info@weshealth.com.au
Disclaimer
This Fact Sheet is provided for your information only and does not replace qualified medical advice. The information provided may not apply to every person or all situations. A medical practitioner should be consulted for all treatment and medication.
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