Exercise has been well-documented in its evidence for a multitude of health benefits for the body. It obviously has direct effects on your physical health and wellbeing – such as preventing chronic pain, diseases, ailments later in life, injury, contributing to weight loss, muscle development, and so much more. However, exercise has numerous benefits on an individual’s mental and spiritual health. When our body feels good, so does our mind. Every step we take toward wellness is connected. As such, working out not only makes our body feel stronger, but we also get a significant strengthening in our emotional wellbeing.
The benefits of exercise on your mental health go in a full circle. If you feel your best emotionally, with more confidence and happiness, you feel more motivated to better yourself in other avenues of your life. You may feel more empowered to achieve healthy results from exercise. In turn, the more you exercise, the more your mental health will be consistently better off. In this article, we will explore some of the ways that exercise affects our mental health – in a positive way!
Overall Mood & Well-Being
Evidence reveals that moderate levels of exercise lead to feelings of pleasure and a positive mood (1). Consistent exercise has been shown to reduce the risk of common psychological disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (1). In fact, some studies found a 28% reduction in the risk of dementia and a 45% reduction in the risk for Alzheimer’s disease (1). Exercise in general works to reduce the risk of overall cognitive decline overtime. A study by
Dishman et al found that frequent exercise lowered the chances of depression by 20-33% (1). Exercise is often used in a lot of intervention programs as it works to help an individual reduce drug and alcohol dependence (1).
It also has been shown consistently to improve a person’s quality of sleep. Exercise increases overall body temperature, which has an effect on the calmness of our brain, that directly translates over to a better quality of sleep at night (4).
Having a consistent exercise routine gives people a sense of accomplishment and a better mental state. Exercise also improves our self-esteem levels due to the fact that dedicating yourself to physical activity gives us a confidence boost after achieving small fitness goals overtime. Exercise provides you with major bursts of energy throughout the day. You will most likely have a ton more energy and motivation in your day, sleep much better, have stronger memory retention and focus, and even exhibit relaxed and positive emotions about oneself (2). Research has shown that even moderate amounts of exercise make a difference, and that you don’t have to be an athlete to reap the mental benefits of it. Individuals who consistently maintain even a little bit of an exercise routine in their week can enjoy using exercise as a tool to live their life better – in terms of outlook and energy.
You don’t have to be suffering from a mental health problem to experience the mental health benefits of physical activity. For everyone, exercise has been shown to increase memory and thinking output due to the release of endorphins, a brain chemical responsible not only for making us feel better, but also for improving our concentration and brain power – which works to help brain cells grow and reduce cognitive decline overtime (2). Exercise prevents cognitive decline by strengthening the hippocampus that is responsible for memory and learning (4). The process of pumping blood to the brain helps us think more clearly, and exercise specifically improves this process (8). Regular physical activity improves the connections in our brain between nerve cells, which has benefits to our memory and protects the brain against diseases and injury (8). You can also see an improvement in your immune system overtime by regularly dedicating time to exercise in your week (2).
Physical activity can improve confidence and well-being by acting as a vessel for more social interaction, as you can use it to meet others and socialize – reaping the benefits of positive friendship and interactions (5). Many fitness programs and classes are group settings because the additional social factor in fitness can create even more mental health benefits long-term, encouraging every individual to keep each other accountable for achieving their fitness goals.
Physical activity increases feelings of happiness due to the release of endorphins. The glowing feeling most individuals experience following a workout can bring a boost of positive emotions and confidence to an individual. Make sure to focus on activities and exercises that you enjoy, as burnout from boring or difficult exercises can make an individual skip exercises and lose out on the mental health benefits of frequent and consistent physical activity.
Depression, Anxiety, and ADHD
Depression, anxiety, and ADHD are a few of the mental disorders that see some of the biggest improvements with exercise (2). Studies have shown exercise is often used to treat individuals with mild to moderate depression, and that exercise has worked as effectively as an antidepressant medication, without any of the violent side effects of medication (2). For example, a study at Harvard found that people who decided to run for 15 minutes a day, or walk for an hour a day, had a reduction in their risk of depression by 26% (2). For individuals who have recovered from depression, exercise has been shown to work to prevent relapse (2).
Regarding the effects on the brain for those with depression, exercise encourages a ton of neural changes in our brain, including neural growth, new activity patterns promoting calm feelings, releasing endorphins for energy and positive mood, and reducing overall inflammation (2). Exercise also works as a fantastic distraction, where those who experience negative thoughts and rumination can use exercise to push away the violent emotions/thoughts for a period of time in order to relax and release tension. Exercise alleviates a lot of the common symptoms of depression, like anger, fatigue, and stress (6).
Exercise can reduce panic and anxiety attacks as well (6). Exercise can have a naturally soothing effect to anxiety and tension in the body. It relieves a lot of stress and increases our mental and physical energy (2). Exercise in general helps you get moving and focusing on a specific bodily activity – rather than being overwhelmed by intense anxious thoughts. Within exercise, you have to notice your breathing, the way your muscles squeeze and release with specific movements, and the form you maintain while exercising. All of these focuses, and more, create a mindful environment where anxious thoughts can subside in order to make way for the attention to the body (2). When under immense stress, our bodies tend to hold immense tension in our upper body, and make also have issues with sleep, headaches, stomach sensitivities, and more. Exercise works to relieves these worries, discomfort, and stress (2). In some clinical settings, psychologists have tried to have counseling sessions while walking around a campus or hospital building, as the aerobic activity can help in cognitive function and improved mood (7).
In regard to ADHD, exercise can improve an individual’s concentration, memory, motivation, and overall mood – which can lessen and even remove these common issues in ADHD patients (2). Physical activity and exercise boosts brain power by increasing the levels of dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine (2). The increase in these levels improves the focus of an individual, making exercise work just as well as ADHD medications (2).
Stress, PTSD, and Trauma
Exercise has also been shown to help your nervous system move out of any immobilization that may occur from a stress response – such as those who suffer PTSD or trauma (2). It prevents your mind from wandering, or even stalling, because of the focus you must do on physical sensations. Full body exercises would work best here, such as those that involve multiple muscle groups or limb movements – like walking, dancing, or weight training (2).
There have been studies revealing that several outdoor activities (like rock climbing, skiing, sailing, hiking, etc.) have been shown to reduce the symptoms of PTSD (2). Combining physical activity with the freedom and distractions that the outdoors can offer may help these individuals focus more on the physical rather than the mental.
To reap the benefits of exercise, sometimes all you need is 30 minutes of aerobic activity 3 days a week to get started. Physical activity has been used for patients in many clinical settings to improve sleep, increase endurance, reduce overall stress levels, increase sexual desire, reduce cholesterol levels, improve cardiovascular health and fitness, improve mood, increase energy, increase stamina, reduce weight, reduce tiredness, and improve mental clarity (3).
Exercise also directly improves the relationship between the body’s sympathetic and central nervous systems, which helps the individual process stress much better, potentially reducing the chance of future triggers and their subsequent symptomatic responses (4). Exercise additionally decreases stress hormones like cortisol, helping an individual feel more relaxed (6).
Physical activity is a wonderful coping mechanism for the stress and negativity we face in life. As we exercise, we release tension and stress from us in a healthy way, instead of resorting to more harmful behaviors such as drinking or drugs.
Illness has been shown to cause stress, but stress can also cause illness. Making sure to keep your stress levels low with exercise can go a long way to protecting the immune system over time. Everything revolves in a circle with our body and mind. A healthy mind creates a healthy body, and a healthy body creates a healthy mind.
Exercises That Reap Mental Health Benefits
Yoga has been shown to increase energy levels and feelings of well-being, reduce stress, improve breathing quality, lower heart rate, reduce depression and anxiety and its corresponding symptoms, and lower blood pressure (6).
Tai Chi is another activity that has a number of mental health benefits, such as reducing stress, improving depressed moods, reducing anxiety and its symptoms, and increasing self-esteem (6).
Aerobic activity is one of the best activities to partake in as it has been shown in many new studies to increase mental health. There is growing evidence on its ability to reduce symptoms and the risk of depression, OCD, panic disorders, anxiety, and social phobia (6). Aerobic exercises in particular have been shown to reduce anxiety and depression, such as swimming, jogging, and more (3).
Concluding Thoughts
Altogether, the benefits of exercise, physically and mentally, are substantially evidence-based. Many studies over the last few decades have highlighted the importance of regular physical activity in our long-term physical health but also in improving our mental health and well-being. These studies have shown that consistent exercise establishes a routine, improves feelings of confidence and happiness, reduces stress, improves cognitive function and memory, = lowers the risk of several mental health ailments, and also reduces the symptoms of those same mental health ailments. All it takes is a few days every week to get started and reap the long-term benefits of physical activity in your life. Try a few of the mentioned exercises for 30 minutes a day at least 3 days a week. Your body and mind will thank you!
By Ashley Gresko
Blog Editing Consultant for Health Industry Designs
References
1) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4911759/
2) https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-living/the-mental-health-benefits-of-exercise.htm 3) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1470658/
4) https://www.waldenu.edu/online-bachelors-programs/bs-in-psychology/resource/five-mental-ben efits-of-exercise
5) https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-depth/depression-and-exercise/ar t-20046495
6) https://www.verywellmind.com/physical-exercise-for-panic-disorder-and-anxiety-2584094 7) https://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/12/exercise
8) https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/exercise-and-mental-health
