There has been considerable research done on the benefits of exercise on your health and well- being. The positive effects of exercise on your body are well documented and understood. Less widely believed and proven is the effect it has on your mental health. There is plenty of research that documents the valuable benefits exercise has on mood and cognitive functions. Stress, anxiety, depression, and negative thoughts are just a few symptoms that exercise is known to alleviate. Exercise has also been known to increase your self-confidence and sense of self-worth as well as an increase in brain performance. This article is going to cover how exercise can be advantageous to brain cognition and your mood.
How exercise succeeds in lifting your mood
Endorphins are peptides that are released when you exercise. They are responsible for feelings of pleasure and happiness. It is your body’s version of the powerful drug morphine. They are freed when your body experiences high biological stress that is achieved by intense exercise, exciting activities and sexual activity. Exercise results in a boost to your confidence and self-esteem. This also happens when any activity is done consistently enough to improve on it. If your skill is increased, your self-esteem is positively affected too. You get double benefits from exercise. You get better at some skill with consistent effort and you get in better physical health. Both of these increase your mental feelings of self-worth and confidence.
It’s like a double edged sword but in a good way. Both exercise and the increase in mental health as a result feed off of each other. There is no argument that exercise succeeds in lifting your mood. Physical exercise that is consistently intense or at least moderate will prevent the start of anxiety or depression. If you already are anxious or depressed, exercise will help get you through it. You should seek the help or advice from a physical training expert or physician when you begin an exercise regimen because excessive amounts of exercise can also bring on symptoms of depression.
Exercise improves the way your brain functions
The following cognitive abilities are very important for managing the information sent from our body:
Memory- Learning
- Problem solving
- Attention
- Focus
- Decision making
- Reasoning
- Calculation
- Concentration
Exercise will improve all of the above abilities. There have been studies that have proven that people who exercise perform better on all of the above abilities than the people who don’t exercise.
As people age, the more physical activity a person does, the less shrinkage of the brain occurs. There is also a decrease in other signs of aging with consistent exercise. Exercise also benefits people with degenerative neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s. This mental disorder severely affects mental abilities of memory and learning. Exercise can actually reverse some damage that has been done by this disease. It can also decrease the chance of every getting it during a person’s life span.
Exercise has fantastic positive effects on both the mind and the body. If you want to better your cognitive skills and mood, get exercising. Any type of consistent exercise has a multitude of benefits. Make sure you allow time in your life to exercise. It is one of the best things you can do for your mental and physical well-being.
