If you took a few minutes to read the previous post on the mental benefits of exercise, you’re in the know and ready to continue the “Exercise as Medicine” series.
Often times, the mental and emotional side of things tend to get blurry and blend together. It’s hard to discern what exactly is mental, and what exactly is emotional. So, for the sake of today’s content I would like to start off by clarifying what exactly we’re talking about when we say that exercise has emotional benefits. When I refer to emotion, I will be referring to the state of mind, that which determines the moods we are in, how we handle our environment, and so on.
Let’s get to it.
Benefit #1 - Mood
Although I don’t want to be too repetitive, I do feel that it is well worth noting the important role that exercise
Exercise and movement have been studied in psychology for quite a while for many reasons. One of the major reasons is the positive effect that it has on depression, anxiety and mood. During exercise, we release chemicals called endorphins. These chemicals bind to receptors in the brain that trigger mood enhancement. This chemical binding may also reduce your perception of pain.plays on mood. We talked briefly about this on the mental side of things in the previous article.
Aside from pain, the mood enhancement that comes from endorphins give us a positive and energizing outlook on life. Whether we are down in the dumps from a negative thing in our life, or we feel stressed because there is too much to do with so little time, these endorphin friends of yours just may change your outlook.
Although the health and fitness industry is flooded with motivational gimmicks, there is some benefit to some motivation. In both my personal and professional lives, I have seen the massive negatives that “motivation” brings, but one good thing that it can do is increase self-belief, and self-belief is everything. You see, motivation fades. It never lasts long. That’s why we always find ourselves coming back to social media and YouTube to get another fix. However, we can use motivation to build confidence and self-belief. Exercise plays a role in this too. Starting a new training or nutrition routine can be challenging, and very intimidating. But with a little bit of motivation as well as the help from those feel-good endorphins, you can create some amazing habits that will build self-confidence, taking you further in your health, fitness, and wellness journey than ever before.
The Takeaways
We know that a positive outlook on life changes the way we treat ourselves and others. It impacts the work we get done, and the footprint we leave on the world. Exercise is a main driver in improving your mood and how you view the world around you. Not only can exercise improve your mental health and stability, it can also improve your emotional health, leaving you in a happier place with far less stress and anxiety. Exercise is medicine!
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