HOW CAN EXERCISE IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH?
You are already aware that exercise is valuable for your physical fitness? However, do you know it can also help you improve signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, and ADHD? Well, if not then read on because in this article you will find info on how can exercise improve mental health? And how it can mitigate your symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other mental health concerns.
We all acknowledge that exercise is the best tool to gain good muscle mass, aerobic fitness, and an attractive figure. It also maintains our energy level, adds glitter in the sex life, and even increases our life span. However, these things are not always enough to encourage someone to do exercise regularly.
People who exercise daily have reported that they do it because exercise gives them a deep sense of wellness. They feel energetic during their whole days activities, enjoy peaceful sleep at night and feel more calm and positive about themselves in their daily lives. They also believe that exercise plays a crucial role in improving many common mental health issues.
The point to ponder is that exercise for improving mental health does not mean you have to do strenuous workouts. For instance, if you think you need to do training for 1 to 2 hours three to five times a week, then it not true. Even a modest level of exercise can improve your mental health a lot.
Now we will discuss some mental health disorders and how exercise can improve them.
EFFECTS OF EXERCISE ON DEPRESSION:
Studies reveal that exercise can improve mild-to-moderate levels of depression as productively as antidepressant medicines without side effects. According to research done by Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health, daily running for 15 mins or having a walk for an hour can reduce the chances of depression by 26%. Additionally, it can also prevent the degeneration process.
Exercise is a powerful antidepressant. It stimulates different kinds of changes in the brain, including:
- Neural growth
- Lowers inflammation
- Initiates new activity patterns that introduce the feeling of calmness and wellbeing.
- Releases endorphins, a chemical that produces feelings of happiness in the brain and excites your spirit.
- Lastly, exercise also helps by providing a distraction for some time from negative thought because while doing a workout, your brain focuses on doing that workout. As the result, you get a break from your negative thoughts.
EFFECTS OF EXERCISE ON ANXIETY:
Exercise is a natural and efficient cure for anxiety. It reduces tension and stress, increases physical and mental energy and boosts wellbeing by releasing endorphins. For improving anxiety symptoms, you can also add meditation techniques along with the exercise. For instance, if you go on a walk, try to feel the rhythms of your respirations, feel the tapping of wind on your skin, and your foot touching the ground. Try to concentrate on your body and your senses while performing the exercise. If you are incorporating these techniques into your exercise routine, you can also improve your concentration, and give pause to constant worries.
EFFECTS OF EXERCISE ON STRESS:
Have you ever noticed how your body behaves when you are stressed? Usually, muscles in your face, neck and shoulders get tense, you feel pain in your neck, back, and head. You may feel chest tightness and throbbing beats of your heart. Sometimes it affects your digestive system, and you suffer from stomach aches or diarrhoea. Sometimes you go for excess or recurrent urination. All these things disturb your physical body and put more pressure on your mind. Consequently, your stress level increases more and more.
The best thing to cope with stress is taking deep breaths in stressful condition. You can call them breathing exercises. These will release your muscle tension and soothes your muscles and body. Adding exercise to your routine can relieve your stress by releasing endorphins in your brain. These chemicals will calm your mind, and you will think more effectively to cope with that stressful condition.
EFFECTS OF EXERCISE ON ADHD:
Regular exercise can be a great way to manage the symptoms of ADHD because it improves concentration, sharpens your memory, and boosts your mood. The relationship b/w physical activity and mental health are that physical activity increases dopamine, serotine, and norepinephrine levels in your brain. All of which increase focus and attention. Owing to this, we can say that exercise is worth considering to help with the management of ADHD.
OTHER BENEFITS OF EXERCISE REGARDING MENTAL HEALTH:
It is not to say that exercise will only help if you have mental health issues. A regular workout can still aid you in boosting your mood, outlook, and mental wellness.
Exercise can also aid you in the following ways:
IMPROVED SLEEP:
Exercise also has positive effects on sleep. Even a short workout can help in improving and maintaining your sleep patterns. However, keep in mind that a strenuous workout right before bed time may stimulate you too much to sleep. The important approach is to experiment with the time and type of workout to identify what works for you. Every body is different.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?
Considering the above-written facts, we can conclude that exercise is a natural way, that can bring betterment into your life by working on your overall wellness. Do you want to enjoy an active, healthy, and happy life? Well, if answers to all these queries are yes then it's time for you to add regular exercise in your life and bring consistency while doing it. We are not talking about 1 or 2 days of workout. We are talking about doing workouts for your entire life. Contrary to social media it can take weeks, months or years to build muscle and lose fat, or to make exercise a habit. However once it becomes habit the benefits are endless.
We hope that you better understand how exercise improves mental health. As with starting any exercise program we advise speaking to a professional Doctor and Personal Trainer to help you begin your fitness journey.
Thank you!
REFERENCES:
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-living/the-mental-health-benefits-of-exercise.html.