What is green exercise and what are its health benefits?
green exercise / biophilic design / gym design / indoor green exercise / mental wellbeing
What is green exercise and why is it good for us?
Nature has an impact on our mental and physical wellbeing, this is the basic insight behind the biophilia hypothesis that, from our perspective at least, is merely stating the obvious - we co-evolved with nature, our histories are inextricably intertwined but ultimately she makes the rules and if we distance ourselves too far from them, we eventually pay a price, be that at an individual or collective level.
Biophilic design examples
Biophilic design is a way to align sustainability and health objectives via the built environment, be it an office interior, or our home. It equates to healthy, natural materials in the floors, walls and ceiling as well as the furniture.
Often there is a natural colour palette, as well as wabi-sabi (organic, imperfect) finishes, nature-inspired shapes and patterns, as well as a component of multi-sensory design such as sound, light and scent.
Green exercise meanwhile is about exercising in natural, outdoor environments as a way to leverage some of the health benefits of being in nature, i.e. incorporating biophilia into the exercise experience, again drawing on evolutionary theory in the same way Biophilic design does, essentially.
Think of road cycling, trail running, hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, surfing, skiing, kitesurfing and so on. An inherent part of the pleasure and satisfaction we take from such activities is connected to the dominant presence of natural surroundings. Whether we recognize it or not.
The term ‘green exercise’ itself was coined by a team of researchers at the University Essex led by Professors Barton and Bragg, to sum up these synergistic health benefits linked to physical activity combined with nature.
Indoor green exercise
‘Indoor green exercise’ is a further iteration of the concept that combines biophilic design in a health club, gym or fitness studio context. While this solution will never match the outdoor experience, it arguably justifies itself in terms of convenience, especially for the time poor living in dense urban environments with limited access to nature during the work week.
More than simply interior decor, this concept should in our view extend all the way into the equipment selection and training on offer - less isolation machines full of plastic parts and more functional fitness gear made of wood, leather, iron and rope in other words.
What are the proven health benefits of nature exposure?
Research shows that exposure to the natural world can reduce stress, increase cognitive function and productivity, improves mood and enhances creativity. These concepts represent the fundamental pillars of why biophilia is important for our wellbeing- i.e. staying connected to nature.
Bratman, Gregory, and Gretchen Daily. The Benefits of Nature Experience: Improved Affect and Cognition. Tech. Vol. 138. Stanford: n.p., 2015. Landscape and Urban Planning. Stanford University Libraries. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
What form should that ‘exposure’ to nature take? One approach is ‘forest bathing’, a Japanese concept that simply means attempting to find a calm and tranquil space in a forest setting surrounded by dense tree cover, albeit with a modicum of extra mindfulness and purpose to it all, rather than merely wandering by chance into a nearby park and hoping for the best.
The proven health benefits of forest bathing include primary disease prevention - by boosting the immune system with Natural Killer (NK) cells that combat other cells infected by a tumor or virus - and secondly reduced blood pressure that lowers stress and anxiety levels.
Li Q, Morimoto K et al. “Forest bathing enhances human natural killer activity and expression of anti-cancer proteins.” Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol. 2007 Apr-Jun;20(2 Suppl 2):3-8. doi: 10.1177/03946320070200S202. PMID: 17903349. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17903349/
How do the scientific community explain this phenomenon? A couple of leading theories exist that we will mention here.
The first is Attention Restoration Theory (ART), that states that time spent in nature, or even simply experiencing a space that features Biophilic design such as this one, helps us ‘refresh’ our mental state, overcome short-term fatigue and better focus on a specific task requiring concentration.
ART was first put forward by Environmental Psychology Professors Rachel and Stephen Kaplan in their book entitled The experience of nature: A psychological perspective that investigates the impact of restorative natural environments on our psyches.
A second theory, known as the Stress Reduction Theory (SRT), states that high stress levels are lowered in natural environments due to our natural affinity and comfort with the natural world. This theory is from another key name in the field of Biophilic design and applied biophilia, Dr Roger Ulrich.
What type fo natural environments are we talking about here? Famously in one of Ulrich’s studies (1984) he showed that a view out of a hospital bedroom onto a natural landscape as opposed to a solid brick wall improved patient recovery times. In another study (1979) it was enough to show research respondents a slideshow of natural landscapes to elicit similar, stress-reducing response.
Jimenez, Marcia P. et al. “Associations Between Nature Exposure and Health: A Review of the Evidence.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18.9 (2021): 4790. Crossref. Web.
What is the scientific evidence for green exercise?
Nothing new here but for clarity, beyond the obvious physical benefits, exercise also helps maintain healthy sleep patterns, enhance mood, improve executive function and cognitive performance, in particular in the post-exercise phase.
When we add in nature exposure, we see more psychological benefits such as self-esteem, vitality and a reduction in “frustration, worry, confusion, depression and tiredness”. Equally, running outdoors as opposed to indoors on a treadmill, is associated with “less anxiety, depression, anger and hostility”.
Finally, and perhaps most tellingly, due to the number of buttons that nature switches on in our psychological make-up, we instinctively look crave the next hit of goodness, encouraging future exercise - suggesting that green exercise and indeed indoor green exercise may be the key to increasing exercise levels amongst those population groups who do not partake in regular exercise.
Green Exercise - Linking Nature, Health & Wellbeing, Edited by Barton, Bragg, Wood and Pretty.
Why are some gyms unhealthy or unnatural, from the green exercise perspective?
Often there is poor air quality in heavily used, lower-ground gyms with no natural light, inadequate ventilation systems and high equipment density meaning any cleaning regime is always going to be limited in its effectiveness, dust accumulates over time and the air ends up with high levels of CO2 (due to the number of gym users respiring heavily in an enclosed space). This can in turn lead to increased fatigue, ironically.
In response to this situation, we have long proposed biophilic design and nature-based, healthy design strategies for Biofit designed gyms, health clubs and fitness studios to bring the health benefits of nature indoors.
This can be achieved the incorporation of wood and other natural materials for equipment, the use of natural light, use of natural analogs such as images of nature (wallpaper, framed prints), a natural color palette, the use of greenery such as plant walls and hanging plants around the ceiling, pine forest aromatherapy for some of those healthy phytoncides forest bathing leverages, enhanced HVAC filters and natural ventilation strategies to provide purified indoor air as close as possible in quality to that we might hope to breathe when outside in nature, and finally an eco-friendly, non-toxic cleaning protocol to ensure no chemicals are inadvertently introduced into the indoor environment by the maintenance team.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5663018/pdf/BJPI-14-79a.pdf
http://europepmc.org/article/med/26600402
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308099577_Green_Exercise_Health_and_Well-Being