The benefits of physical activity that gives you good health and strong muscles. They can strengthen the heart, and lift the spirit

The benefits of exercice are usually measured  in terms of strong muscles and improved cardiovascular fitness. But recent research suggests that even simple at home exercises can do wonders for your mental and emotional outlook. Researchers found that at home exercises can help people with coronary heart disease feel more hopeful about their future. This is especially important, as hopelessness is associated with worsening heart disease and death. The study was presented at the American Heart Association’s scientific sessions. The benefits of exercise include the natural boost in ‘feel-good’ chemicals in the brain, increased energy and fitness, and the sense that you are taking control of your health, says Leslie Cho, MD, co-section head of Preventive Cardiology and Rehabilitation at Cleveland Clinic. “Exercise increases the body’s natural mood enhancers, which help patients,” Dr Cho says. “But most of all, it helps with theoverall sense of well-being.”


Physical and mental health : depression and anxiety following a diagnosis of heart disease or a procedure such as stenting or bypass surgery. Researchers noted that there has been considerable research linking hopelessness and depression with poor outcomes for heart patients. But because there has been relatively little research on ways to eliminate hopeless feelings, the researchers set out to
measure the emotional benefits of home-based exercise and cardiac rehab. “An integral part of cardiac rehab is stress and depression management,” Dr Cho says. “Some programmes teach meditation and how to do behaviour modification.” Interestingly, while hospital-based cardiac rehab led to numerous health improvements, researchers found that a home-based exercise programme appeared
to do a better job at relieving feelings of hopelessness. The researchers suggest that this may be due to the initiative and self-discipline required to exercise on your own. Heart patients who were motivated enough to walk or bike outside of a formal rehab programme may have been more inclined to take control of their health. Researchers suggest that a patient’s level of hopelessness and overall mental health be evaluated before he or she is discharged from a hospital. Patients who appear to be moderately or severely depressed may need special encouragement to participate in cardiac rehab as well as homebased exercise. Because of their depressed or hopeless mood, these people may be the most likely to avoid exercise, though they could actually benefit the most from more physical activity. In addition, the researchers found that people who are severely hopeless following a heart attack or heart disease diagnosis may be hopeless in other areas of their lives and may often benefit from mental health therapy. 


How much exercise is needed? In the study, patients who walked or biked at least three days a week reduced their hopelessness scores (as measured by questionnaires created by the researchers) by an average of 12%. The idea that just a little exercise can afford you noticeable benefits was also underscored in a separate research published recently in BMJ. Researchers found that while the standard goal of exercising at least 150 minutes a week is still ideal, even small amounts of physical activity each day may actually lead to a lower mortality risk. The researchers reported that many sedentary or older adults find that recommendations to exercise 30 to 40 minutes most days of the week make them feel as though they are “being pushed too hard.” And rather than work up to exercising at least 150 minutes a week, many adults instead don’t exercise at all. A better strategy, the researchers found, is to
encourage adults to increase their activity levels a little every day. Small incremental
increases in exercise can be promoted in a slowly progressive manner. The researchers insist that at least 30 minutes of daily exercise is a good target, but that the more important message is that some exercise is better than no exercise. They also note that the old adage, “It’s never too late to start,” holds true for exercise. If you’ve been sedentary for years, you can still reap benefits from even a little more exercise every day. The researchers also found that once people started exercising more, they wanted to do more on their own. Many people find that increases in energy, better sleep, weight loss and the other positive benefits that come from exercise are incentives to increase their activity levels.