For some, assuming a healthier and more physically active lifestyle might be considered such an impossibility that it is almost laughable. If you currently scoff at the prospect of donning sports gear and hitting the gym or promenades to lift weights or power walk, don’t fret, because it’s a start. We may be in the midst of a shift from exercise as laughable to exercise as laughter, and we’ve even got some new science to back it up.

We’ve known for some time that laughter is good for us, and now we have evidence of its effects when explicitly incorporated into an actual exercise programme. It might seem quite an amusing idea in itself, but this is precisely what researchers at Georgia State University in the US have done, by implementing the ‘LaughActive’ programme in four assisted-living facilities for the elderly.

Participants in the study were set an exercise programme incorporating 45 minutes of physical activity, twice per week. The traditional exercises included were strength-, balance- and flexibility-oriented; however, each workout also included at least 10 bouts of ‘laughter exercises’ spaced evenly throughout the session, each lasting between half a minute to a minute.

After six weeks of this hybrid laughing and fitness training programme, the participants showed significant improvements in mental health and aerobic fitness. They also described increased perceived benefits, or in other words, they really believed the programme had helped them in a meaningful and significant way, more so than had they engaged in traditional exercise alone.

Almost all the participants agreed that laughter was a positive and useful addition to the programme and an overwhelming majority said they felt more motivated to participate in other forms of physical activity as a result. The programme therefore led not only to physiological and psychological benefits, but also offers us insight into the perennial problem of exercise adherence.

One of the fitness industry’s greatest challenges is getting people to stick with exercise once they’ve started. People who quit are unlikely to have achieved their goals and, as far as most gyms and health clubs are concerned, unhappy customers are bad for business.

Regular laughter also has the longer-term knock-on effect of developing a more positive outlook on life

You might be asking at this point, how exactly does one trigger such seemingly controlled bouts of laughter during a workout? The laughter was originally simulated, or in other words, participants were encouraged to simply go through the motions of laughing. Eye contact and playfulness among the groups was encouraged, which meant that ‘forced’ laughter often turned into genuine laughter. Nevertheless, the positive effects appear to be the same.

Laughter decreases the production and circulation of stress hormones in the blood. These are generally released when we find ourselves in threatening situations, as they serve to break down body tissues for emergency energy supply, making them generally destructive when they are present too often.

Conversely, laughter actively increases the release of endorphins, which are the body’s feel-good chemicals, the same ones triggered by exercise and cause that famous post-workout high. Endorphins are chemically related to morphine and help combat pain and increase feelings of happiness, confidence and safety.

Laughing has also been shown to both strengthen and relax muscles. If you’ve been involved in an uncontrollable and unstoppable fit of laughter lately, you may recall your abdominal muscles actually hurting, and your breathing becoming laboured. This is all producing some very real effects on your core and respiratory muscles. It isn’t just the immediate physiological effects of laughter that make it so valuable either, there are psychological benefits too. It is virtually impossible to feel harmful or negative emotions while engaged in the act of laughing. Apart from these immediate and perhaps more obvious effects on our state of mind, regular laughter also has the longer-term knock-on effect of developing a more positive outlook on life, and seeing the humour in what can otherwise become a very stressful existence.

It also helps you to reduce your inhibitions and experience less fear at expressing yourself and communicating your emotions, which are in themselves character-building activities. This leads to yet another important factor influencing the benefits of laughter, which is based on the social context in which it takes place. Laughing alone is great, but laughing in groups together with other people seems to enhance the benefits. Being in a group often means it’s easier to start laughing in the first place, as there will probably be more to laugh at, and as we all know from experience, laughing is infectious and often spreads.

So we can pretty much cover all the important bases with a healthy dose of laughter, ranging from the physical benefits right through to the psycho-social. Whether you do it in conjunction with an exercise programme or not, remember that laughter is in itself a health and fitness activity too. Unlike traditional exercise, we rarely complain about having to do it or put it off until later, so surround yourself with opportunities, situations and people with whom you are likely to get some extra laughs in, and allow your physical and mental health to flourish.

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