Pop quiz: which type of crazy exercise is the best for your gut bugs?

Ok, so you already know that exercise is good for you: it can help regulate blood flow, encourage weight loss, improve mood, boost strength and regulate digestion.¹https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-benefits-of-exercise PLUS – your gut bacteria love when you exercise!²https://atlasbiomed.com/blog/how-does-exercise-affect-gut-microbiome/

These days, there are more exercise options than ever before. (Our favourite here at Chuckling Goat is Goat Yoga!)

Our gut microbiomes thrive off certain kinds of exercise. Out of these new weird and wacky sports – can you guess what kind of exercise they love most?

a. Goat Yoga (A yoga teacher leads a class of humans while goats interact with the yogis.)

b. Octopush (Two teams compete to manoeuvre a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into the opposing team’s goal by propelling it with a hockey stick.)

c. Chess-boxing (Two combatants play alternating rounds of blitz chess and boxing until one wins by checkmate or knockout.)

d. Pumpkin sailing (Participants race their vegetables across stretches of water including rivers, lakes and sea.)

The answer is: 

b. Octopush! 
Why? Because underwater hockey and swimming are aerobic exercises that help increase cardiorespiratory fitness.³https://healthyliving.azcentral.com/sports-require-muscular-endurance-9032.html⁴https://www.gbuwh.co.uk/page/what-is-octopush

Better cardiorespiratory fitness is also associated with a healthier and richer gut microbiome!⁵https://atlasbiomed.com/blog/how-does-exercise-affect-gut-microbiome/ It can also help increase beneficial bacteria species within the gut,⁶https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2021.637010/ and improve your inflammation response.⁷https://atlasbiomed.com/blog/how-does-exercise-affect-gut-microbiome/

Besides Octopush – here are some simple (and more popular) forms of aerobic exercise your gut bacteria will love!

• Dancing
• Walking
• Running
• Cycling
• Swimming
• Rowing

The NHS recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity.⁸https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/exercise-guidelines/physical-activity-guidelines-for-adults-aged-19-to-64/ That is just over 20 minutes a day. 

If you’re new to the exercise scene, start with one day a week and build up from there. Get your friends and family involved to keep you company on a walk and enjoy some sunshine. 🌞

References

• 1
  https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-benefits-of-exercise
• 2
  https://atlasbiomed.com/blog/how-does-exercise-affect-gut-microbiome/
• 3
  https://healthyliving.azcentral.com/sports-require-muscular-endurance-9032.html
• 4
  https://www.gbuwh.co.uk/page/what-is-octopush
• 5
  https://atlasbiomed.com/blog/how-does-exercise-affect-gut-microbiome/
• 6
  https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2021.637010/
• 7
  https://atlasbiomed.com/blog/how-does-exercise-affect-gut-microbiome/
• 8
  https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/exercise-guidelines/physical-activity-guidelines-for-adults-aged-19-to-64/

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