The Benefits of Exercise for your Mental Health
When you’re struggling with your mental health often the last thing you can feel like doing is excercise. Millions of us each year struggle with depression, anxiety and struggle day to day. Often our first point of call is the doctor and as a society we’re likely to turn to medication for support. But there are other options worth exploring to help manage your mood and excercise is right up there in terms of it’s impact and effectiveness. In fact, there is evidence to show that in some cases of mild depression exercise can be just as impactful as antidepressants.
If you want to see how exercise impacts you check out Aaptive- the number one fitness app around the globe for a quick and easy way to get started.
By clicking the link below you get a 30 day trial and access to heaps of personalised excercise classes that you can dowload and do without ever having to leave home.
Some of the benefits of exercise on your mental health:
Excercise can reduce anxiety and help us to be able to deal with panic attacks. When we are scared or spooked our bodies let off physical symptoms of anxiety-we sweat, shake, have difficulty breathing. Research has shown that people who regularly exercise actually are able to buffer their fear reactors so that they can cope with these feelings better. This is possibly because the anxiety symptoms are so similar to excercise and by experiencing them through excercise in a non threatening way you can build up your resilience against them when those feelings are less welcome. People who regularly work out may find their anxiety decreases over time.
Ever find that your mind is racing and you can’t switch off? Exercise can also help you to relax. It is thought that by stimulating your body when active you are also contributing to its ability to also relax. Excercise supports us to regulate the production of two key stress hormones- cortisol and adrenaline. Too much of either of these can leave you feeling over stressed but by excercising your body is building up its ability to relax and cope with life’s stressors. Excercise also increases endorphins, nature’s natural painkillers which can also contribute to your ability to relax post workout.
The benefits of excercise are long lasting. Not only can excercise make you feel great in the moment thanks to all those endorphins that it releases but the impact can last longer than you might think. Research has found that aside from an instant mood boost regular excercise can be having a positive impact on how you’re feeling months down the line.
A sense of achievement. When you complete a workout it feels pretty good. You’ve achieved something and done something to look after yourself. That in itself can have an impact on your mental health. In addition to this physical activity boosts serotonin production. Serotonin is a brain chemical that regulates mood, it also helps with sleep, appetite and social function. Increasing your serotonin by being active can have a direct and instant impact on how you are feeling.
So how do I get started?
Start small. Just by going for a short work you are probably doing a lot more than you realise. Any excercise is better than none and setting yourself small achievable targets and building up from these is a great place to start. Make a note of how you feel right after your workout too. Can you feel a difference? Keeping a mood journal to track your excercise journey can be a good way of showing yourself the progress you’re making.
Remember that excercise comes in lots of shapes and forms. You don’t have to hit the gym to get your fitness hit. Perhaps gardening or some hardcore domestic cleaning or DIY are more your thing! These are great ways to get active and moving. Find something that works for you and that you enjoy.
The important thing is to make exercise managable and supportive. The way you keep fit doesn’t have to mirror the way others keep fit. It can be something that works for you. By trying to build it into your day regularly and making small changes to your routine you may find a big difference in how you are feeling and coping with what life throws at you.
If the idea of getting outside or joining a gym feels too much there are lots of options for getting started without having to leave home.
Aaptiv is an example of an app that gives you all the motivation of being in an excercise class with a personal trainer spurring you on but without need to go anywhere. This can be helpul if you’re just getting started and want to try a class or style of excercise that you haven’t done before, it’s also great if you want to have a try at a range of things before settling on what you enjoy the most.
Aaptiv also supports you to feel that you are part of a wider group of people all keeping fit together. Having your own personal trainer spurring you on in the moment can be a great way of pushing yourself to meet your goals and feeling a real sense of achievement once you’ve done it!
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