Mental Health & Exercise
Mental Health Benefits of Exercise
The change in seasons means colder temperatures, less sunlight, and decreased motivation to get outside and exercise. While the physical benefits of exercise are well known – weight reduction, better endurance, reduced cholesterol, and improved cardiovascular fitness just to name a few – the extensive mental health benefits of working out can often be overlooked. Some of the mental health benefits from exercise include stress relief, mood improvement, and increased mental alertness (Sharma, Madaan & Petty, 2006).
Often when people think of the benefits of exercise, they believe that they have to commit to a large number of intense workouts a week, but research shows us that that isn’t really the case. As little as 20 minutes per week of any form of physical activity can provide mental health benefits. And these benefits exist independent of a person’s age, gender, socioeconomic group, marital status, and BMI (Hamer, Stamatakis & Steptoe, 2009). A variety of different forms of exercise can help improve your mental health: there are the more aerobic options such as running or cycling, but activities like housework and gardening can have just as much of an impact.
There are many ways that exercising can improve your mental health. Exercise can reduce stress by increasing concentrations of the chemical that helps moderate the brain’s response to stress. It has even been shown to alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety through the release of endorphins, which create feelings of happiness and euphoria (Breene, 2017). Exercise has also been found to increase self-esteem and positive self-image (Sharma, Madaan & Petty, 2006). Physical activity has been shown to prevent cognitive decline and boost brainpower through increasing the levels of certain chemicals in the brain that support the hippocampus (an important area for memory and learning) and creating new brain cells (Breene, 2017).
There is a growing collective of people who believe that exercise shouldn’t necessarily center weight loss (an oft touted physical benefit) as the ultimate goal, and by extension that weight doesn’t equal health. These individuals argue that when weight loss is the primary goal, exercise is seen as a punishment rather than a time to appreciate your body for all it can do, making it a lot harder to keep up healthy habits. A study conducted by Linda Bacon, the founder of the Health At Every Size (HAES) movement, backs this argument up, finding that people who focused on healthful behaviors without a focus on weight loss kept those behaviors up longer, had increased self-esteem, and benefited from long term health improvements (Crabbe, 2018, p.212). She isn’t the only one to have demonstrated this – a number of studies show that those who exercise to “change their body shape” (e.g. lose weight), are significantly less physically active than their counterparts whose motivation has nothing to do with their body shape (Crabbe, 2018, p.243). In other words, exercising as a punishment and solely to lose weight are unlikely to result in the long-term mental health benefits detailed above.
In order to experience the myriad health benefits exercise has to offer, try to find an activity you enjoy doing, and find a pal who enjoys doing it with you. Research has shown that people are more likely to continue exercising if they enjoy what they’re doing and often perform better when paired up (Breene, 2017). While benefits can be seen with as little as 20 minutes of physical activity per week, many researchers suggest aiming for 30 minutes of moderately vigorous activity (e.g. a brisk walk) three times per week. If blocking out 30 consecutive minutes in your day for exercise seems impossible, most experts believe that three 10 minute workouts throughout the day are just as useful (Sharma, Madaan & Petty, 2006). If even setting aside ten minutes is difficult, or structured exercise isn’t your thing, try finding more ways to incorporate movement into your daily life. This could be as simple as parking farther away from your destination when driving somewhere or choosing to take the stairs more often.
References:
Breene, S. (2017). 13 mental health benefits of exercise. Huffpost. Retrieved on September 6,
2020 from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mental-health-benefits-exercise_n_2956099
Crabbe, M.J. (2018). Body Positive Power: Because life is already happening and you don’t
need flat abs to live it. Seal Press.
Hamer, M., Stamatakis, E. & Steptoe, A. (2009). Dose-response relationship between physical
activity and mental health: The Scottish Health Survey. Br J Sports Med. 43: 1111-1114.
Sharma, A., Madaan, V. & Petty, F.D. (2006). Exercise for mental health. Prim Care Companion
J Clin Psychiatry. 8(2): 106.