Exercise helps reduce the risk of disease and cancer! Doctors teach 3 tips to develop a good habit of regular exercise

The World Health Organization points out that insufficient physical activity has become the fourth largest risk factor for global mortality, accounting for 6% of deaths each year. According to the "Final Report on the Current Sports Situation in the Republic of China 2013" by the Ministry of Education's Sports Administration, the main reason why Taiwanese people do not exercise is "too tiring at work", followed by "too lazy to exercise" and "no time due to work". Therefore, it is necessary to establish correct cognition and actions towards exercise in order to maintain long-term exercise habits.

Exercise strengthens the body and mind and reduces the risk of disease and cancer

Dr. Chen Caifan, a family medicine doctor at Lian-An Clinic, a preventive medicine institution, said that a large number of medical studies have proven that the benefits of regular exercise are as follows:

1. Reduce the occurrence of diseases: Regular exercise can reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction and stroke, as well as diabetes, reduce the incidence of gastrointestinal cancers and female breast cancer, and reduce the chances of arthritis, hip fractures and falls in the elderly. In addition, it can also prevent depression and dementia.

2. Improve symptoms of chronic diseases: Exercise can relieve pain and stiffness in patients with arthritis; it can also control the frequency and severity of asthma attacks. Exercise can also change the quality of life of cancer patients and reduce the mortality rate of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and prostate cancer. People with diabetes or heart disease can use exercise to help control blood sugar, weight and heart function, and reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Exercise can also improve symptoms in people with depression and anxiety.

3. Benefits of positive emotions: The hormones in the brain stimulated by exercise make us have more positive feelings, making us feel more relaxed, less anxious, and even deepening our self-confidence and self-esteem. In addition, exercise also helps the brain's cognitive ability, improves concentration and creativity.

4. Strengthen physical fitness, lungs, and cardiovascular function: Regular exercise can also strengthen the body's muscle strength and physical fitness, and optimize the function of the cardiovascular circulatory system and lungs, allowing us to have more energy and physical ability to face the various complex tasks of daily life. The benefits of getting outdoors and experiencing social fun through exercise are countless!

Develop regular exercise, 3 ways to help you maintain healthy habits forever

The World Health Organization recommends that adults engage in "at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week." "Moderate physical activity" means that after engaging in exercise for more than 10 minutes continuously, you will feel slightly tired, your breathing and heart rate will be faster than usual, and you will sweat a little. Activities such as brisk walking, jogging, mountain climbing, continuous swimming, going up and down stairs, aerobic dancing, cycling, skipping rope, and walking in water are all moderate physical activities.

Dr. Chen Caifan said that according to medical research, there are three ways to help increase the chances of success in changing existing lifestyle habits:

Doctors teach 3 tips to develop a good habit of regular exercise (Photo courtesy of Lian'an Clinic, Lian'an Preventive Medicine Institute)

1. Set up realistic plans and expectations

When the exercise plan is more feasible, not only the chance of successful action can be greatly increased, but we can also feel the control and freedom of arranging our lives from planning to actual implementation, and get rid of the negative vicious cycle of difficulties and repeated failures. We can enhance the feasibility of the exercise plan through the following three aspects:

． Flexible time arrangement:

If you are unable to exercise continuously for one to two hours due to lack of physical endurance or disruption of your daily schedule, you can instead complete the required 150 minutes of exercise per week by exercising for 30 minutes a day, or break it up into two 15-minute sessions a day. The actual accumulated exercise time is the most important.

． Proximity Location:

If going to a specific sports venue will hinder your movement, you may want to arrange your exercise at home or improve the accessibility of the exercise venue.

． Observable or quantifiable objectives:

Use various sports data software or social platforms to record the distance, speed, number of times, weight and other information of each exercise. By recording and reviewing, you can give yourself direct and positive feedback, and gain motivation from it. Although we cannot see significant progress in every exercise record, the long-term accumulated records can often remind us of changes that are easy to ignore and not noticed in time in daily life. In addition, we must also remember that regular exercise itself is an important achievement, and each exercise process has also supported our emotions.

2. Observe your feelings

Break away from your previous preconceptions about sports and ask yourself what you really think: "Do I like outdoor or indoor activities? Do I enjoy group or individual sports? What new sports do I want to try? Do I prefer exercising alone or with friends?" Use this to confirm your willingness and direction for action at this moment.

In addition, it is necessary to take care of your emotions before taking action. Before trying to develop an exercise habit, we may worry about the cost, resist injury, fear failure, or worry and anxiety about our body appearance. These negative emotions may hold us back, especially before actual action and experience, fear is often exaggerated because of the unknown. Paying attention to your emotions and identifying your feelings, if you can get practical, emotional, and social support from family, friends, or professionals at this time, will help you stay focused and enthusiastic in sharing your experiences, goals, and achievements.

3. Build Intrinsic Motivation

"A lifestyle of regular exercise can bring all sorts of amazing and powerful health benefits, so what exactly do I want to gain through regular exercise?" Through self-questioning, you can find your own inner motivation. When we have our own intrinsic motivation, we can support the changes in our lifestyle habits better than obvious extrinsic motivations such as weight loss, body shape or affirmation from others. For example, “I want to be healthy and live with my beloved family for a long time”, “I want to be healthy so that I can fulfill my dreams in life”, or “I want to be healthy so that I can face the challenges of life clearly and comfortably”. Our thoughts on regular exercise can be transformed from the perspective of “I should” and “I must” to “I am willing” and “I want”.

The transformation and clarification of cognition allows us to re-understand the imagination and expectations brought by sports, and strengthen the meaning and value of "being myself". In addition, when we face various obstacles to changing our lifestyle habits, if we have our own inner motivation, we will have the opportunity to inspire creativity when facing obstacles, and thus have the opportunity to overcome difficulties.

The convenience of modern life has made us drift away from the habit of regular exercise. However, regular exercise is still a magical and powerful panacea for health. In addition to reducing the risk of disease and discomfort, regular exercise can also bring about different feelings and experiences for oneself. It often brings unexpected and significant gains to "being myself", and at the same time it can support us to continue to live a healthy, beautiful and meaningful life through exercise.