It’s no secret that participating in regular physical activity is good for our health.
Despite this, approximately 37% of Australian adults are meeting the minimum recommendations for physical activity, and ~73% are missing out on the benefits of muscle strengthening activities (AIHW, 2022).
Often when we think about physical activity and exercise (or movement, as we like to call it), it conjures the image of people with lean and athletic physiques in the gym lifting heavy weights. The reality is that exercise and physical activity encompass a variety of different activities.
From a guidelines perspective, most activities can be categorised into either aerobic exercise (cardio), or strength exercise.
Strength exercise is any kind of activity that builds muscle and requires you to carry load. The joints, tendons, ligaments and muscles of our body are the immediate beneficiaries of this type of training, but there are plenty of additional health perks that come from including some strengthening into your routine.
Strength exercise helps improve numerous health outcomes, including:
Body composition: Increase in lean muscle mass and reduction in fat mass (Lopez et al., 2022; Wewege et al., 2022).
Blood pressure: Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure can be improved with regular strength training (Naci et al., 2018; Ashton et al., 2020; Loaiza-Betancur et al., 2020).
Improving blood glucose: Improved ability of the body to use glucose, and glycogen. Also improves insulin sensitivity (Ashton et al., 2020; Huang, Fang, & Tang, 2021).
Mortality: Reduced risk of cancer-associated and all-cause mortality (Stamatakis et al., 2018).
Improved Lipid profile: Reductions in total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, and triglycerides (Ashton et al., 2022; Costa et al., 2019).
Improve bone density: Promotes bone health & bone tissue regulation, slows age-associated loss in muscle mass (Beck, Daly, Singh, & Taaffe, 2017).
Aerobic exercise
Aerobic exercises specifically stimulate the muscles of the heart and lungs. This type of exercise usually results in breathlessness, sweating, and a temporary ‘feel good’ response in the body afterwards. Activities that fall into this category usually involve large muscle groups and movements.
Aerobic exercise helps improve numerous health outcomes, including:
Blood pressure: Prolonged bouts of aerobic exercise, in addition to short and intensive efforts both improve systolic and diastolic blood pressure (Edwards et al., 2023).
Blood glucose management: Participating in regular aerobic exercise, can improve insulin sensitivity. Short bouts of higher-intensity exercise have also been found to be more effective in improving insulin responsiveness. (Kanaley et al., 2022).
Mood & mental health: Regular aerobic exercise appears to improve symptoms of anxiety and depression (Smith, & Merwin, 2021).
Blood vessel health: More intensive aerobic exercise improves arterial stiffness (Yang, Chen, Chen, & Li, 2025).
Heart health & fitness: Incorporating regular aerobic exercise into your routine promotes a stronger, and healthier heart. Additionally, it also increases cardiorespiratory fitness (Moreira, Wohlwend, & Wisløff, 2020).
Mortality: Reduced risk of cancer-associated and all-cause mortality (Stamatakis et al., 2018).
How to get started?
When getting started aim to make things easier for yourself by keeping things simple. It’s easy to get bogged down in the details, and find yourself getting nowhere.
Consider social activities:
If you enjoy being more social, group activities might be the perfect option for you. Group classes are often run in gyms, but there are plenty of non-gym activities (e.g., fun-runs, indoor rock climbing, dancing classes, local sports/hobby groups).
Start small, progress small:
As much as it might be tempting to go all-out with a new routine, the trick is to take small steps and find something that you really enjoy. Using ‘exercise snacks’ to make getting started more manageable. This might be something as simple as standing up and sitting down out of your office chair for 1 minute between meetings, or going for a walk outside while taking a work call.
Use workplace tools & initiatives:
Your workplace may provide discounts for gym memberships, or have a wellbeing offering. It’s worth looking into these if you haven’t before, or enquiring if unsure. In-house workplace healthcare software, such as Desk.Coach can also promote healthier exercise, nutrition, psychological, and mindfulness activities throughout the day.
Find something you enjoy:
Ultimately, the activities that you’re going to stick to in the long-term are the ones that you enjoy doing. The difficulty is often finding it. When trying something new, give it at least a month to see if you like it or not. This process will also take some trial and error, so be patient with yourself and don’t be disheartened if it takes a while.
Considerations before you start
Before you start a new exercise routine (or get started again after a while away) there’s a few things to consider, to make your life a little easier.
Consult your doctor:
Particularly as we get older, develop health conditions, have medication requirements, or have an injury or two. These may often impact certain aspects of your program.
Wear appropriate clothing:
A safe rule-of-thumb is to wear comfortable, fully enclosed footwear and clothes that you can freely move around in.
Stay hydrated:
With the extra physical exertion and fluid loss that happens during exercise, make sure to drink throughout the exercise. Particularly, if exercising in hotter temperatures, or doing more intensive exercise.
Allow for recovery:
Once you’ve done your exercise, ensure that replenishing your energy, with quality food and fluids. Get plenty of sleep (7-8 hrs). Give your body a break between periods of more intensive exercise (~1-2 days), with a mixture of lower intensity activities, such as walking.
References
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/physical-activity/physical-activity
Paluch, A. E., Boyer, W. R., Franklin, B. A., Laddu, D., Lobelo, F., Lee, D. C., et. al. (2024). Resistance exercise training in individuals with and without cardiovascular disease: 2023 update: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 149(3), e217-e231.
Lopez, P., Taaffe, D. R., Galvão, D. A., Newton, R. U., Nonemacher, E. R., Wendt, V. M., et al. (2022). Resistance training effectiveness on body composition and body weight outcomes in individuals with overweight and obesity across the lifespan: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Obesity Reviews, 23(5), e13428.
Wewege, M. A., Desai, I., Honey, C., Coorie, B., Jones, M. D., Clifford, B. K., et al. (2022). The effect of resistance training in healthy adults on body fat percentage, fat mass and visceral fat: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports medicine, 52(2), 287-300.
Stamatakis, E., Lee, I. M., Bennie, J., Freeston, J., Hamer, M., O’Donovan, G., et al. (2018). Does strength-promoting exercise confer unique health benefits? A pooled analysis of data on 11 population cohorts with all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality endpoints. American journal of epidemiology, 187(5), 1102-1112.
Naci, H., Salcher-Konrad, M., Dias, S., Blum, M. R., Sahoo, S. A., Nunan, D., & Ioannidis, J. P. (2019). How does exercise treatment compare with antihypertensive medications? A network meta-analysis of 391 randomised controlled trials assessing exercise and medication effects on systolic blood pressure. British journal of sports medicine, 53(14), 859-86
Ashton, R. E., Tew, G. A., Aning, J. J., Gilbert, S. E., Lewis, L., & Saxton, J. M. (2020). Effects of short-term, medium-term and long-term resistance exercise training on cardiometabolic health outcomes in adults: systematic review with meta-analysis. British journal of sports medicine, 54(6), 341-348.
Loaiza-Betancur, A. F., Pérez Bedoya, E., Montoya Dávila, J., & Chulvi-Medrano, I. (2020). Effect of isometric resistance training on blood pressure values in a group of normotensive participants: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports health, 12(3), 256-262.
Huang, L., Fang, Y., & Tang, L. (2021). Comparisons of different exercise interventions on glycemic control and insulin resistance in prediabetes: a network meta-analysis. BMC endocrine disorders, 21, 1-13.
Costa, R. R., Buttelli, A. C. K., Vieira, A. F., Coconcelli, L., de Lima Magalhães, R., Delevatti, R. S., & Kruel, L. F. M. (2019). Effect of strength training on lipid and inflammatory outcomes: systematic review with meta-analysis and meta-regression. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 16(6), 477-491.
Beck, B. R., Daly, R. M., Singh, M. A. F., & Taaffe, D. R. (2017). Exercise and Sports Science Australia (ESSA) position statement on exercise prescription for the prevention and management of osteoporosis. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 20(5), 438-445.
Yang, J., Chen, X., Chen, X., & Li, L. (2025). Physical Activity and Arterial Stiffness: A Narrative Review. The Journal of Clinical Hypertension, 27(1), e14941.
Edwards, J. J., Deenmamode, A. H., Griffiths, M., Arnold, O., Cooper, N. J., Wiles, J. D., & O'Driscoll, J. M. (2023). Exercise training and resting blood pressure: a large-scale pairwise and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. British journal of sports medicine, 57(20), 1317-1326.
Kanaley, J. A., Colberg, S. R., Corcoran, M. H., Malin, S. K., Rodriguez, N. R., Crespo, C. J., Kirwan, J. P., & Zierath, J. R. (2022). Exercise/Physical Activity in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes: A Consensus Statement from the American College of Sports Medicine. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 54(2), 353–368. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000002800
Smith, P. J., & Merwin, R. M. (2021). The role of exercise in management of mental health disorders: an integrative review. Annual review of medicine, 72(1), 45-62.
Moreira, J. B., Wohlwend, M., & Wisløff, U. (2020). Exercise and cardiac health: physiological and molecular insights. Nature Metabolism, 2(9), 829-839.