Why Physios Love Exercise: A Natural Medicine

We physios often joke that if exercise came in pill form, it’d be flying off the pharmacy shelves!

Why? Because unlike medications that target single issues, exercise is a multi-system powerhouse with benefits spanning your heart, muscles, bones, brain, and mental health—all with minimal side effects.

Whether you’re managing a chronic condition or just aiming to age well, evidence-based exercise is one of the most potent "treatments" we have. Let’s break down six key benefits, backed by science.

6 Key Benefits of Exercise

1. Cardiovascular Health and Fitness

Aerobic exercise (like walking, cycling, or swimming) directly improves how efficiently your heart and lungs deliver oxygen to your muscles.

📖 Research Insight: 
A review of 160+ studies found regular cardio improves:
✔ Blood pressure
✔ Cholesterol (lower triglycerides, higher HDL)
✔ Insulin sensitivity (key for diabetes prevention)
(Lin et al., 2015)

Bottom Line: Being fit doesn't just mean marathon running. Even slight improvements are linked to a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and even dementia. Exercise is also one of the most prescribed tools in cardiac rehabilitation and hypertension management.

2. Muscle Strength, Size, and Longevity

Resistance training (like weights or bodyweight exercises) builds strength and muscle mass—and this becomes increasingly important as we age.

📖 Research Insight: 
Just 30–60 mins/week of strength work reduces risk of:
✔ Early death (10–17% lower)
✔ Diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers
(Momma et al., 2022)

Bottom Line: Stronger muscles mean better mobility, more independence, and fewer injuries. For older adults or people with chronic disabilities, it can be the difference between living safely at home and needing support.

3. Increased Neural Drive and Coordination

And when we get stronger from exercise, it’s not just from building bigger muscles. A lot of early improvements in strength actually come from changes in the brain and nervous system—what physios call neural adaptations.

📖 Research Insight: 
Resistance training improves:
✔ Neural drive (stronger brain-to-muscle signals)
✔ Coordination (especially vital for Parkinson’s/MS)
(Siddique et al., 2020; Helgerud et al., 2023)

Bottom Line (and 📖 bonus insight): This matters for everyone, but especially for people with neurological conditions. A 2023 review in people with Parkinson’s disease showed that targeted exercise improves coordination, muscle activation, and motor control—even without major increases in muscle size. This highlights how strength training can help the brain better control movement, not just build muscle (Helgerud et al., 2023).

4. Bone Mineral Density and Fracture Resistance

Weight-bearing and high-load resistance exercises apply healthy stress to bones, which helps them stay dense and strong.

📖 Research Insight: 
High-load training (60–70% max effort) increases spine bone density in osteoporosis. (Kitsuda et al., 2021)

Bottom Line: This kind of training can reduce your risk of fractures—especially hip and spine fractures, which are major causes of long-term disability. It’s a key part of osteoporosis prevention and management.

5. Balance and Falls

Balance is a critical part of everyday movement, and it becomes increasingly important to maintain as we age. Poor balance increases the risk of falls, which are the leading cause of injury around the world.

📖 Research Insight: 
Tailored exercise cuts fall risk by improving:
✔ Leg strength
✔ Reaction time
✔ Coordination
(Papalia et al., 2020)

Bottom Line: Balance training isn’t just about standing on one foot. It includes functional movement, leg strength, reaction time, and even coordination—all things that physios train in real-world scenarios.

6. Mood and Sleep

Exercise doesn’t just work on the body—it works on the brain. It’s a powerful tool for improving mental health, emotional regulation, and sleep quality.

📖 Research Insight: 
Regular movement improves:
✔ Sleep quality (deeper, fewer wake-ups)
✔ Anxiety/depression symptoms
(Dolezal et al., 2017)

Bottom Line: Many physios see the benefits of exercise beyond physical rehab—clients often report better energy, reduced anxiety, and deeper sleep. This flow-on effect makes it easier to keep up with long-term health goals.

Exercise is Powerful, But Needs Tailoring

Like medicine, exercise works best when tailored:

• Dose: 2–3x/week strength, 150+ mins cardio

• Goals: Hip strength? Fall prevention?

• Adaptations: MS? Arthritis? Post-stroke?

How PhysiKits Helps

Our condition-specific exercise kits (like the MS Balance Toolkit or Parkinson’s Freezing Toolkit) include:

• Self-assessments to track progress

• Research-backed exercises to target the challenge at its core (minimal equipment required!)

🔗 Find Your Kit: Explore our PhysiKits courses today!

_References

_{Dolezal, B. A., Neufeld, E. V., Boland, D. M., Martin, J. L., & Cooper, C. B. (2017). Interrelationship between sleep and exercise: a systematic review. Advances in preventive medicine, 2017(1), 1364387. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/1364387} 

_{Helgerud, J., Thomsen, S. N., Hoff, J., Strandbråten, A., Leivseth, G., Unhjem, R., & Wang, E. (2020). Maximal strength training in patients with Parkinson’s disease: impact on efferent neural drive, force-generating capacity, and functional performance. Journal of Applied Physiology, 129(4), 683-690. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00208.2020} 

_{Kitsuda, Y., Wada, T., Noma, H., Osaki, M., & Hagino, H. (2021). Impact of high-load resistance training on bone mineral density in osteoporosis and osteopenia: a meta-analysis. Journal of bone and mineral metabolism, 39(5), 787-803. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00774-021-01218-1} 

_{Lin, X., Zhang, X., Guo, J., Roberts, C. K., McKenzie, S., Wu, W. C., ... & Song, Y. (2015). Effects of exercise training on cardiorespiratory fitness and biomarkers of cardiometabolic health: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of the American heart association, 4(7), e002014. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.115.002014} 

_{Momma, H., Kawakami, R., Honda, T., & Sawada, S. S. (2022). Muscle-strengthening activities are associated with lower risk and mortality in major non-communicable diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. British journal of sports medicine, 56(13), 755-763. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2021-105061} 

_{Papalia, G. F., Papalia, R., Diaz Balzani, L. A., Torre, G., Zampogna, B., Vasta, S., ... & Denaro, V. (2020). The effects of physical exercise on balance and prevention of falls in older people: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of clinical medicine, 9(8), 2595. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm9082595} 

_{Siddique, U., Rahman, S., Frazer, A. K., Pearce, A. J., Howatson, G., & Kidgell, D. J. (2020). Determining the sites of neural adaptations to resistance training: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports medicine, 50(6), 1107-1128. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01258-z}