The benefits of fitness for Mental Health

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You want to get your body to look a certain way. Whether it’s adding more muscles or losing fat, you want to know what exercises will get you there. 

But here’s the thing. 

Exercising has far too many other benefits, especially for Mental Health. Yes, you can achieve a certain body composition with it. But that’s more the aesthetics of it. How exercise benefits your Mental Health is actually pure magic. 

What does exercising do that is more beneficial than changing the way you look? 

  1. It makes you feel energetic. When you exercise, you are sending more oxygen to your tissues. This improves your cardiovascular system. That’s your heart and lung health. And when your heart and lungs do well, you have more energy; 
  2. It helps you relieve stress. Exercise reduces levels of the body’s stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. And it increases the feel good hormones – endorphins. Exercising is also like playing. You keep your body focused on working out or walking or anything that you enjoy, and your mind is no longer thinking about everyday life chores;
  3. Exercise naturally helps you reduce anxiety and depression. When you are exercising, you are present in the moment. Whether you are running or lifting heavy weights, you have to focus on your breath, form and how you are feeling during the activity. That makes you fully present in the moment. It’s the easiest way to practice mindfulness;
  4. Exercising makes you feel confident. Your strength improves, your endurance improves, your posture gets better, your energy levels get higher, you look good in clothes that you wear. And all this translates to you feeling confident. It’s a great way to boost self-esteem;
  5. It helps you sleep better. And we all know, sleep is an underrated superpower that actually helps us do more. Exercising increases body temperature. This inturn has a calming effect on the mind. And that inturn helps you sleep better. Just be careful to not exercise too close to bedtime;
  6. Exercising is great for brain power. When you exercise, your brain produces new cells – a process called neurogenesis. That process helps strengthen the hippocampus. This helps prevent cognitive decline as we age, especially dementia and Alzheimer’s.  

     

    How often should you exercise? If possible, everyday for 20-30 minutes. If not, 4-5 times a week. Do you have to go to the gym? No! Walk around your neighbourhood, that works too. 

    What form of exercise should you do? Any form that you enjoy – running, Tennis, walking, dancing. It doesn’t matter.

    Make time for it. Prioritise your Health. It’s your first foundation. And if your foundation is weak, it will crumble as you try to build on it. 

    You owe it to your mind and body to take care of it, because you only get one.

    Priyamvada S.