Being active can increase our self-esteem and can reduce anxiety and stress. Endorphins released during exercise also help you to feel better as they trigger a positive feeling in the body.

When dealing with stress, it may be difficult to find the motivation or time to get active. We’ve put together some tips to help you find a way that suits you to get moving.

Reducing cortisol levels

Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress, often referred to as the ‘stress hormone’. Whilst it plays an important role in the body’s stress response, high levels of cortisol over an extended period of time can have negative effects on our health.

Cortisol can impact physical activity levels by reducing motivation and energy levels. This can make it more difficult to engage in regular exercise, which can further exacerbate the negative effects of cortisol on the body.

One way to counteract this is to engage in stress-reducing activities such as meditation, yoga, or deep breathing exercises. These activities can help reduce cortisol levels and improve mood and energy levels, making it easier to engage in regular physical activity.

Regular exercise itself can also help reduce cortisol levels and improve overall stress levels. However, it’s important to strike a balance between exercise and recovery, as excessive exercise can lead to an increase in cortisol levels and exacerbate the negative effects of stress on the body. Read more here.

Getting active

When exercising, it’s important to know how much you should be doing and how often.

Check out the NHS’s exercise guidelines for advice on this. If you have a health condition, please contact your doctor or health professional before starting a new exercise or sport.

Mind have some brilliant advice on getting active to benefit mental health. They’ve got tips on choosing an activity to suit you, useful contacts and more.

We have also put together some small, easy ways to get active for you to try.

Spending time around nature

Getting outdoors whilst being active has even more benefits. Being around nature can help improve your mood; why not try a new spot or a route you haven’t done in a while?

Or why not try walking sometimes when you usually drive, such as when taking the children to school. Try to take in your surroundings and enjoy the scenery and fresh air.

Putting yourself in motion helps you step back from the fast pace of modern life, particularly when outdoors.

We have put together some tips for getting started with running, as well as advice for getting started with cycling.

Image by Sport England.

Trying a new activity

There are plenty of ways you can get moving whilst having fun; one example is by having a dance!

You may want to start going to dance sessions, or you could have a dance at home or in the garden when it suits you. Put on a new playlist or some of your favourite songs that get you moving, and have a dance around the house.

Swimming is a relaxing activity as you can choose the pace you go. It’s also brilliant way to keep active as it gives you an all-round workout, working almost every part of your body. Check out our tips for getting started with swimming.

Yoga is a slower paced relaxing activity which you can do at a session, or online at home. You can find some online yoga videos on our Activity Finder, or on YouTube.

We hope this has helped you find an activity to try, or inspired you to get moving in a new way or a way you used to. However you do get active, remember to take it at your pace, and in a way you enjoy!

The post How physical activity can help with stress appeared first on Active My Way.

The group’s aim was to develop clear statements for healthcare professionals, through expert consensus, about the medical risks of physical activity for people living with long term conditions.

The Physical Activity Risk Consensus group was made up of two parts

1. Steering group contributors who, through their expertise, provided clinical context to the evidence base, guiding the development and direction of the consensus statement.
2. A group of experts who critically appraised and informed the development of the consensus statements on risk.

Breaking down barriers to physical activity for people with long term health conditions

The need for these statements came from a desire to have consistent messaging on risk across healthcare, decreasing the barriers to engagement that people with long term conditions face.

For example, the fear of adverse events or needing medical clearance, rather than guidance.

The 5 consensus statements produced

1. For people living with long-term conditions, the benefits of physical activity far outweigh the risks.
2. Despite the risks being very low, perceived risk is high.
3. Person-centered conversations are essential for addressing perceived risk.
4. Everybody has their own starting point.
5. People should stop and seek medical attention if they experience a dramatic increase in symptoms.

In addition, 8 symptom/syndrome-based statements discuss specific risks for musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, cardiac chest pain, palpitations, dysglycaemia, cognitive impairment and falls, and frailty.

Neil Tester, Director of The Richmond Group of Charities, said:

“The Richmond Group of Charities is proud to endorse these important new consensus statements on the risks of physical activity for people living with long-term conditions. The statements’ publication is a big step forward in helping health professionals to support people with health conditions to get the many benefits of moving more in ways that work for them.

“This work has been led by the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine UK, Sport England, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (formerly Public Health England) and the Royal College of General Practitioners and developed through expert consensus. We’ve been delighted to be able to inform the process, using the insight from our Movement for All programme and We Are Undefeatable campaign. British Journal of Sports Medicine has released this statement about the benefits of physical activity outweighing the risks.

“We are joining the authors and a range of other expert organisations in asking healthcare professionals to come together with us in creating a new culture in healthcare settings. So, what would that look like?

• Regularly having physical activity conversations with patients.
• Using the statements to help address patients’ concerns about the impact of physical activity on their symptoms.
• Empowering patients to make decisions about moving more, in a way that works for them.
• Talking to colleagues about how they are using the statements in their everyday clinical practice and the impact on patients – and encouraging others to use the statements.

“The statements encourage the necessary personalised care, considering people’s holistic needs and attempt to move away from condition-specific recommendations and guidance, to make physical activity messages more relevant for clinicians and the population they serve. This is real progress in a world where more and more of us are living with multiple conditions.

“It’s a practical and evidence-based approach to addressing a need, bridging a gap between clinical practice guidelines, public health guidelines and lived experience by addressing evidence and insight gaps. It provides tangible support for clinicians with a succinct and practical graphic resource, helping them to understand that risk is low and to embed this knowledge into practice through increased conversations about activity.

“The statements address significant entrenched barriers for clinicians and people with long-term conditions. Fear about making conditions worse is a significant barrier for people with these conditions. Concern about the likelihood of adverse events resulting from physical activity is a barrier to clinicians recommending physical activity. From our own research we know that many people with health conditions, especially the least active, need reassurance and support to sustainably change their behaviour and overcome the barriers to activity. We also know that they expect advice about activity from their health professionals, alongside support from trusted, expert charities. These statements will help to meet these needs by encouraging positive conversations between professionals and the people they support.

“It’s important to note that the symptom statements don’t automatically translate to every condition. There are limitations due to the gaps in some data, or the quality of data around adverse events and specific conditions where there is emerging evidence. So the statements are intended to be useful to conditions that would benefit from activity.

“This launch marks an important moment, opening the door to new conversations between clinicians and patients that will improve people’s lives and will be crucial to the NHS’s ambitions to tackle health inequalities and improve population health.”

Source of information.

The post Physical Activity Consensus Statements Released appeared first on Active My Way.