Life is movement. What are the health benefits of exercise? How to exercise? A research team led by the University of Cambridge in the UK recently published a study in The Lancet Global Health, showing that at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, or 75 minutes of high-intensity exercise, or equivalent intensity per week Sports combinations, globally, can prevent at least 3.9 million premature deaths of adults aged 40-74 each year. In China, this number is more than 1 million. This is also the first time that scientists have evaluated the impact of exercise on premature death on a global scale.
1.Different groups of people are suitable for different intensities of exercise
What is moderate-intensity aerobic exercise? What is the difference with high-intensity exercise?
Liu Haiping, deputy director of the Sports Science Department of Wenzhou Medical University, told the reporter of Science and Technology Daily that the difference between aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise is that the energy supply system is different when people exercise. Aerobic exercise means that when the human body exercises, it takes in sufficient oxygen through the body such as the heart and lungs to completely oxidize energy substances such as sugar and fat to provide energy and meet the needs of long-term exercise. The exercise intensity of aerobic exercise can be calculated by monitoring the heart rate during exercise, and the medium intensity is generally around 70% of the maximum heart rate. That is, exercise heart rate = (maximum heart rate-resting heart rate before exercise) / 2 + heart rate before exercise, where the maximum heart rate can be calculated by 220-age.
Liu Haiping said that everyone’s pre-exercise resting heart rate is different, and individual differences are large. Therefore, each person’s judgment of exercise intensity will be different in each age group. During high-intensity exercise, even if the oxygen transport system in the body reaches its limit, its oxygen uptake is still far from meeting the oxygen demand. At this time, the energy supply system in the human body will turn to phosphate for energy and glycolysis. Solution for energy.
The energy-supplying substances of the original phosphate energy supply system are adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and creatine phosphate (CP). ATP is already stored in the human bones, which can provide a limit of energy supply of 1 to 2 seconds. There is still CP in the body, which can supply energy again for 4-6 seconds. Phosphoric acid is an irreplaceable and rapid energy source, providing energy for high-intensity sports such as sprinting and high jumping. The energy substance of the glycolysis energy supply system is muscle glycogen in muscles, and glycolysis does not consume fat. During a short period of intense activity, if the original phosphate supply is insufficient, the glycolysis system will be used. After the energy supply, lactic acid will be produced and the muscles will be sore. The representative exercises for energy provided by glycolysis include 400-meter running and strength training.
Liu Haiping reminded that different intensities of exercise are suitable for different groups of people. For example, high-intensity exercise is suitable for people who have undergone systematic training and young people, while middle-aged and elderly people are not suitable for high-intensity exercise, otherwise it may cause sports injuries and other problems. Everyone should also choose exercise methods flexibly according to their own situation. For example, for people with fatter body shape, running and climbing may damage the knee and ankle joints. They can choose swimming, cycling and other exercise methods.
Can prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and diabetes
Liu Haiping said that exercise has many health benefits. For example, it can effectively exercise the heart and lungs, enhance cardiopulmonary function, and keep blood pressure normal; increase the concentration of high-density cholesterol in the blood, maintain the normal level of total cholesterol, and reduce the level of triglycerides. Prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases; it can accelerate the rate of metabolism in the body, speed up the heart rate and blood flow, and promote the body to continuously release heat. A large amount of metabolic waste in the body can be excreted with sweat; it can also activate the cells of the whole body and activate the quiet Immune cells and strengthen the body’s immune function, effectively improving the body’s ability to resist germs.
A research result published in the journal Cell analyzed the health effects of exercise from the molecular level of proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics and transcriptomics.
A research team led by the Stanford University School of Medicine recruited 36 volunteers between the ages of 40 and 75. After one night of fasting, they completed the exercise cardiopulmonary function test on a treadmill. The actual completion time was 6-18. minute. The research team found that after exercise, in terms of fatty acid oxidation, the levels of acyl carnitine and free fatty acids increased, which indicated that fatty acid oxidation was activated by exercise. In other words, only a few minutes of exercise can burn fat. At the same time, exercise also promotes the absorption of glucose and free fatty acids by heart tissue and skeletal muscle. The study also found that after the human body exercises, the immune system is strongly activated, and the molecules that promote cell growth and migration also increase. These molecules may be involved in the repair and remodeling of muscle tissue; blood coagulation and hemostatic factors increase, and there are many more related to the heart. The signal pathways related to blood vessels and hemostasis have also changed, which indicates that there is a close relationship between exercise and cardiovascular health.
Liu Haiping said that studies have shown that exercise can also improve the insulin sensitivity of the body’s muscle cells, increase the utilization of insulin, improve insulin resistance, and reduce the risk of diabetes. In addition, there is evidence that exercise can reduce the risk of bladder cancer, esophageal adenocarcinoma, kidney cancer, and stomach cancer.
2.Significantly improve memory
Experts said that the relationship between exercise and health has been a hot topic for researchers in recent years, and related results have appeared frequently.
On July 14, a report published in the journal Science by a research team from the University of California, San Francisco also showed that in exercise mice and mice injected with exercise mice blood, approximately twice the number of new neurons grew in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the area of the brain responsible for learning and memory.
University of California, San Francisco professor Sol Villeda said that the combined result of these findings seems to be that exercise can improve brain health by promoting the liver to release more protein GPLD1. Subsequent experiments showed that GPLD1 may not break through the blood-brain barrier and act directly on the brain. On the contrary, it may stimulate tissue and cell changes in other parts of the body, and these tissues will produce more GPLD1, which will eventually lead to direct changes in neurotransmitters, genes and the brain’s own cells, thereby promoting the improvement of cognitive ability.
“A number of scientific studies have found that exercise can not only make people energetic, focus, but also significantly improve memory and other intellectual abilities.” Liu Haiping said that exercise can regulate the brain’s excitement and inhibition process, and promote the central cells of the brain. The state of excitement continuously enhances the vitality of brain cells and the adjustment ability of the cerebral cortex, makes the brain thinking more agile and flexible, and improves memory. Exercise can also prevent excessive nervousness of the brain, play a role in eliminating negative emotions and reducing stress, and the quality of sleep after exercise will also be improved.
3.Aerobic exercise can’t be too long
Scientists analyzed the causes of premature deaths and found that inactivity accounted for 6.4%, which was the same as smoking. In addition to premature death, inactivity can also cause obesity, induce hypertension, diabetes, etc. Liu Haiping said that years of research have fully proved that exercise can prevent diseases and promote health. The discovery that exercise can prevent premature death of adults is another perspective to explain the importance of moderate exercise. Moreover, in China, moderate exercise has prevented more than 1 million premature deaths every year, which reminds the public to “put exercise on the agenda”.
But Liu Haiping said that excessive exercise can also cause serious health hazards. Excessive exercise can cause dehydration, anemia, dizziness and palpitation, and even cause kidney failure and other problems.
In recent years, news of sudden deaths of students during exercise has been heard from time to time, especially after this year’s new crown pneumonia epidemic schools resumed, there have been several incidents of sudden deaths of students wearing N95 masks during exercise. Liu Haiping said that this also reminds us to arrange sports scientifically and reasonably.
Liu Haiping suggested that it is best to have a medical check-up before exercise to check for potential diseases of the body. Exercise is not suitable when blood pressure is too high, fever or fatigue. When exercising, you must also make assessments and judgments about your body. For example, if you feel breathing difficulties or pain in the precordial area, you must stop immediately. If the symptoms are not relieved after stopping the exercise, you must seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Liu Haiping specifically reminded that the time of aerobic exercise should not be too long. If you run on a hard surface, the reaction force will damage the joints. You must choose suitable running shoes.
