Exercise & Movement — Prioritizing Your Health and Well-being

Exercise & Movement: Thinking Outside the Gym

There’s nothing easier to place at the bottom of our to-do lists than exercise and movement. We’d love to, we tell ourselves, but there’s just not enough time in the day. The problem with that is there are also few things more important to our well-being than getting up regularly and moving around.

So, our definition of exercise needs a refresh. When we hear the word exercise, we think of going to the gym, running a 5K, or lifting heavy weights. These are all perfectly healthy and valid pursuits, but for many of us, for various reasons, they’re just never going to happen. A narrow definition of exercise only makes it easier to avoid. But when we think of exercise simply as movement, it becomes something that we can much more easily incorporate into our day.

Learn:

Explore the science of well-being and the connection between our physical and mental resilience

Exercise is scientifically linked to lowered stress levels, improved brain function, and a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s disease later in life.

A study published in Health Psychology suggests that our mindsets about our fitness affects how fit we actually are.

Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 7.54.42 AM.png — Science shows the value of even small bursts of physical activity.

One study looking at 1.2 million people in the US found that people who exercised regularly reported 1.5 fewer poor mental health days than those who didn't. Another study, published in 2017 in the British Medical Journal, found that people who regularly biked to work decreased their risk of cancer and heart disease by 45% and 46%.

One study found that, regardless of actual physical activity, respondents who identified as less active had a 71% higher increased risk of early death than participants who identified as more active. In addition to causal factors, like the placebo effect and the fact that feeling less active than others can lead to stress and depression, the researchers say the findings illustrate a clear connection between our mindsets, our motivation, and our health outcomes.

For example, a study recently published in The British Medical Journal indicates that while both moderate workouts and short bursts of high-intensity exercise have health benefits, short bursts of movement helped participants get more fit, and increased their quality of life.

Additional Resources

ARTICLES

Small Ways to Stay Active When You’re Short on Time

4 Ways to Maximize the Benefits of 10 Minutes Outside

The Connection Between Movement and Mental Health

3 Phrases That Will Transform the Way You Look at Movement

How Your Brain and Body Benefit From a Quick Stretch Break

VIDEOS

Treat Your Body Like a Friend

Try This Easy Seated Stretch

The Key to Staying Active: Shifting Your Mindset

Reflect:

Uncover limiting mindsets and replace them with growth-driven mindsets and positive beliefs that support the creation of new habits and sustainable behavior change

We often think of our physical and mental health as being somehow separate, but they’re deeply interconnected. The benefits of physical activity are as good for our minds as they are for our bodies.

Movement makes us more creative, allows us to disconnect, and recharges us. If you want more energy, simply expend some by moving. Another obstacle that gets in the way of movement is the idea that it has to be exercise, and that you have to be an exercise person to do it. But when we think of exercise simply as movement, it becomes something that we can all do.