People have long praised physical activity for its ability to build muscle, improve heart health, and keep a healthy weight. But new research shows that the benefits of regular exercise go far beyond the physical. They also have a big impact on mental health and psychological well-being. Knowing how exercise affects the mind can be a great reason to make movement a part of your daily life.
Exercise and the Brain’s Chemistry
When you work out, your brain goes through amazing chemical changes that have a direct effect on how you feel and how you think. Exercise makes the body release endorphins, which are chemicals that make you feel good and are natural painkillers and mood boosters. These endorphins work with receptors in your brain to make you feel less pain and more euphoric, like morphine does, but without the bad side effects.
Exercise not only releases endorphins, but it also makes more neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Dopamine is linked to pleasure and reward systems, while serotonin helps control mood, sleep, and appetite. Norepinephrine is both a hormone and a neurotransmitter. It helps you focus and pay attention better and lowers the effects of stress on the body.
Fight depression and anxiety without drugs
Studies show that regular exercise can be just as helpful as medication for treating mild to moderate depression. The American Journal of Psychiatry published a study that found that just one hour of exercise a week could stop 12% of cases of depression. There are many biological and psychological factors that work together to make this protective effect happen.
Exercise can help people who are depressed stop thinking negatively by giving them a healthy way to take their mind off things and encouraging mindfulness. People’s self-efficacy and confidence grow as they reach fitness goals and see improvements in their physical abilities. Exercise is a natural way to let out nervous energy and tension for people with anxiety disorders. The rhythmic nature of many activities can also help people relax.
Reducing stress and building resilience
One of the best natural ways to relieve stress is to get some exercise. Your body learns how to deal with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline better when you work out. Regular exercise helps your body build a stronger stress response system, which means you’ll be better able to deal with life’s problems both physically and mentally.
Exercise can help reduce stress even after the workout is over. People who work out regularly say they have lower baseline stress levels and are better able to deal with stressors that come up unexpectedly. This increased resilience is due to both the physical changes that happen when you exercise regularly and the mental benefits of having a reliable way to deal with stress.
Better mental clarity and cognitive function
Exercise not only makes you feel better, but it also improves your mental performance and cognitive function. Exercise makes blood flow to the brain better, which brings oxygen and nutrients that the brain needs to work at its best. Neuroplasticity is the process by which this better blood flow helps new brain cells grow and makes connections between them stronger.
People who work out regularly often say they can concentrate better, remember things better, and think more creatively. Aerobic exercise has been shown to make the hippocampus bigger, which is the part of the brain that controls learning and memory. This is one of the most obvious cognitive benefits. Even one workout can help your brain right away by making you more focused and clear-headed for hours afterward.
Quality of sleep and mental recovery
Getting enough good sleep is important for mental health, and exercise is a big part of helping people get better sleep. Exercise helps keep your circadian rhythm in check, which is the internal clock that tells you when to sleep and when to wake up. People who exercise regularly usually fall asleep faster, sleep deeper, and wake up feeling more rested.
Exercise and sleep work together to make mental health better. Better sleep makes you feel better, think better, and handle stress better. Regular exercise helps you get that good sleep. But timing is important; doing hard workouts close to bedtime can wake you up, so it’s best to finish them at least three hours before bed.
Building community and making connections with others
Many types of exercise let people meet new people, which is important for mental health. You can meet people who share your interests through group fitness classes, sports teams, running clubs, and workout partners. These social ties give you emotional support, a sense of responsibility, and a sense of belonging that can have a big effect on your mental health.
Even doing things by yourself, like walking or biking, can lead to casual conversations with neighbors or other people who are exercising. These short but good social interactions can make people feel better and give them a sense of community that many people don’t have in their daily lives.
Getting Started: Steps You Can Take for Your Mental Health
You don’t have to train for a marathon or go to the gym every day to get the mental health benefits of exercise. Studies show that even small amounts of exercise can make a big difference in mood and mental health. A brisk 30-minute walk five days a week is enough to get many of these benefits.
To improve your mental health in the long term, start with activities you enjoy. Dancing, gardening, playing with pets, and taking the stairs instead of the elevator all count as activities that you do. Instead of seeing exercise as another stressful chore, the goal is to find a way to move that feels good and fits in with your life.
Putting Exercise First for Mental Health
Knowing how deeply physical activity affects mental health can change how you think about exercise. Instead of thinking of it as a chore or only caring about the physical results, think of each workout as an investment in your mental health. When your physical goals don’t seem as important, this change in perspective can help you stay motivated.
You might want to keep track of your mood along with your physical progress to help you get even more mental health benefits. A lot of people are surprised by how much better their mood gets on days they exercise compared to days they don’t. This knowledge can help you make exercise an important part of your mental health care routine.
The proof is clear: exercise on a regular basis is one of the best ways to improve and keep your mental health. You can use the transformative power of movement to improve not only your physical health, but also your mental health and overall quality of life by learning about and accepting the mental benefits of exercise.
