As health professionals, dental practitioners and students understand the importance of regular physical activity for overall wellbeing. A dental practitioner’s work can be physically demanding and the profession has a particularly high incidence (80 to 90 percent) of back and shoulder injuries due to ongoing static and awkward posture at work.
Committing to regular exercise and movement, including simple stretches while at work, can be key to maintaining or rebuilding your health. Here are some of the benefits of exercise and how to get moving.
If you would like to chat to someone call our confidential 24/7 support line on 1800 377 700.
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The importance of exercise
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Exercise and physical activity are important for all ages and stages in life. Keeping active also directly influences your ability to maintain and improve your psychological and emotional health. The key is usually finding an activity that you enjoy and even look forward to. It is recommended that you aim to exercise 30 minutes a day, five times per week.
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Look for a physical activity that you enjoy and are motivated to keep doing. You could try:
- walking
- running
- swimming
- boxing
- yoga or Pilates
- dancing
- tennis
- bike riding, or
- team sports such as netball, basketball or football.
Start slowly to build up your resilience. If you haven't exercised much recently speak to a doctor about how to get started. You may even like to ask your doctor about a referral to an exercise physiologist, an allied health professional who can help you customise a fitness routine for your specific needs.
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As your physical health improves it's a good idea to vary the type of activities that you do.
- Strength and resistance training — improves muscle and bone strength.
- Flexibility exercise — improves joint and muscle range of motion.
- Cardiovascular exercise/aerobics training — improves physical endurance and personal stamina.
- Balance/core workouts — improves balance and coordination and increases abdominal strength.
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No matter the exercise, you will benefit from it triggering the release of 'feel good' chemicals from your brain.
- Serotonin — reduces depression and hostility, and improves agreeable social behaviour.
- Dopamine — improves mood and long-term memory.
- Endorphins — produce a 'euphoric' or 'natural high' response. They also act as an analgesic, diminishing the perception of pain, and act as a sedative.
Other benefits of exercise
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The benefits of exercise are numerous:
- reduces the risk of depression and/or anxiety
- helps improve mental health
- improves mood and concentration
- reduces stress
- reduces the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
- reduces the risk of osteoporosis and improves bone density
- improves immunity
- improves sleep quality
- improves maintenance of weight/weight control
- reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes
- lowers the risk of some cancers, and
- helps with pain management.
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Read some of our other articles on staying healthy:
Our service provides free and confidential support to dental practitioners and students Australia wide. If you would like to speak to someone call us 24/7 on 1800 377 700 or you can request support via email.
If you would like to know a bit more about the service before getting in contact — take a look through accessing support.
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A helpful brochure about the importance of being active and how it can improve your health.
