“Nothing is so strong as gentleness and nothing is so gentle as real strength
” - Ralph Sockman
As the 14th Earl of Derby is reported to have said "He who cannot find the time for exercise will later have to find the time for illness". Potential areas to cover in this chapter include: Proportion of death & illness due to lack of activity. Relevance to mental disorders. Prevalence of inactivity & changes over time. Relevance of HIIT. Relevance of extended sitting. How much exercise needed. Value of strength training too – suggestions.
Note there are already a number of resources available on this website that are relevant for "Exercise". These include the cluster of downloadable questionnaires & handouts available in the "Good Knowledge" section's "Exercise & light" folder. There are also a series of blog posts I have written over the years that still contain interesting information about exercise. These include slides 68 to 75 in the presentation freely downloadable from "Biological treatments update for psychotherapists", "New NICE guidance on promoting physical activity using brief advice", "C25K - couch to 5 km: NHS web resources for getting 'just about anyone off the couch and running 5 km in 9 weeks'", "Commitment contracts: another good way of helping us reach our goals", "15 minutes of exercise daily reduces mortality by 14% - and each additional 15 minutes gives 4% additional mortality benefit", "Exercise 1: checking it's safe to start", "Exercise 2: UK Department of Health, resources for assessment & advice", "Exercise 3: US Department of Health & Human Services, resources for assessment & advice", "Exercise 4: pedometers can help us walk more", "Exercise 5: the recommendation to do strengthening exercises", "Exercise 6: where can I do what?", "Assessing and encouraging enjoyable activities", "Would you like to be 14 years younger - it's largely a matter of choice!", "Common sense isn't common" & "Does healthy lifestyle really make a difference?". If you visit any of these links, it's worth noting the date when the post was first published. It's still likely the information in the post is of interest, but ... especially with those published a few years ago ... there will probably have been subsequent research studies throwing further light on the areas being discussed.
And some interesting more recent research studies published in 2018 include important work on the detrimental effects of increasing fat mass alongside the beneficial effects of increasing muscle mass - "Predicted lean body mass, fat mass, and all cause and cause specific mortality in men: prospective US cohort study" - include 2018's "Physical activity and personality development over twenty years: Evidence from three longitudinal samples", "The effects of exercise on sexual function in women", "Physical activity and incident depression: A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies", "Emotional intelligence impact on half marathon finish times","Midlife cardiovascular fitness and dementia: A 44-year longitudinal population study in women", "Exercise for cognitive brain health in aging", "Dementia And Physical Activity (DAPA) trial of moderate to high intensity exercise training for people with dementia: randomised controlled trial",
More to follow ...
