You’re with Pain Free Living hosts Bob Allen (osteopath) and Clare Elsby (therapy coach), and this week we aim to take the fear out of exercise.

If that word makes you roll your eyes or groan, you’re not alone! In this episode, you’ll find out why movement, whatever shape it takes, is one of the best medicines around.

Clare explains how even gentle activity can boost your mood, reduce stress, and help you sleep better. Bob shares why our joints actually need movement, producing their own version of “WD-40” to stay flexible.

Together, we look at what happens when you stop moving, why a little is better than nothing, and how ageing doesn’t have to mean slowing down.

You’ll also hear why the World Health Organisation's “150 minutes exercise a week” isn’t a magic rule and small, regular bursts of movement can still make a huge difference. Bob talks about the simple balance and strength routines he’s seen transform the health and confidence in older adults’, while Clare explores how group exercise builds connection, motivation, and self-esteem.

Don’t worry if you’re starting from zero as awareness really is the first step. Your body and brain are designed to move, and it’s never too late to start.

5 Key Takeaways

• Forget the stopwatch — every bit of movement counts.
• Exercise boosts mood, sleep, and focus through natural feel-good chemicals.
• Movement keeps joints lubricated and muscles strong — use it or lose it!
• Being active with others builds confidence and connection.
• It’s never too late — even small steps can make a big difference.

Helpful resources

You can find out about your Autonomic nervous system here https://youtu.be/WUesY4Zx6oM

This newsletter covers all you need to know about sleep including REM sleep https://mailchi.mp/e84e2081df34/hey-show-that-you-care-6226393

If you are not sure what BDNF is and it's effect on the brain this podcast will help https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmRaS3O1v2U&t=10s

You will find a good explanation of the Otago exercise program here https://www.physio-pedia.com/Otago_Exercise_Programme

Find out more about us and stay connected

😎 Learn more about Bob’s story https://bit.ly/BobsOsteoStory

🤩 Find out more about Clare’s work https://www.clareelsby.com/

📰 Sign up for our Pain Free Living newsletter https://bit.ly/PFL_newsletter_signup

🎙️ Connect with us on socials & podcast platforms https://linktr.ee/Painfreeliving

Okay.

All right.

Well, exercise has been shown to have various benefits, and this has been proven scientifically.

So it's been shown that actually through the release of endorphins, exercise boosts mood.

And we can tell that quite easily.

There's lots of anecdotal evidence for that.

People go to the gym, workout, go for a run, and they genuinely feel better after it.

It lifts people's mood.

It also helps reduce stress, so it allows us to better regulate our autonomic nervous system, and therefore, that actually makes us feel calmer.

We live In a world that's 24, seven switched on.

Nobody gets a break.

So there aren't many of us that will do the equivalent of 30 minutes exercise five days a week, plus throw in two resistance training sessions as well.

So, unsurprisingly, when you set the bar high, a lot of people just go, I haven't got time to do that.

I can't do that.

And then it doesn't get done.

If I could put all of those benefits in a tablet and go, right, here you go, here's a tablet that will give you all of these and just list all of those benefits, people will take it in a heartbeat because it involves effort.

People are more reluctant to do it.

And there's a whole other range of issues around why people don't exercise.

But when you look at the numbers that are thrown around that people need to do, they're just reluctant to dedicate that kind of amount of time to do it.

And one of the reasons we're recording these podcasts, and one of the reasons that I think it's really, really, really important is to put across to people that actually you don't need to do 150 minutes of moderate exercise.

You don't need to do 70 minutes of vigorous exercise to get benefits from.

From exercise.

Hello and welcome to the Pain Free Living Podcast.

And this time we're going to go straight into it.

No preamble.

This one is all about exercise.

So we've done a couple of episodes of the podcast already on exercise, but this one, we're going to do a deep dive.

We're going to do three or four episodes on this, and we'll break down exercise, what it's all about, and we'll give you some ideas about what you, if you want to get fitter and healthier, what you can do about it.

Well, I think we'll start with what is exercise, Claire?

Right.

Exercise.

That's such a big question.

Sorry, I threw that away.

Yeah, you did, but that's okay.

I'm getting used to that.

Exercise.

It can be a trigger word, actually.

So that's why I took a big gulp of air.

And I would rather talk about movement and then exercise as two separate things.

And this is why we get on.

So what I was getting.

So there is a dictionary definition of exercise.

Right?

Okay.

And the dictionary definition.

I'm gonna have to read this because I memorize it.

The dictionary definition is exercise is a planned, structured, and purposeful movement to improve physical fitness and wellbeing.

That's a dictionary definition.

Right, okay.

Yes, I agree with that.

Yeah, I'm with you on the.

On the exercise as generally used by the population and the media.

It's a bit of a.

Almost a curse word with some people.

Some people absolutely love it.

Some people say the word exercise and they will cringe and they will.

I can't do.

Run away from it.

Yes, exactly.

So, as I was saying earlier, what we're going to talk about in this episode is we're going to talk about what it is, what it means.

So we've had the dictionary definition.

So I will ask you what does exercise mean to you?

And then from a mental health perspective, and then we can kind of COVID the physical aspects of it as well.

Okay.

All right.

Well, exercise has been shown to have various benefits, and this has been proven scientifically.

So it's been shown that actually, through the release of endorphins, exercise boosts mood.

And we can tell that quite easily.

There's lots of anecdotal evidence for that.

People go to the gym, workout, go for a run, and they genuinely feel better after it.

It lifts people's mood.

It also helps reduce stress, so it allows us to better regulate our autonomic nervous system, and therefore, that actually makes us feel calmer.

Yeah.

So I'll just jump in there and say Claire mentioned the autonomic nervous system.

We have done a podcast on that.

We'll put a link in the show notes, and that will give you an idea of what the autonomic nervous system is all about.

Sorry, Claire.

No, that's fine.

That's why you're here, Bob.

If you're tired from doing exercise, say you've been to the gym, you've worked out, you've gone for a run, you've gone for a swim, bike ride, whatever these different types of exercise exercise are, you are more likely to be tired, and therefore sleep comes easier.

And sleep, good sleep, good REM sleep is where we recharge our bodies, we repair our bodies, we recharge Our brains.

So exercise is fantastic from that perspective as well.

And I'm just going to jump in there again and say Claire mentioned REM sleep.

REM sleep, rapid eye movement sleep.

We'll put a link in the show notes to that one as well.

Sorry, Claire.

That's all right.

It can also build self esteem.

So certainly if it's structured as Bob talked, by being a structured exercise and a plan and a goal, actually achieving goals and feeling better about yourself and looking better.

Now there's a flip side to that, but which we could, well, I know we're going to talk about, but it can actually improve our self esteem and we can see the progress if you are doing it with others.

So for example, you join a running club, a cycling club, go to a gym, play badminton, squash, whatever.

It improves social connection.

And we do know that actually having a social connection, having something in common with other, other people, not only brings a lot of mood and mental health benefits, but it also strengthens our, just our, our social network.

So that's, that's, you know, really, really important as well.

There's a lot of science coming out about this.

Now there's a Dr. Louisa Nicola, who's actually a neurophysiologist.

She's written several papers on how exercise, we're talking exercise, not necessarily just movement, but exercise improves our brain health.

And it does this by stimulating release of a BDNF hormone and that crosses the brain, the blood brain barrier.

And she has done studies to show that actually this helps not only our brain health, but it also protects us against Alzheimer's.

Alzheimer's.

Okay, so that is an amazing finding.

So not only does it bring us all the other benefits, but actually cognitively we are reversing aging.

What I'll do now is I'll go through kind of the more obvious physical benefits of exercise and things that they have found that over time.

And research has shown that exercise reduces the rate of cancer, reduces the risk of cancer occurring, it reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, it helps to reduce blood pressure, and as you pointed out, it's also very good for mental health.

It also reduces the risk of developing osteoporosis.

And there's a whole list of benefits.

Now one of the things that may be a factor in why people don't exercise is because the World Health Organization specifies that to get all the physical benefits of exercising, you have to do 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 70 minutes of vigorous exercise, plus two resistance training sessions per week.

Wow.

Now we live In a world that's 24, seven switched on.

Nobody gets a break.

So there aren't many of us that will do the equivalent of 30 minutes exercise five days a week, plus throw in two resistance training sessions as well.

So, unsurprisingly, when you set the bar high, a lot of people just go, I haven't got time to do that, I can't do that.

And then it doesn't get done.

If I could put all of those benefits in a tablet and go, right, here you go, here's a tablet that will give you all of these and just list, list all of those benefits, people will take it in a heartbeat because it involves effort, People are more reluctant to do it.

And there's a whole other range of issues around why people don't exercise.

But when you look at the numbers that are thrown around that people need to do, they're just reluctant to, to dedicate that kind of amount of time to do it.

And one of the reasons we're recording these podcasts, and one of the reasons that I think it's really, really important is to put across to people that actually you don't need to do 150 minutes of moderate exercise, you don't need to do 70 minutes of vigorous exercise to get benefits from exercise.

I tend not to use the term exercise, as anyone that's been to see me in a professional capacity as an osteopath will know.

That exercise prescription is very high on my list of things that I will get them to do, because although they can see me and it could be 45 minutes to an hour, initially once a week for the first couple of weeks and then once every couple of weeks and then once a month, that's a very small window of time to actually make physical changes for that person.

So what I've found is that by giving the right specific exercises to do that can.

That can be their osteopath.

While I'm not there.

Things that I know will work are to.

I make them really simple.

I make them exercises you can do at home and they are tailored to what that person needs.

And the other thing I do is I don't use the term exercise.

I call it movement medicine, because that's what it is.

I think the NHS definitely misses a trick by talking about exercise, because there's an image in people's heads of what exercise is, and a lot of the time it's not helpful because Put people off.

Exactly, exactly.

And I think if these prescriptions of time spent to achieve whatever it is, X, Y, Z, and people either don't have the money or, or aren't able to go to a gym or don't feel they can do it at home or are time poor, then it's just not going to happen.

So it's really important that people can find ways to fit just movement into their day.

Because if your baseline is starting at zero, actually the difference you can make in terms of all these things is huge.

Yeah, not exactly that.

And this is the thing.

The less fit you are, the more benefit you can get.

And exercise is one of those things that's actually dose dependent.

Yes.

So there's no real.

As long as you're doing the right, the right kind of exercise, there's no real downside to it.

Yeah.

Movement medicine.

Movement medicine is key.

Yes.

One of the things, One of the things that I know that puts people.

The other thing I know that puts people off, particularly people that come to see me, is that doing certain movements causing physical pain.

So say it's, it's a painful knee or it's a painful shoulder.

So what happens is whichever joint or body part it is, they don't move it because a lot of the time they think it's going to make things worse.

Yeah, I saw somebody, in fact, Yeah, I saw somebody the other day and they, they had back pain and they were, you know, they said to me, so, you know, if I, if I do these particular movements, it makes the pain worse.

What happens then is that they don't do those particular movements and that can then lead on to pain becoming even even more, more acute.

Because we are designed to move.

Yes.

You know, the body is a moving machine.

It's a moving machine to the point where we actually produce our own lubricants to keep our joint, our joints flexible.

Yeah.

So there's a lot of, a lot of the bigger joints in the body, what we call capsula, they have a joint capsule around them and the cells in those joints produce this stuff called synovial fluid.

Synovial fluid is the body's equivalent of WD40.

So the more you move the joint, the more of that WD40 it produces.

So if you, if you don't move the joint, the joint feels stiffer because it's not producing the synovial fluid.

Also, the muscles aren't working.

And then when you do try and move, it can actually feel worse.

So what you have to do.

So what you do in terms of exercise is you tailor the exercise to the point where, yeah, okay, it's a little bit uncomfortable, doesn't feel Great.

But actually, once you get some movement, it then starts, it then compounds.

So the more movement you can pull through pain free, the better.

Having said that, I'm also not a big fan of no pain, no gain, but I have found that there are a couple of conditions where you have to kind of battle through the pain because it's the only way to resolve them.

And they are where you've got things like the tendonitis, which I have had.

Achilles tendonitis, I've got.

Yeah.

Unfortunately, the best thing for those kind of conditions is to actually move through the pain.

Now, what I would say is don't do that off the bat.

If you have.

If you have pain, go and see a professional.

Yeah.

Because there's a big difference between, say it's something like an ankle sprain or Achilles tendinitis and it needs to be treated in a different way.

So, although I'm not a fan of no pain, no gain, and we'll talk about that in a later episode, there are certain conditions where you do have to battle through it, unfortunately.

Okay, but I digress.

What we're going to talk about.

No, I'm interested In the whole WD40 aspect of this because one of the things is our culture would suggest that as we get older, actually we're sort of.

It's all assumed that we do less and we're expected to do less when actually that's probably the time and not necessarily exercise.

And this is the difference between movement and exercise.

We should be moving more because we need to keep that WD40 lubricating our joints.

Absolutely.

And this was another point that was raised in these studies that Louisa Nicola has done, the neurologist is that she was saying that actually for Alzheimer's isn't a natural phenomenon and therefore we don't.

We're not expected to get Alzheimer's.

It's potentially a lifestyle thing or a genetic thing, a bit like type 2 diabetes.

And therefore, as we age, we should really be doing things to protect our brain health.

And if we can do.

The more we can do, the more we understand that we can do, then that we're reducing that prospect of getting Alzheimer's.

Yeah, yeah.

And the other thing as well, coming at it from a physical therapy point of view, I am a qualified Otago inspector, which basically means that I can do.

I. I have done exercise programs for older adults and Otago came from a place in New Zealand called Otago.

It's a strength and balance exercise program for older adults, which they have found can reduce falls significantly.

And as we Know, falls in older adults can be quite devastating.

Broken hips, for example, they can speed up the rate of decline.

Yes.

Because as you get older, injuries heal more slowly.

But it's, but a broken hip is also quite traumatic.

So, um, yeah, unfortunately the, the life expectancy of somebody who's broken a hip is quite fairly low.

Yeah.

The Otago program, what it does is, like I said, it's a strength.

It, there's some really simple exercises that you, that anyone can do and they will improve balance, they will improve strength, they will improve joint health and also there's a social aspect to the program as well.

So, yeah, brilliant as we get.

Unfortunately, we live in a society where, particularly in the healthcare sector where as you get older you're almost written off.

So once you hit a certain age, it's like what, you know.

And I see, I see a number of older clients as well and they regularly tell me that they're in pain.

They've been to the, been to the gp, they've been to someone in the healthcare system who has.

Rather than looking at the pain and going, right, okay, we have exercise programs for you.

There are things that we can do tend to just increase their, increase their pain medication.

It's getting better.

They are realizing the benefits of exercise, but unfortunately it's just taking a long time as anything.

You know, the NHS is a tanker that's trying to change course, but unfortunately it takes time for it to do that.

Luckily there are a lot of people in the private healthcare sector who can provide that support.

But yeah, you know, people are conditioned to see old age as inevitable decline, whereas actually my experience, it's not.

I used to run exercise classes for older adults.

The oldest person in my exercise in one of my classes was 99 and she was brilliant.

Yeah, absolutely brilliant.

And you know, know, I ran a class for over a year and the change in people from the start of a course to the end of the class a year later was phenomenal.

Yeah, more confident, stronger, you know, much more sociable.

And yeah, exercise is a fantastic thing, but I, but because of the connotations of the word, I liked things.

Think of it as movement medicine.

Yeah, I like that.

Movement medicine.

It's not about exercise.

Yeah, for me, if you don't use it, you lose it.

That's what I think.

And that is absolutely right.

Again, the body has this thing called built in redundancy.

So if you don't use your muscles, if you don't use your, your joints, if you don't use your bones, then it recycles them.

Yeah.

And it's the same in the brain.

Exactly.

Exactly the same in the brain.

Neuroplasticity.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

So, yeah, we need to.

We need to use it.

We do.

We do.

So, yeah, I think.

I think we got anything else to cover for this one.

I don't think so.

I think we need to leave some exciting stuff for the next episode because.

This was just the introduction, after all.

Yeah.

So, yeah.

Okay.

We'll wrap this one up here.

We will be back for a part two where we're going to talk more about the different types of exercise there are and what may be better for you.

So thank you for listening.

Thank you for watching, and we'll see you at the next one.