Think You Got a Workout? You May See Benefits
In general, Americans don't get much exercise. With cars to get us to work or anywhere we want to go, desk jobs, and TV watching, it's a wonder we get any exercise at all.
The surgeon general recommends 30 minutes of activity daily to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Whether you actually get this amount or not, if you think you're doing enough to be healthy, you may get the same benefits.
A study was conducted on this effect using female housekeepers. Generally housekeepers are active - they clean around 15 rooms a day, and each one takes 20 to 30 minutes.
One group was told they were getting enough exercise to see benefits - the other group was told nothing. Questionnaires were issued to make sure each group was doing the same amount of work.
At the end of four weeks, the group who thought they were getting exercise saw benefits in the form of reduced systolic blood pressure, lower BMI and body fat percentage.
Apparently, if your mind thinks you're active, your body will follow. This is known as the placebo effect, which can be very powerful. This explains how you can develop "side effects" from the placebo version of a drug.
So tell yourself that walking from the car to the office is a good workout – and if you believe it, maybe it really was.
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I read about this a couple of weeks ago, I think. My initial reaction was: how did the positive group end up with a lower body fat percentage? They must have exercised more even if they didn't realize it.
So I'm not convinced this was completely a placebo effect. Maybe by being told they were getting health benefits, they cleaned more vigorously or something.
It's hard to believe you can just think your way to lower body fat. Lower blood pressure, I can believe. Lower body fat, I'm not convinced.
ReplyWe think because they were motivated by what they were told they actually lived a healthier lifestyle. I bet the rooms the 'fitter' group did were cleaner! :-)
ReplyI can see it now. What is the BMI of our housekeeper, please?
no way they just probably started eating healthier when they were told of the study.
ReplyThat's a very intriguing study. I guess if the placebo effect can apply to drugs then why not exercise. I can definitely see it working with blood pressure but the BMI and body fat is a stretch.
I will have to read this report! Thanks for the link. Very interesting.
ReplyHeh.... if you could really "think your way thin", I'd be a skeleton by now!!! Unfortunately, the brain can only do so much.
I agree with Talia... that perhaps the brain function affected the blood pressure, but I'm skeptical of the BMI. Perhaps the results were interpreted backward... it wasn't those who didn't receive feedback (the placebo group) that had low blood pressure, but those who received negative feedback who *developed HIGH blood pressure*. Stress will do that, and negative feedback on anything is enough to raise your stress level. And for housekeepers to receive feedback that their job is done poorly, that's enough to cause the stress.
ReplyI would say this is absolutely true. Your mind can't tell the difference if your body is going through the motions or not so if you continuously think you are, then you will get more of a benefit then if you think you aren't.
If that made sense :)
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