Exercise and physical activity can be enjoyable. It gives you a chance to unwind, by just enjoying the outdoors or simply engaging in activities that make you happy. Physical activity can also help you connect with family or friends in a fun social setting via a dance class or playing on a basketball team. This coming together could be a reason why exercise is known to fight depression. Physical activity fights depression by stimulating various brain chemicals that leave you feeling happier and more relaxed (Mayo Clinic Staff). You may also end up feeling better about your appearance and yourself in general when you exercise regularly, which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem. As stated in the last paragraph, regular exercise makes your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. Exercise delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues, as your heart and lungs improve you will have more energy to complete tasks which can also boost your confidence and self-esteem as well as leaving you more content with the amount of work you can get done without getting tired (Mayo Clinic Staff). Regular exercise also helps you burn the energy you do not need. Allowing you to fall asleep faster and deeper during your limited period of sleep. Feeling happy and relaxed along with being able to get sufficient sleep is crucial in maintaining mental health while facing the daily stresses in
For the past decade or so, scientists have pondered how exercising can boost brain function. Regardless of age or fitness level (yup, this includes everyone from mall-walkers to marathoners), studies show that making time for exercise provides some serious mental benefits. Get inspired to exercise by reading up on these unexpected ways that working out can benefit mental health, relationships, and lead to a healthier and happier life overall.
There are many benefits to exercise. Physical activity can help increase self-esteem and reduce stress an...
While many merely consider the physical benefits of exercise when wondering why to exercise, there are mental benefits that are just as powerfully compelling. Exercise boosts your happiness and self-esteem, makes you smarter, and even allows you to create a healthy social life. It is interesting to notice that some of the main benefits of exercise are sometimes not what many think of as ‘tangible’. The emotional health of the average person positively soars after a bit of exercise. Working out increases the amount of certain chemicals such as norepinephrine, and this allows the brain to effectively handle stress. Exercising also releases endorphins, which are the natural, safe ‘happy drugs’ of the brain (Avnet) (Robinson). Studies have shown that exercise can treat moderate depression as well as, if not better than, medication. Endorphins
Exercise can act as a very efficient way to help prevent age-related diseases. Bradley says that many recent studies focusing on the correlation between physical activity and mental health, clinical evidence have shown that exercise can have a positive effect on the outcome of treating mental illness, such as Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and Parkinson’s disease (Bradley). Physical Therapy improves the patient's’ quality of life and lessens the pain of the disease itself. “Some authors state that the influence of exercise on brain functioning might be related to the human evolutionary process, since physical activity is associated with survival. It has been suggested that individuals who exercise might show a biological advantage over sedentary individuals”(Bradley). So considering that exercise is very much related to improving the mental health of the elderly, we should consider adding physical therapy into the everyday life schedule of residents in nursing homes, where they will have the one-on-one contact and encouragement they
It is no secret that staying physically active is a great way to maintain a balanced lifestyle, stay healthy, and stay happy. But why is this so? According to Harvard University’s Health Blog, exercise directly changes brain structure, enlarging both the prefrontal cortex and the medial temporal cortex, improving memory, learning, as well as critical thinking skills (Godman). These effects, combined with the release of endorphins, improve your mood by jump-starting several biological processes, thus reducing stress and relieving anxiety. There are numerous positive benefits of aerobic exercise on the brain, from a chemical standpoint, a biological standpoint as well as from a psychological one.
Walking on the street, jumping the fence, running the race, swimming in the pool or playing a football, if you keep on doing this, you are doing a wonderful job. Being a physically active not only improves your physical health, it also helps you built mentally strong. Physical activity encourages the brain to work at optimum capacity to increase productivity and helps to release the endorphins (the chemical produced by the brain) to make brain and body relaxed. The first step in life for prevention and management of disease and disorder is exercise. Exercise and Physical activity gain the attention of researchers regarding treatment of different psychopathological Disorder. Many research shows that involving in physical activity and exercise
Exercise is a vital component of life. Exercise can contribute to a healthier mental and physical lifestyle. The human body is meant to stay in motion, regardless of whether the motion comes from vigorous exercise or simply walking around a shopping mall. Regular exercise can reduce the risk several disorders and disease; including heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, and diabetes. In addition, it can help improve an individual's appearance and delay the aging process. Exercise reduces stress, lifts moods, and improves sleeping behaviors. It is an easy and effective way to live a healthier life, yet the concept is continually ignored.
area of focus and remembering (Asp 2). Not all exercise affects the brain in the same way. Studies have been done that link certain exercises to increase brain activity. An example of this is high intensity training is linked to great immediate mental performance (Asp 3). Slow aerobic exercise is linked to retaining information over time (Asp 4).
This article was written by Gretchen Reynolds, in the “Well” section of The New York Times, entitled, “Exercise on the Brain” on December 29th, 2015. It explains the importance of exercise on the brain, and positive long, and short-term effects it gives the human body. The overall objective of this article is to encourage people to work out, for it helps create a healthy mind, and assists the body in many more ways than just losing weight.
Some hypothesize that moderate levels of exercise will decrease the symptoms of mental health conditions (Blumenthal et al., 2007; Diaz & Motta, 2008; Motta, Kuligowski, & Marino, 2010; Rosenbaum, Nguyen, Lenehan, Tiedemann, van der Ploeg, & Sherrington, 2011) and therefore be used as an alternative or complimentary treatment option for mental health (Libby, Pilver, & Desai, 2012).
Studies have been conducted to ascertain correlations between exercise and improvements in cognition. One such study compared the levels of physical activity and cognitive
Throughout the years, physical education has proven to have many physical benefits. The age-old apothegm that states that “An hour of play each day” is beneficial to students has proven to ring true. Many people acknowledge the physical side of physical education and overlook the cognitive benefits of the course. Not only does physical education affect the physical aspects of the body, it affects mental aspects as well.