How Does Physical Activity Affect Your Health?

Being physically active is incredibly important for your physical and mental health. This was particularly highlighted during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, where many people increased sedentary behaviour, became less active and increased their food and alcohol consumption – leading to poor physical and mental health, with a 25% increase in anxiety and depression worldwide.

For an expat with a busy schedule, finding the time to exercise can be challenging, but there is an infinite wealth of evidence to show that finding that time is vital. As we all know, exercise is good for the body and the mind – it can reduce your risk of major illnesses, lower your risk of early death and best of all it’s free! But, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach and there are lots of factors that should influence a person’s approach.

What are the benefits of physical activity?

How does physical activity affect your health? Regular exercises can increase the production of hormones that make you feel happier and help you sleep better. There is also a side benefit of helping control weight, which becomes more difficult as you get older due to your metabolism slowing down.

A few hours of moderate-intensity physical exercise each week also lowers the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer and colon cancer. Trying to fit in exercise when you are working full time can have a massive impact on how you feel.

The US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that the risk of endometrial and lung cancer is lower in people who exercise regularly than in those who don’t.

This is backed up by the results of a long-term study by University of Minnesota researchers. They gave questionnaires to 36,929 cancer-free women from Iowa, and then followed them for 16 years. They found that the women with high exercise levels were less likely to develop lung cancer than those with low exercise levels.

The Australian study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that aerobic exercises, resistance training and less-strenuous forms of exercise such as T’ai Chi, a traditional Chinese martial art, all had positive effects on different parts of the brain’s functions ranging from the ability to organise and plan, to reading and reasoning.

The authors of that study examined 36 wide-ranging studies and found that exercising moderately for around an hour on as many days as possible improved memory and thinking skills of those aged over 50.

How long should I exercise for?

How does physical activity affect your health? Britain’s National Health Service recommends different sorts of exercise for different ages. It says children under the age of five should be physically active for at least 3 hours a day; this includes walking, playing outside, chasing balls, playing in water or riding a bicycle.

However, healthy adults should do a minimum 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity each week as well as strength exercises that focus on the major muscles groups of your body such as legs, abdomen and back.

Findings suggest that being sedentary (sitting still) for 9.5 hours or more a day (excluding sleep time) is associated with an increased risk of death.

It’s recommended to do a mix of cardio and strength training exercises each week. How often you work our will depend on your experience with fitness and the time you have available. It’s best to start with a small goal and gradually increase your activity. You should also choose activities that you enjoy the most, as this will make it easier and more fun to add into your weekly routine.

What are moderate and intensive forms of exercise?

Moderate aerobic activity can reduce your risk of ill health, enhance your mental health and well-being and help you to maintain a health body weight.

Moderate aerobic activities can include:

• fast walking
• gentle swimming
• cleaning (vacuuming, mopping)
• mowing the lawn

This kind of activity can easily be incorporated into a normal day.

Your heart rate needs to be raised to have an affect on your health, so shopping and slow walking unfortunately won’t count.

Vigorous or intensive physical activity provides further health benefits to moderate activity. Your heart will beat faster and your breathing rate will also increase.

Types of activities that require vigorous effort include:

• running
• hiking
• playing sports such as tennis and football

Do some activities bring particular benefits to over 50s?

Low impact aerobic exercise and bone-strengthening activities can slow down the natural decline in bone density which occurs as a person ages.

This reduces the risk of chronic conditions such as osteoporosis and arthritis, according to the CDC. The organisation says that doing just two hours of moderate exercise a week lowers the risk of hip fracture and improves the quality of life for people living with arthritis.

For the over 50s, these lower weight-bearing and impact options help to reduce the risk of bone injuries or breakages, which is often higher in the older generation.

Wherever you go, go with total peace of mind

At William Russell, we have over 30 years’ experience of helping expatriates finding best places in the world to move abroad and settle into their new lives overseas by providing world-class international health insurance. Plus, we produce lots of expert material to help you and your family adapt to life abroad.

Making the move to another country can be challenging. But no matter where you go, you can take one thing off your mind. William Russell offers international health insurance that covers you for everything from minor injuries to long hospital stays, and we can even offer medical evacuations to patients who require treatment in other countries where it’s not available locally.

This article is part of our series of guides to expat life. It’s just for general information, and we don’t provide professional advice on keeping fit and healthy when working full time or moving abroad (we’re an expat insurance provider). We update this article regularly to keep it useful as possible, but if you want to know more – please seek independent advice.