Exercising is an activity with so many acknowledged benefits. One of the main benefits of exercising is mental health.
Mental health issues are becoming increasingly common in our society, and it has a strong correlation with the lack of exercise and record obesity levels. You will often find mental health disorders in people who are overweight and obese.
Exercise will not only help you achieve mental clarity, but it will also help significantly improve your mood. Here are ways on how exercise can help you.
Clearer thinking
Exercising is such an exciting activity because it will also cause the release of endorphins despite it being tough and tiring. Endorphins are chemicals produced by the brain to relieve pain or stress. They are essentially feel-good chemicals that will make you feel much better than without exercise.
The endorphins produced while working out will also make your brain very sharp because you engage in intense activity. After exercising, you will often notice that you can concentrate on mental tasks much better and perform much better than other times.
Mental clarity will benefit many other areas of your life, especially in making decisions in your day-to-day life and significant life decisions. Better cognition may also lead to other benefits such as better performance at work and physical performance, such as playing sports.
Energy boost
A significant part of experiencing bad moods and depression is the lack of energy. Exercising will provide you with an energy boost to activate all areas of your body and mind leaving you in a better mood than before you started.
High-intensity interval training (HIIT), in particular, is excellent in providing you with a boost of energy. Insanity is a home workout program consisting of various HIIT routines. According to an Insanity workout review, it is still one of the best home workout programmes on the market despite being produced years ago. It will certainly help you burn some calories and leave you feeling energised.
If you feel energetic, you will probably have a positive outlook on life; hence, you will be in a good mood. Your brain functions better, too, whenever you are full of energy.
Better self-esteem
The lack of self-esteem is one of the main reasons for poor mental health and the vast array of mental health disorders. If you exercise regularly, you are putting in a significant investment in developing your brain, mind, and spirit.
When you lose weight, pack on some muscle, and are fit to perform any physical activity, you develop confidence that you cannot gain in any other way. The result is increased self-esteem and a feeling of self-worth, which is unshakeable and backed by solid evidence.
You will not only feel better about your appearance, but you will also have confidence that you accomplish any goals you set. The improvement in mood and mental clarity will be significant side effects of better self-esteem.
Increased resilience
Mental, physical, and emotional challenges are an integral part of life. Whenever you face such challenges, you should be resilient, and exercise can tremendously help you.
Being resilient in the face of problems will help you elevate your mood whenever you feel stressed or depressed. The same resilience will allow you to think more clearly and come up with solutions to your problems which will, in turn, make you feel better about yourself.
Better sleep
Sleep deprivation is a serious issue plaguing our society. If you don’t get enough sleep, you will experience constant mood swings, exceedingly awful moods. You will also not think clearly as a lack of sleep will impair your cognitive capacity.
One benefit of exercising is that it will significantly help you with sleep. Therefore, working out increases both your sleep quantity and quality which benefits countless areas of your life.
Any form of challenging physical activity improves your body’s capacity for temperature regulation, which substantially affects your sleep. It will also calm your mind and improve your mood, enhancing your ability to fall asleep, resulting in a positive feedback loop.
However, it would be best if you refrained from intense exercise at night as it might impair your ability to go to sleep. If you have to exercise at night, you should opt for gentle activities such as yoga or Pilates.
Exercise has many benefits, including boosting your mind and making you think more clearly. The way it will do that is by helping you sleep better, give you more energy, allow you to think more clearly, improve your self-esteem and make you more resilient. Start exercising today; it is much easier to reap the benefits of exercise than you think.
Ellen Diamond did her degree in psychology at the University of Edinburgh. She has a particular interest in mental health and well-being.
