When it comes to working out, researchers say cardio and strength training are best–but now a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Autonomic Neuroscience says simply watching someone work out could get you fitter.
Reporting from the University of Western Sydney in Australia, researcher Vaughan Macefield says that simply watching a video of someone working out raises muscle sympathetic nerve activity–activity which normally increases while working out.
It’s a strange bit of news, to say the very least.
“We know that the sympathetic nervous system–which supplies the heart, sweat glands and blood vessels, as well as other tissues–increases its activity during actual exercise,” says Macefield. “Recording this nerve activity provides a very sensitive measure of the body’s physiological responses to physical or mental stress.”
Testing the effects of certain images on a person’s psychogenic response levels, Macefield and his team of researchers inserted small needles into the nerves of people who agreed to participate in the study. The needles allowed researchers to record the electrical signals the nerve fibers gave out, allowing for a more precise measurement of the body’s physical reactions to certain stressors.
Researchers then had them sit still while they showed them certain images and videos–the first being a still image of a landscape. After a brief while, they switched to a more dynamic scene–a 22 minute video of a runner jogging vigorously.
As a result, researchers observed their heart rate, respiration, and blood flow all increased, something that typically increases while working out.
“Although these changes were small, they were all appropriate physiological responses to exercise,” says Rachel Brown, researcher and leading expert on human sympathetic neurones. “As the volunteers were sitting relaxed with no muscle activity it indicates that the responses were psychogenic–that is they originated from the mind and not the body.”
In conclusion, experts say that simply watching someone work out could give your body a small workout–though it won’t replace a real jog or walk on your own.
“While watching other people exercise may increase your heart rate and have other physiological effects, nothing can replace the health benefits of getting off the couch,” says Macefield.
What You Should Do
If you’re running low on exercise or just don’t have the time to work out, you may want to go for the alternative shown in this study–watch someone exercise instead. While it won’t replace a regular workout, even small incremental increases in physical activity could benefit your physical and mental health.
And that’s good if you want to improve your quality of life.
“This dovetails with our recent work on the emotions, where we found that viewing emotionally charged images, such as erotica, increases our sympathetic nerve activity and sweat release,” says Brown.
As a bonus, watching others exercise seems to have another benefit–it’s more likely to motivate you to work out. According to earlier research, those who watched people work out and made friends with those who made exercise a priority were more likely to stay fit–a good benefit if you’re having trouble finding the motivation to work out regularly.
Readers: Do you have trouble staying motivated to exercise?
Source:
Study: Watching People Exercise Actaully Makes You Fitter – HuffingtonPost.com
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