Exercise, Back pain changed my ideas on exercise

I sat for many hours worrying about how excellent or horrible my work was when I was writing my PhD dissertation.

I had little time for training because I was juggling graduate school and being a new mother at the same time.

I managed to carve out time on the weekends to snowboard in the mountains, adopting the traditional weekend warrior lifestyle.

Then the ache began. A searing, excruciating ache in my back that would make my whole body sag.

When it originally became worse, I had what seemed like endless physiotherapy sessions and exercise was out of commission for almost two months.

I went back to pursuing adventures as soon as the agony subsided, and I alternated between pain and relief for the following few years. The discomfort increased markedly in severity and frequency over time.

I endured anguish while playing this push-pull game until the last instance, when I spent almost three months locked and skewed sideways. The physiotherapy treatments, acupuncture, massage, chiropractic adjustments, and painkillers would all no longer be effective.

I spent weeks lying on the floor because I was unable to walk. I ultimately had an emergency L4-L5 microdiscectomy after many trips to the emergency hospital and various doses of opiates, muscle relaxants, and anti-inflammatories.

For the first time in my life, I allowed myself to totally and thoroughly recover. My connection with exercise changed only at this time. I began to view exercise as a kind of medicine rather than as a way to achieve an impossibility.

Realizing the power of exercise

The irony of it all is that I had recently started a new job at a laboratory studying the benefits of aerobic exercise when my back pain first appeared. We looked explored using exercise to delay and perhaps stop the onset of dementia.

As part of my work, I investigate the processes by which physical activity lowers blood pressure, boosts blood flow and nutrients to the brain, enhances the quality of sleep, and ultimately enhances the brain’s capacity for problem-solving, multitasking, and planning.

My work with the Brain In Motion study team looks at how aerobic exercise affects the aging of the brain in middle-aged and older, generally healthy, but inactive people (1).

What did we discover? Improvements in cognition and blood flow control to the brain were observed after six months of aerobic exercise, three times a week for 20–40 minutes, starting with walks and gradually increasing the intensity to running.

The outcomes matched those of people who were five years younger. We demonstrated how exercise may counteract aging’s natural consequences.

The fact that the kind of exercise they did for six months was different from the solo exercise I had been doing for my whole life, though, intrigued me even more.

Rather than moving, the research participants met with like-minded people three times a week. They were holding one another responsible in a kind and nonjudgmental setting.

Social exercise enhances physical gains

Speaking with participants after the program concluded, they were all in agreement that taking part in the Brain In Motion research had altered their lives in general.

Their level of fitness had clearly increased, and they were more adept at doing everyday tasks like gardening and housework. However, it was their shared exercise routine and the encouragement they got from trainers, researchers, and other participants that actually made a difference.

A follow-up study spanning five years is presently being conducted on the participants who were included in the initial trial.

Even though the analyses are only getting started, the first data trends are clear: the individuals who maintained in contact with the friends they made during the intervention are also the ones who continued to exercise on their own after the program ended.

The COVID-19 epidemic is making the connection between maintaining physical exercise and social contact increasingly more clear. In addition to the fact that gyms are closing and individuals are being compelled to look into virtual forms of exercise, social gatherings are presently forbidden.

This has two drawbacks, particularly for senior citizens. Actually, a number of current research have demonstrated the link between isolation during the COVID-19 epidemic and a decline in physical activity overall as well as a worsening of mental health issues in older persons.

Research has changed my love-hate relationship with exercise

I felt less discomfort when I started moving for my health rather than because I had to. Additionally, I now value exercise differently after learning about all the ways it may enhance quality of life.

From personal experience, the advantages are significant:

• Training in moderate-intensity aerobic exercise enhances blood flow to the brain and cognitive function, which benefits older persons by improving their capacity to do everyday tasks.
• People who exercise aerobically report feeling more efficient overall and having better sleep in terms of length, quality, and fall time.
• Individuals exhibit reduced oxidative stress at the cellular level and enhanced production of antioxidant markers following six months of aerobic exercise.
• A higher cortisol awakening response was seen in those who underwent the exercise intervention, suggesting that the body was more adept at controlling the stress hormone cortisol.
• Anecdotally, peer accountability and social contacts proved to be the most crucial elements in sustaining physical exercise.