Experience the Gifts of Movement

By Nancy Alexander, PT

The holidays are upon us and what better time to appreciate the gifts all around us. Have you ever thought of movement as a gift? I do and I know many of you do, too. The benefits of movement are many and this month’s blog article focuses on movement’s gifts.

In the following excerpt from my new book, “Get UP! Defy Aging with Movement,” I describe eight ways movement can improve your life. It is truly that powerful. In addition, I identify five more ways movement can help you feel better that you may not have realized. Let’s dive in.

(The following is an excerpt from Chapter 5, Movement’s Gifts)

Movement and exercise can help improve your mobility. Even with the normal physiological changes your body goes through as you age, you can help reverse these changes with movement and exercise. There is no greater gift.

Always remember the freedom you have in how you choose to move. Even more, you can choose to move and benefit from it at any age. Every day of your life you can become stronger, more fit, improve your balance, and enjoy your life more. Every day. Age is no longer an excuse. This stops now. 

I want to share with you some gifts. Here you will learn how movement and exercise change your body and how they can make you feel. These, too, are the result of physiological changes that we learned about in the previous chapter. The focus or perspective is just a little different. Here is what movement can do for you:

1. Decrease pain
   1. Exercise prompts the body to produce endorphins that interact with opiate receptors in the brain to reduce our perception of pain. Endorphins act similarly to drugs such as morphine and codeine but without the addiction.
   2. Painful joints are often due to muscle tightness which alters normal forces in a joint. For example, knee pain can be due in part to tight hamstring muscles at the back of the thigh and tight quadriceps muscles at the front of the thigh. This phenomenon can apply to all joints.
   3. Stretching alone can eliminate pain. I use it all the time. You may recall I have a condition called spondylolisthesis, a structural deformity at my lumbar spine. I know when I’m getting tighter than normal by the pain I feel in my low back. If I can catch it soon enough, I can go through my stretching routine and abolish the pain in about 15 minutes. And it stays away. That may be why I think of stretching as dessert. It is a most satisfying treat. I love to stretch. I also think of it as an investment in my next activity whether it be just working out or playing sports. It helps to set me up for success. I highly recommend it.
2. Decrease stiffness
   1. Movement and exercise can decrease stiffness. Consider degenerative osteoarthritis (OA), for example. OA often manifests itself with painful and stiff joints. Let’s take the knee again as an example. If you perform continuous, low resistance movement at your knee such as riding a stationary bicycle and perform it even 10 minutes, you will likely decrease stiffness in that joint. One reason is synovial fluid. Deep in the joint is a capsule, and inside that capsule is this synovial fluid that coats the boney surfaces of that joint. This fluid has oxygen and nutrients that feed your joints, too. As a result, friction is reduced and the joint moves more freely.
3. Increase range of motion
   1. Exercise that pushes the limits of movement in a restricted joint due to soft tissue tightness (absent of some other kind of blockage) can improve the range of motion of that joint. Physical therapists (and other movement therapists) measure joint movement in degrees and are skilled at knowing when motion is normal or limited.
4. Increase strength and power
   1. Movement and exercise can increase muscle strength and power if it is designed to do so. Muscles are the structures that produce force and when properly loaded with resistance, they can become stronger over time.
   2. Muscles move our bodies. Strength is critical as we age as it allows us to do the activities we want to do and gives us strong legs to maximize our balance.
   3. Opening a jar, opening a door, climbing a step, rolling in bed– all of these require strength to perform them effectively.
5. Improve balance
   1. Activities and exercises that challenge our balance will help improve it.
   2. Balance is achieved and maintained by a complex set of sensorimotor control systems that include sensory input from vision (sight), proprioception (touch), and the vestibular system (motion, equilibrium, and spatial orientation). As therapists, we are trained to isolate systems and train them to work more efficiently.
   3. Safe mobility relies on good balance. It is key to aging independently.
6. Improve mobility
   1. Mobility here is defined as walking, but it also includes moving from one surface to another. The latter includes sit to stand activities and can even include getting in and out of a car.
   2. Movement and exercise can improve your mobility. Compromised mobility is one of the most common reasons people are referred to a physical therapist.
7. Improve ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs)
   1. Specialized movement and exercise can improve your ability to perform activities of daily living. These activities include dressing, bathing, and kitchen tasks among others. Occupational therapists specialize in this area and are a wonderful resource for you to consider, if necessary.
8. Improve endurance
   1. Endurance is your ability to perform an activity or task over time. Walking is an endurance activity. So is biking. Decreased endurance frequently exhibits itself as shortness of breath or undue fatigue.
   2. Movement and exercise can improve your endurance, especially those activities that are considered aerobic in nature. That is, you use oxygen continuously throughout the activity. This can be trained with appropriate exercise.

Movement and exercise can also provide these great benefits:

1. Improve your mood
2. Improve your sleep
3. Improve your energy
4. Decrease stress
5. Decrease risk of depression

Endorphins, which help reduce pain, also play a major role in the above benefits. In fact, some medical professionals prescribe regular exercise as a treatment for mild to moderate depression and anxiety. Meditation and yoga are known for their stress-relieving and relaxing effects, which may be partially due to an endorphin release. Managing stress is important to reduce cortisol levels and optimize your immune system.

Movement is magical. Movement is medicine. And you are worthy of all the benefits it provides. Movement is a gift that you should never take for granted. Happy Thanksgiving and keep moving.

© 2021 Nancy Alexander.  All rights reserved.