Exercise and the mental health benefits
It is well known that exercise makes you feel great physically. There’s not much that beats feeling stronger and fitter and seeing the payoff for your hard work. It doesn’t stop there though with training delivering significant positive benefits to our mental health as well.
Exercise improves our psychological health by improving our cognitive function - brain power and memory, reducing anxiety, depression, improving feelings of self-esteem, increasing our creative ability, improving our mood, reducing feelings of stress and improving our ability to cope with stress, increasing feelings of energy and improving body image. What’s not to love about all these positive outcomes from exercise?
Let’s look at some easy tips to maximising the mental health impact when training:
1. Focus on quality
Research suggests that focusing on quality not quantity counts when it comes to reaping the mental health benefits from exercise. A study involving 1.2 million US adults discovered that those who completed a moderate 45-minute exercise session experienced better mental health than those who slogged it out completing marathon workout.
Additionally, research shows that those who exercise three to five days a week see greater reductions in poor mental health days than those who either don’t exercise or those who train more than five times a week.
2. Let nature nurture
Make sure you get some of your exercise induced endorphins outside. Taking in fresh air, absorbing some vitamin D and enjoying nature while getting in your “green exercise” has a huge positive impact on your mental health. Along with the exercise endorphins, studies have shown that our brains have higher levels of serotonin on sunny days. This is a chemical that induces feelings of happiness and helps regulate moods which means outdoor exercise will deliver you a double win!
3. Get the gang together
A key factor in good mental health is interaction and connection with others and what better way to connect than with like-minded folk getting their exercise on! For some, group training is motivational as they push themselves harder when training with others and are less likely to cancel a session if they know others are expecting them to show up. Training with a partner or friends locks in quality time together and delivers a built-in support team, or you can join a new training group and find yourself a group of new friends. All up, another winning option for improving your physical and mental health.
4. Something for everyone
You don’t need to be a champion level athlete to reap the benefits of exercise. Something as simple as walking regularly can reduce the number of poor mental health days by 17% and even something as mundane as household chores can reduce the mental health burden by 10%! (further details available here). The idea is to find the activities you like, the trainer that works for you, the group sport that keeps you engaged or the walking buddy that gets you putting those shoes on and getting out the door and reaping those mental health benefits!
5. Mindfulness is power
Feeling good about your body and what it can achieve is a potent side effect of exercising that also helps those who struggle with mental health challenges. When you are mindful of the actions and sensations that occur while you challenge your body and push it to work harder through exercise, you are likely to hasten positive physical results of exercise.
Being mindful and fully in the moment while you train can also interrupt any internal negative talk or worries that may be consuming you. Mindfulness is a powerful tool in reducing stress, depression and anxiety as well as having the ability to improve sleep.
As we move into the colder weather and it feels like it is too hard to get out from under the doona or up off the couch and away from the heater, just remember that exercise is going to keep you mentally healthy as well as physically strong!