Have you ever considered exercising consistently before? If you do and actively exercise, that’s great! You’ve probably noticed changes in your body over time and overall increased mental wellness and well-being. If you have or haven’t considered this yet, what is holding you back? In this post, I will be diving into the benefits of consistent exercise specifically in areas of physical and mental health.
According to healthdirect.gov, a national healthcare service, even getting 30 minutes of exercise a day most days a week is enough time for your body to stay healthy. Yet, so many people today don’t even meet this number because they feel they might not have the time. However, the exercise you want to do doesn’t even have to include going to the gym. Some methods of staying active could be through bicycling, taking walks, and swimming.
By consistently exercising, the body will gradually show signs of improvement in both physical and mental health. Some physical benefits of exercising include reduced risks for cardiovascular diseases, obesity, cancer, and more. Additionally, it helps with the management of weight and the building of stronger muscles within the body. This allows the individual to understand whether or not to bulk and take in a calorie surplus, or cut and take in a calorie deficit to lose weight and gain more muscle definition. Going to the gym and lifting weights has been shown to help increase or maintain muscle mass and strength, protecting bones, joints, and muscles as the body begins to age and deteriorate.
Mentally, exercise can help individuals tremendously. Regularly exercising can boost memory, aid with mental health issues, and reduce overall stress (healthdirect.gov). Exercise releases endorphins, chemicals in your brain that make a person feel good and energize their spirits. When these hormones are released, they send a message from the brain to the rest of the body to relieve pain and stress, which can help calm anxiety, depression, and other disorders. Additionally, other hormones like dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin levels are elevated through physical activity, elevating our focus without the use of external substances. (helpguide.org)
It’s a more important time than ever to consider picking up exercising considering the number of individuals with low self-esteem, depression, and anxiety has shown an increase in recent years:
“Even before the pandemic, anxiety and depression were becoming more common among children and adolescents, increasing 27 percent and 24 percent respectively from 2016 to 2019. By 2020, 5.6 million kids (9.2%) had been diagnosed with anxiety problems and 2.4 million (4.0%) had been diagnosed with depression.” (Georgetown University Center for Children and Families)
Since this issue is more relevant today, I would highly advise every one of you to consider those numbers and this alarming state of poor mental health our country is experiencing and wonder how you can take care of yourselves by taking the time to experience the benefits of exercise.
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Sources:
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-living/the-mental-health-benefits-of-exercise.htm
https://ccf.georgetown.edu/2022/03/24/research-update-childrens-anxiety-and-depression-on-the-rise/
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