How exercise helps you recover both mentally and physically

The votes are in

Last week’s vote had two different options and they were:

How exercise helps you recover both mentally and physically
Or
Why do we need an exercise routine?

With 76% of the vote the winner is “How exercise helps you recover both mentally and physically”. In this blog 2 Spuds will try and answer this question as best we can.

The science

Always a good place to start. I mean you can put into that multi coloured search engine questions like:

“How can exercise help me physically?”
“Does exercise help me through a mental crisis?”
“What are the top ten benefits of exercise on the body?”

And that multi coloured search engine will oblige and give you many different answers. This is true: there are many different benefits to exercise helping you both mentally and physically. So lets look at the evidence.

It can help you feel happier

Exercise can be an outlet for people suffering from all sorts of mental and physical conditions. Add a personal trainer into the equation then you can have a talking therapy as well. Although we are not technically trained in talking therapies it is amazing what we get told when you are working out.

The treadmill

It will not be the first time I have put someone on a treadmill and asked them to do a fast walk on an incline while we discuss whatever is bothering them. They sweat, talk, laugh, work harder and the outcome after 15 minutes is that they feel better.

Boxing

Similarly with boxing it has not been the first time I have handed someone a pair of boxing gloves and taken them to the boxing bags. Said person will then hit the bags, and at some point tell me what is happening (sometimes they don’t, but this isn’t my point). The long and short of this is I have provided an outlet for the stress, the anxiety or the depression. Instead of bottling up the emotions they have let them out.

Endorphins

Endorphins are released when we exercise, and these are responsible for producing positive feelings. They can also help reduce the perception of pain. So, in short, exercise! Get those endorphins flowing and feel happy. The other side of this is exercise it can give you more energy.

Bones and muscles

Now here is the crunch point. After a broken bone you are usually encouraged to have some sort of physiotherapy. In a broken bone the bone is obviously affected but also the muscles, ligaments and tendons surrounding the area. Now you may never have full strength back in the bone, but you can rehab the muscles, tendons and ligaments to help stabilise the bone and help it recover. With any kind of osteoporosis, arthritis, join replacement and so on you can work on the area surrounding the joint to make it stronger and therefore stabilise it. With the stabilisation a person can feel a lot better and could have less pain.

Exercise can reduce your risk of injury or illness

The body likes to be moving, it likes to eat a healthy diet and it also likes drinking its fair share of water too. Today a lot of people lead a sedentary lifestyle with a questionable diet. A sedentary lifestyle can lead us to lower back issues, diabetes type 2, higher blood pressure readings or cholesterol, obesity, heart disease or ultimately death. If we can exercise and eat a healthy diet, we significantly reduce our chances of getting any of the above conditions.
For some fun facts and figures of what I have just said please visit the NHS website.

Cancer prehab

Carrying on from above it was reported in the BBC only recently that the NHS England are to start offering cancer patients “prehab” exercise to help boost their recovery. It is hoped that by doing exercise before starting a chemotherapy treatment or before major surgery they will recover a lot faster and reduce their hospital stays.

Sleep

To aid in our recovery from either a mental or physical condition we need sleep. Sleep helps our bodies heal, it gives us more energy, it can help us keep our lives in a routine, it can stop you reaching for that chocolate bar as well. It is important we listen to our bodies when they need sleep. There is no point fighting it. I find when your body needs sleep it is busy making you feel better.

A side note

It is extremely important that we have the right sleep aids as well. What I mean is no bright lights in the bedroom. In short, no laptops, tablets, tv or phones. We need to have the correct temperature as well as the correct noise levels. It can even go as far as your nutrition. If you have coffee straight before bed your body will be feeding off the caffeine so it will be over ready for action rather than ready for sleep.

Post-surgery

You will notice if you have ever been in hospital that physiotherapists (physios) will be at your bedside almost as soon as you have been brought back from theatre.

December

When I was in hospital in December one of the ladies across from me had a physio at her bedside within a few hours of surgery. The aim was to get her moving as soon as possible. Funnily enough she was in the discharge queue after me and that was after a three day stay. From what I could gather she had had a hysterectomy. With me I was back on the ward within an hour of surgery. When the nurse came a couple of hours later to do the post-op checks I asked if I could get up. The nurse said I had just had major surgery so was to stay put. I said no. I wanted my pj’s on, catheter out and wanted to move around. She said I was going to be trouble but obliged by helping me out. Now I was nowhere near walking around but shuffling I could muster. I slept for a couple more hours after that and then was up and that was that. I knew that the quicker I could move around the quicker I would get home and the quicker I would recover. Let’s just say I was allowed home just over the 12 hour mark post-surgery.

An important side note

If for any reason you are reading this blog in a hospital bed then please check with you nurse, doctor or physio before jumping up.

Mental health

Exercise is good for your mental health. It can be an outlet for you as well as someone to talk to as I have already mentioned. However, what it can also do is get you back into a routine, make you accountable for turning up to the gym for a session, get you socially active and much, much more. It can also stop negative thoughts too and give you some breathing space to think.

My mental health

I know with my mental health that I am a very active person. I also know that telling me to sit still and look at the walls is not going to go down too well. I need to be active even if it is shuffling around a hospital ward.

Exercise

Here’s the thing, this blog is not telling you that you must go to your nearest gym and sign up for a membership now if not sooner. Exercise can come in many different forms. The one thing I would stress is that it must be right for you (and your condition) and fun. If it isn’t fun then you will struggle to do it, simple! Exercise can mean a walk around the block, a class at the local gym, swimming, dancing, Yoga or some gentle exercise at home. If you are in any doubt about what kind of exercise to start with then ask. There are physiotherapists, personal trainers who specialise in rehab and mental health or your GP that can advise you in what is good and not so good to do.

Conclusion

With everything I have just said hopefully it has answered any questions you may have about how exercise helps you recover both mentally and physically. However, if you have any specific questions related to your condition(s) then please just contact 2 Spuds and we will see how we can help you.

-Helen

Rehab training

Rehab training is a very important part of recovery from both a physical and mental crisis. I will be discussing my own rehab training which has taken place over the last few weeks. I have been mentioning it in some of my other blogs but want to dedicate a full blog to it too.

Five weeks ago

About five weeks ago yesterday the hospital was wheeling me down for emergency surgery after finding two cysts one on each ovary. This is the second surgery I have had in three years and the third issue with Endometriosis. The funny thing is all the outside has healed and I have little scars now to add to my collection. However, the inside is taking slightly longer which is normal. I have to keep reminding myself that I am only five weeks post op.

My personality

My personality is very go, go, go and I am not very good at sitting still. I mean I was back in a Zumba class around ten days post op and haven’t slowed down since. In fact, I have been increasing what I do (within reason). Yes I say I have been in a Zumba class but it has been very controlled and there has been no jumps or bouncing. Jumping around at that stage would not have helped my recovery.

Training

So what have I been doing except for Zumba? I have been walking, walking and walking some more. Starting on a treadmill going to number five on the incline with a slow walking speed. I then progressed it up to incline level fifteen with a much faster pace. Today I did forty minutes. I use one minute for each incline, plateau at the top for five minutes then come down the other side. It has taken a few weeks to get there but with determination I feel it has gone well.

Other gym kit

I have also been using the rolling escalator stair machine thingy. Once I had found the correct spaces for my water bottle and book I was a very happy lady. I can walk on that machine for a good forty minutes before getting tired. I have also been using the cross trainer and bike.

Weight vest

A weight vest was a present from me to me. It is a great piece of kit which gives you a little extra weight to challenge yourself on treadmills, rolling escalators and the like. The funny part about the weight vest is it is exactly ten kilograms at full weight. This is the weight I have lost to date so to put it back on again it quite an experience. It feels heavy and awkward but then again for most of last year that is what I carried day in and day out. I am working with four kilos at the minute but hoping next week to progress to five. Once my core has healed and got back to its normality I will progress to ten and see how that feels to work out in.

Resistance training

Now, I am still banned from lifting any heavy weights but that didn’t mean I have to stop completely. I found using the lateral pulldown machine and low row were perfect for keeping my back from getting too tired and niggly. With low weights, low reps/sets and a longer break in between each round it worked perfectly. You see I didn’t have to lift anything heavy to have a workout.

Bands

And no I don’t mean the ones in the top forty music chart. I mean resistance bands. These are a fantastic way of training when you need to slow things down and concentrate on the deeper muscles. Now I prefer my training to be fast, moving in all directions and breaking a sweat. Something that I am not going to get with resistance bands in a rehab setting. I had to slow it right down and concentrate on activating the muscles which needed attention. This was mainly my back and will shortly involve me core muscles too.

My core

My core work can start now as well. However, my five minute plank will have to wait. I need to start with the basics and the regressions of most core moves. It means I will have to separate out my upper core muscles, lower and obliques (they live on the sides) and concentrate on activating each to get them strong again.

My mental health

Why am I keeping so active? That is a good question. First of all I point out my blog called “sitting still is tricky!”. That sentence says it all really. I find it really hard to sit still and do nothing. The idea of a beach holiday, reading a book, drinking an ice cold drink and so on scares me. I am wanting to know what water sports are available, is there a bicycle track or even a walking track and when the next activity is. So you see my point. My mental health sitting still would get bored, frustrated, irritable and many other words to describe that. My mental health doing this kind of exercise is happy, less stressed, active and smiling. And that is my point. Active body equals happy mind.

Conclusion

I hope that has given you a little insight into my training as I rehab from my surgery. I feel the main point is you can work out to an extent post operation/illness/injury you just need to be careful (always double check if you are unsure). Feel free to ask me any questions, talk to your own GP or local gym and see what you can do.

-Helen

Sitting still is tricky!

We are about one week on from my emergency surgery to fix two orange sized cysts on my ovaries. So far everything seems to be going in the right direction. The surgical sites are healing nicely and I am now on the lowest pain killers possible. Except for feeling tired a lot of the time I would say that I am doing very well.

Sitting still!

My main issue is this sitting still thing. I have never been very good at it and I am being less good at it now. Before last week I was doing an active job, making sure that at least six out of the seven week days I was in the gym and I was walking most places I could. I would happily go from one thing to another, to another and to another. I would plan lots into my day so everything was completed. Now I can do a few hours of activity before a sit down and then I can repeat.

It’s a good time of year!

That it is and I don’t mean that there are more colours around, trees looking fancy, mince pies everywhere you turn, music blaring from speakers and generally everyone seems to be in a better mood. I mean that there has been a lot for me to do. Friends and family have been coming over to the house to either take me down to the supermarket, taking me out for a drive, taking me for coffee and so on. I mean I have had small tasks to do most days.

The good thing!

The good thing about it is I am moving around. I have a theory that the more I move, the better I get and the quicker the recovery period so I can go back to Zumba and boxing. You may not think it is a big element to recovery but believe me it is. Little movement like walking from one room to the other, walking up the stairs, standing to seated and seated to standing, crouching down to pick something up (I can’t quite bend in the middle yet) and much more. All of this moves muscles, helps the cardiovascular system and more importantly the brain and my mental health. Yes, I would love to say that I am booked on to a Zumba and circuit class this evening but I have to wait. I have to wait until my core has healed.

Food

I thought I would add a quick note in here about food. I mean it would be great to kick back and eat all those sugary foods to make us “feel better”. But I am not. Having come so far in my weight loss journey it would be a great shame to start going backwards. I am aware that I may gain a little from in-activity but I am doing what I can to counter-act that. I have allowed myself the odd Christmas biscuit but I am also mindful that I don’t want to go over board with it either. I am sticking to the good foods. The proteins that will help my muscles recover. The fruit and vegetables (vitamins) so my whole body can recover and the water to flush out all the bad toxins.

Exercise

As mentioned above I am moving as much as I can. I am also going for walks. Nothing too big at the minute but I can now happily manage anything from a half hour to an hour. I have been to the gym once since last week. I did a half hour cycle and a half hour walk on the treadmill. I vary my days to walking outside to gym days and make sure when I feel tired that I remember it is my body telling me it has had enough for that day. I will increase these times (and resistances) as I come through the rest of December and hopefully post festive season will be back at the gym to start building my strength back up, Zumba and boxing.

Conclusion

Be kind to yourself. Let the body heal. Try not to rush into anything and be aware that if something doesn’t feel right or a twinge is a bit too much then stop. There is no harm in taking a break (I am trying, I really am!).

-Helen