That’s right, all those steps, sprints or laps of the pool are incredibly beneficial for your mental wellbeing too. In fact, exercise plays a larger role in your mental health than you might think. Even a short burst of 10 minutes of brisk walking increases our mental alertness, energy and positive mood. Let’s take a look.
What happens when we exercise?
When we partake in any form of exercise, whether that be jogging, swimming, cycling, walking, dancing, or even gardening, there’s an increase of blood circulation to the brain. As blood flow increases, your brain is exposed to more oxygen and nutrients.
This increase in blood flow stimulates certain areas of the brain that produce feel-good chemicals such as dopamine and other endorphins that give you an instant mood boost. Meanwhile, the brain simultaneously suppresses the production of chemicals that are linked to stress and anxiety. This is why people who exercise tend to be happier and less stressed than those who don’t.
The benefits of exercise on mental health
Physical activity has a huge potential to enhance our wellbeing. Participating in exercise can:
1) Improve our mood
Numerous research has found that people feel more content, more awake and calmer after being physically active compared to after periods of inactivity. Overall, research has found that low-intensity aerobic exercise – for 30–35 minutes, 3–5 days a week, for 10–12 weeks – was best at increasing positive moods.
2) Reduce stress
When we feel threatened or upset, our bodies produce a flight-or-fight response where our brains flush stress hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline into our body. This raises blood pressure and increases our heart rate which, in turn, decreases our appetite and worsens our sleep quality. Not only does a workout ultimately reduce the excretion of stress hormones, but it also has other wide-ranging benefits, such as aiding a better night’s sleep. Research has confirmed this and found that highly active individuals tend to have lower stress rates compared to individuals who are less active.
3) Increase self-esteem
Self-esteem is how we feel about ourselves and how we perceive our self-worth. As previously stated, exercise increases the secretion of feel-good hormones. If this happens on a regular basis, it can begin to impact how we feel in our everyday lives as well. Not only are you more likely to feel happier more often, but your ability to cope with stress improves too. Sometimes, if you’re exercising regularly, you may also be able to see improvements in how you feel about your body, which also naturally boosts self-esteem.
4) Decreases cognitive decline
According to several studies, exercise helps memory and thinking through both direct and indirect means. Directly, exercise reduces insulin resistance, reduces inflammation, and stimulates the release of growth factors, which are chemicals in the brain that affect the health of brain cells, the growth of new blood vessels in the brain, and even the abundance and survival of new brain cells. Indirectly, exercise improves mood and sleep, and reduces stress and anxiety. Problems in these areas frequently cause or contribute to cognitive impairment. Physical activity has also been identified as a protective factor in studies that examined risk factors for dementia. For people who have already developed the disease, physical activity can help to delay further decline in functioning.
5) Reduces feelings of sadness, depression and anxiety
Exercise supports nerve cell growth in the hippocampus, which is a region of the brain that can improve nerve cell connections. This action has been linked to a reduction in the incidence of depression. Furthermore, physical activity can reduce anxiety levels in people with mild symptoms and may also help treat clinical anxiety.
Finding the physical activity that works for you
Getting started can be the hardest part, especially if you’re feeling a bit down. Indeed, those suffering from depression will find it particularly hard to motivate themselves. Regardless of your situation, starting with just five minutes a day doing a physical activity you enjoy is the best place to start. Soon, five minutes of activity will become 10, and 10 will become 15.
Being physically active tends to be easier if you choose an activity that you enjoy, and that fits into your daily life. If you force yourself to do something you don’t enjoy, you’re much less likely to keep it going and experience benefits to your mental health.
You can do exercise in the comfort of your own home, in a gym or outside in nature. Here are some ideas for activities you can try:
- Try to sit less — If you spend lots of time sitting down, try to get up and move around a bit every hour. If you’re worried you might forget, you could set an alarm to remind yourself.
- Chair-based exercises — Good news! While walking around is beneficial, you actually don’t have to be standing to exercise. There are a number of chair-based exercises you can find online that will get the heart pumping.
- Walk more — While you can find personal time to go on walks, you can also look for opportunities where you can walk instead of taking public transport.
- Volunteer outdoors — Outdoor volunteering projects are a great way to get some exercise while helping your local community.
- Join your local leisure centre — Leisure centres have a range of sports facilities, and run exercise classes and groups, such as Zumba and aerobics. They often feel more inclusive than private gyms, and many may be cheaper to visit.
- Join walking or running groups — Similarly to the inclusivity of leisure centre classes, running and walking groups may help you meet new people as well as provide extra motivation to exercise.
- Find other sports — A lot of talk about exercise is centred around running or walking. For some people, these activities can be quite boring. If this is you, find a sport you may be interested in, whether that’s swimming, cycling, touch football, soccer, or Aussie Rules.
- Find a mindful exercise — Yoga, pilates, tai chi or Nordic walking can not only help improve mindfulness, but increase your heart rate and muscle use.
Be prepared for setbacks. It’s likely you might miss a day or two of exercise. When this happens, it’s important to not give yourself a hard time and quit. Ensure you stick with it. Meanwhile, give yourself credit for every step in the right direction, no matter how small.
