7 Ways Regular Exercise Can Improve Mental Health

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Here’s the deal: at least one out of five Americans is dealing with mental issues on the regular. On the bright side, doing something as simple as exercising at home can be a great remedy for boosting your mood.

Wondering what full-body workouts has to do with stress and anxiety?

Incredibly enough, if you are looking for different solutions to mental health issues, your workout routine can help. Here are seven ways regular exercise can improve mental health!

1. Reduces Stress Like No Other

Has work been stressing you out lately? If you’re like most of us, heading to the gym or taking a walk after a long shift can be just what you need to clear your head. The best part is that exercise is nature’s biggest stress reliever.

Breaking a sweat can help you deal with mental and physical stress at the same time. Plus, it increases the amount of norepinephrine in your body, which helps you respond to stress better. How can you beat that?

2. Boosts Natural Endorphins

In case you didn’t know, exercising regularly boosts natural endorphins. Although it might seem hard at first, it’s definitely worth the effort.

That’s because exercising releases natural endorphins in your body. These hormones are what you make you feel happy after an intense workout.

As a result, this can reduce feelings of depression like no other. In a nutshell, the more you work out, the less blue you will feel. Even if you’re not a fan of the gym, working out can improve overall mood instantly.

3. Improves Your Confidence

Ever notice how confident you feel after you hop hop off of the treadmill? On a cellular level, working out can improve positive self-image and boost self-esteem quickly.

This is true regardless of your:

• Size
• Weight
• Gender
• Age
• Exercise

It might sound shallow, but improving your perception of attractiveness can improve mental health. There’s nothing better than that!

4. Increases Self-Esteem

When it comes to options for cardio, it always helps to take your workout outdoors to increase self-esteem. This is a fun, and easy way to give yourself some extra love and positivity throughout your day.

If you don’t know where to start, there’s nothing wrong with picking up a cool hobby like:

• Rock climbing
• Hiking
• Renting a canoe
• Taking a jog in the park

In addition to this, soaking up the sun goes you a healthy dose of vitamin D, which can also reduce symptoms of depression. Simple as that!

5. Prevents Brain Problems

Unfortunately, our brains sent to get a bit hazy as we grow older. Thanks to degenerative diseases in aging, your brain cells get killed off one by one as your brain shrinks, losing a ton of functions as time goes on. While a healthy diet and exercise don’t necessarily cure Alzheimer’s, it can help you reduce your odds of developing it after you turn 45 years old.

Between the ages of 25 and 45, working out gives your brain a natural barrier against the early degeneration of your hippocampus. Of course, this is essential for everything from learning to memory in the long run.

6. Alleviates Your Anxiety

As we mentioned above, working out alleviate your anxiety, but did you know that it’s just as effective as taking a bubble bath?

Yes, you read that right.

Releasing endorphins before and after exercise helps people prone to anxiety calm down quickly too. Spending time doing moderate to high aerobic activities reduces your sensitivity to anxiety as well. Pro tip: try out intervals to get started.

7. Boosts Brain Energy

The craziest part about exercising regularly is that it can create newer brain cells in your body. As a result, this can improve how well your brain functions in the end. Once you boost your brain performance, you’ll see how much easier it is to do everything from:

• Make difficult decisions
• Develop patterns of higher thinking
• Increase comprehension and learning

Known as a brain-derived protein, these cells directly link working out to mental health. Talk about a stroke of genius!

Interested in Learning How to Improve Mental Health?

Interested in learning how to improve mental health?

If that’s the case, you’re not alone.

First of all, working out regularly is a great way to reduce stress. Naturally, working up a sweat is a wonderful way to boost endorphins, or happy hormones, as well. Another positive side effect is that your self-esteem is often boosted too.

It gets better: getting your fitness on can also help you to prevent brain problems as time goes on. Alleviating anxiety is one of the biggest positive side effects of working out, reducing stress instantly.

On the hunt for a big boost of brain energy?

Believe it or not, you can even grow new brain cells by taking a jog around the block. That means that you can practically replace older, more depressive cells with fresher, more energetic ones.

So, are you still wondering where to get started?

No matter if it is a walk around the block or a swim in the ocean, your mental health problems will become a thing of the past when you workout. For those of you who don’t believe us, the only way to find out is to see how good you feel after your next sweat session.

Looking for more long-term health solutions?

If so, then you can join the club.

Ask our team of experts about relieving anxiety and stress today!