HOW are your neuropeptides looking? What are your levels of galanin like?

Don’t worry if you don’t know, it would be a shock if you did.

What I can tell you is that if you do reasonable amounts of exercise, then your neuropeptides have a greater chance of being in good order and your galanin strong. And that is a good thing.

Neuropeptides might sound like the residents of planet Galanin in Dr Who, but they are actually vital proteins, one of which is galanin which has been shown to function as a super stress-buster.

I don’t want to jump the gun with negative forebodings but it looks like we are a number of months away from being able to enjoy life as we did pre-pandemic.

This means restrictions, lack of access to facilities, a severely shrunk social life and no events to attend and elevating experiences to share. The government fully admits that all this can add up to mental stresses and strains.

So with that in mind, and as it has been for most of 2020, keeping sharp and positive is as important as it has ever been and exercise has a huge part to play in this.

Not only is an exercised body a fitter and healthier one, its brain has also been fired up to make the most of natures mood boosters and stress-relievers. There is plenty of research to support this but it’s always good to keep an eye out for the latest studies.

Findings by researchers at Emory University, Georgia in the US has shown exercise can strengthen the brain’s resilience to stress by elevating levels of the aforementioned neuropeptide, galanin.

The research team studied two groups – a sedentary group and one that exercised regularly. They measured anxious behaviour in the test subjects 24 hours after an artificially created stressful event.

Those who exercised regularly showed less anxious behaviour after the stressful event compared to those that didn’t exercise.

The exercise group had elevated galanin levels in their brainstem that are involved in the stress response. Crucially, the amount of time spent exercising correlated with the amount of galanin produced in this area of the brain, which in turn correlated with the degree of stress resilience.

The findings by one of the world’s leading research universities was published in the Journal of Neuroscience and is further support for the link between exercise and relieving stress.

So if we’re going to keep mind and body in order there is mounting scientific evidence that we can do so simultaneously with exercise. But don’t worry, this doesn’t mean training like somebody aiming for next years Olympics.

Far from it in fact. Bracing dog walks in our glorious countryside or on our beautiful beaches. A cliff path walk, cycling to the shops, a jog, some bodyweight exercises at home such as lunges, squats, push-ups (on your knees if necessary).

They key is TO DO SOMETHING! This will create positive chemical processes as well has tuning and toning the body.

For this issue I’d like to leave you with some easy drills to raise heart rate, skills and focus in a few minutes:

Find yourself three minutes and a stretch of five meters or more and use this strip as your mini-track for the following:

Patter feet - take very short and fast steps forward on your toes, no bigger than as if your laces were tied! Drive your arms with the action

Walk back to the start line

Heel flicks - flick your heels at speed, as close as possible to your back side. Be fast and precise and use the arms as if sprinting. Walk back.

Skips - yes really! High skips with the front thigh well raised, positioning the arms in a perfect running action, look ahead and stay high in the air with each bounce. Walk back.

Gallop sideways, jumping high up and snapping the legs together when airborne. Return.

This week my youtube video is about three tips to boost your health and immunity, now! Find it on www.youtube.com/joeybull