The 6 Pillars Of Wellbeing: Exercise

To celebrate our recent partnership with Betterspace, we are going to be sharing ways in which you can improve your mental health and wellbeing using some of the tools and resources available through their platform. Betterspace give you personalised recommendations based on 6 pillars – Sleep, Stress Management, Social Connections, Exercise, Helping Others or Meaningful Activity, and Nutrition. Each week we’ll dive into one of the pillars, exploring why it’s important alongside some ideas for what you can do to ensure you are managing it as well as you can. This week we’ll be delving into the medicinal wonder of movement.

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Medicating Through Movement

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What’s one thing that vaccines, vitamin D and exercise have in common? They all work on the notion that prevention is better than cure. Modern medicine is a marvel when it comes to acute healthcare emergencies, but as far as chronic concerns and protection through preventive lifestyle measures go - the power is largely in your hands.

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While some of us may have active, manual jobs, the large majority will be sitting at desks all day - meaning that the bulk of your life is spent either asleep or sitting down. If not managed correctly, this can have a multitude of knock-on effects, from poor posture and physical health, to increased inflammation and low mental wellbeing.

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Exercise is already well-known to improve mental health by alleviating anxiety, depression, and negative mood through the release of feel-good chemicals such as endorphins and endocannabinoids. The physical effects of better strength and fitness also work to raise self-esteem, improve relationships to dieting and social connections, and positively impact cognitive function.

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Other benefits include better sleep, more energy and stronger resilience. Mental wellbeing does not have a single universal definition, but it does encompass factors such as: feeling connection to our community and surroundings, feeling good about ourselves, coping with the ups and downs of life, having control and freedom over our lives and having a sense of purpose or feeling valued.

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Of course, mental wellbeing does not mean being happy all the time, and it does not mean that you won’t experience negative or painful emotions, such as grief, loss, or failure, which are a part of normal life. However, whatever your age, being physically active can help you to lead a mentally healthier life and can improve your wellbeing.

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Therefore, when we make small and simple changes to take better care of our physical health, the effects ripple out to impact our work, family relationships and society at large. Taking care of yourself and creating good daily habits to make wellbeing centre stage, is the single most efficient way of creating positive holistic effects on almost all other aspects of your life.

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Solutions To Sedentary Sedation

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So what type of exercise should be prescribed, and how what is the dosage? Doing just 30 minutes or more of exercise a day for three to five days a week has been shown to significantly improve depression and anxiety symptoms. But even smaller amounts including as little as 10-15 minutes at a time can stimulate physiological changes that make a difference.

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Although it may not sound like a lot given that there are 24 hours in the day, this is still something that most people struggle with, in large part because our lives are built around convenience and being sedentary. Making changes requires motivation and pro-activity, but it’s best to start with small daily goals, as opposed to aiming too high, too fast.

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Instead of signing up for an expensive gym membership and berating yourself for failing to find the time to use it more than once a month, you could walk or cycle to work instead of taking the car, opt for the stairs over the elevator, or wake up just 30 minutes earlier to squeeze in a few short yoga stretches before work. Any activity that raises your heart rate, makes you breathe faster, and makes you feel warmer counts towards your exercise.

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If the accountability that comes with gym classes is more your thing, the Lancet Psychiatry Study found that high-intensity aerobic exercise profoundly helped to improve good mental health. This includes activities such as using the stair master or elliptical machines. Taking small initial steps instigates the first beneficial rewards needed to create positive momentum. When you start to see and feel the difference that just a few changes are having on your life, you’ll be compelled to create space for more.

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We need to change the way we view physical activity in the UK in order not to see it as something we ‘have to do’, ‘should do’ or ‘ought to do’ for our health, but as something that we do because we personally value its positive benefits to our wellbeing. This is the most sustainable way to keep going.

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As well as sport and daily physical activity, exercise also includes play - unstructured activity that is done for fun or enjoyment. As adults, re-learning the art of play is vital to greater wellbeing. When was the last time you did something purely for the sake of enjoying it? As opposed to trying to learn, achieve or improve something. The art of play is brought back through rediscovering your creative passions in life. And for families, one of the key benefits to having children is that it re-awakens the inner child within us. Making exercise fun rather than something you have to do can be a motivator to keep it up.

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Active Ageing

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Shifting our perspectives when it comes to our priorities and making more time for self-care and mental health, benefits us in both the present and the future. Improvements in healthcare have led to an increasing life expectancy and a growing population of people over 65 years. Alongside this increase in life expectancy, there has been an increase in the number of people living with dementia and in people with cognitive decline. The main symptom of dementia is memory loss; it is a progressive disease that results in people becoming more impaired over time.

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Decline in cognitive functions, such as attention and concentration, also occurs in older people, including those who do not develop dementia. Physical activity has been identified as a protective factor in studies that examined risk factors for dementia. For people who have already developed the disease, physical activity can help to delay further decline in functioning. Studies show that there is approximately a 20% to 30% lower risk of depression and dementia for adults participating in daily physical activity. Physical activity also seems to reduce the likelihood of experiencing cognitive decline in people who do not have dementia.

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Our pill-popping culture can be rampant and fast paced, leading to quick-fix solutions that seek to mask symptoms instead of fixing the root causes. Physical activity can be an alternative treatment for depression. It can be used as a standalone treatment or in combination with medication and/or psychological therapy. It has few side effects and does not have the stigma that some people perceive to be attached to taking antidepressants or attending psychotherapy and counselling. It is also available to all, has few costs attached, and is an empowering approach that can support self-management.

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Creating A Better Space

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Once you have decided that you want to be more physically active, there are a few points worth thinking about. Apart from improving your physical and mental wellbeing, what else do you want to get out of being active?

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Ask yourself whether you’d prefer being indoors or out, doing a group or individual activity, or trying a new sport. If you’re put off by sporty exercises, or feel uninspired at the thought of limiting yourself to just one activity, think outside the box and remember that going on a walk, doing housework, and gardening are all physical activities. Also, would you rather go it alone or do an activity with a friend? Social support is a great motivator, and sharing your experiences, goals and achievements will help you to keep focus and enthusiasm.

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It can be a bit scary making changes to your life, and most people get anxious about trying something new. Some common barriers, such as cost, injury or illness, lack of energy, fear of failure, or even the weather can hinder people from getting started; however, practical and emotional support from friends, family and experts really does help.

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Body image can also act as a barrier to participating in physical activity. People who are anxious about how their body will look to others while they are exercising may avoid exercise as a result. For women, attending a female-only exercise class or a ladies-only swimming session may help to overcome anxiety as a barrier to initially starting to exercise.

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If physical activity is new to you, it’s best to build up your ability gradually. Focus on task goals, such as improving sport skills or stamina, rather than competition, and keep a record of your activity and review it to provide feedback on your progress. There are many apps and social networks accessible for free to help.

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One such platform is Betterspace. BetterSpace is the employee wellbeing platform that outperforms traditional corporate mental health programmes by up to 90%. Employees complete a simple and confidential wellbeing assessment, which allows Betterspace to curate a personalised set of wellbeing recommendations, including apps, services and activities.

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For example, through Betterspace you can gain access to fitness recommendations including GoodGym, Lupa Run and the Nike Training Club. GoodGym are a community of runners that combine getting fit with doing good - giving you good reason to run. Similarly, Lupa Run seek to personalise the running experience using technology and mindfulness to help you better reach your goals, while the Nike Running Club allows access to over 190 virtual workouts if your preference is for the convenience of being able to workout from home.

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This is greater for businesses of all sizes, as it makes taking care of employees who are at the core of your company simple, easy and affordable. For employees this is a great space to get started, especially if you are in need of a little accountability, inspiration and personalisation. The  platform has been developed with medical and domain expertise and is aligned to ‘Six Pillars of Wellbeing’, an evidence-based methodology, so the benefits aren’t limited to exercise alone.

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The best part about such platforms is that it also helps you to track progress and goals, while making it effortless and fun. In a post-pandemic world, there is no doubt that people’s priorities and values have changed. Overall there has been a shift towards greater work-life balance, alongside fulfilment and a move towards meaning. External incentives alone such as bonuses and free insurance are no longer cutting it, people do not want to buy back their health.

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Prevention is better than cure, and given that most of us will spend the largest chunk of our lives at work, it’s here that all of purpose, passion, creativity and greater wellbeing must be brought together to foster healthier societies, better relationships and a more socially responsible mode of capitalism that will see us into the next era.

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x+why give every member free access to Betterspace. Find out how you can join today.

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