What do you think are the main benefits of exercise or physical fitness or sports activities. Immediately we tend to remember weight loss, healthy heart or if you are looking into physical appearance aspect, you can even say it could be beneficial for well-toned body or bodybuilding.
According to a research, it was found that exercising daily or doing some kind of physical activity has no correlation to weight loss or healthier heart. Now I am not completely discarding the benefits related to heart and weight loss when one exercises regularly when combined with a healthy diet plan. But why do we tend to associating fitness or exercising with something to do with physical appearance or heart health or some diseases. Do we realize the impact it has on the other aspects of human life like mental and emotional wellbeing.
Basically if you want to be stronger, fitter and more muscle mass and simultaneously reducing fat, then you need to do certain exercises and strength training that basically increases muscle mass. During an intense physical activity, minor muscle tears are formed. After which when we follow a healthy diet and get enough sleep, these muscle tears or abrasions are recovered or filled with new muscle cells. These muscle cells obviously have mitochondria. More muscle , more muscle cells, more cell mitochondria require more energy. Hence this results in increased metabolism. This results in increase in lean mass and reduction in fat. The extra fat is burnt during the exercise and fat is converted to energy by body after workout as well.
A famous Neurologist did a research and said that right exercising could be a treatment to most of the mental ailments. Effective exercise produces all essential hormones in the brain to mitigate the mental and emotional issues. Sometimes they could be completely cured.
Remember that brain is adoptable. It grows only if you challenge it. It controls body mechanisms efficiently only if you challenge it by the means of various forms of physical movements and activities.
Many researchers suggests that brains of many different animals have shrunk or changed in size due their evolutionary movement or behavioral changes. If you do not work certain parts of the brain for extended periods of time, it becomes weak. And evolutionarily our brain and body continues to grow only the when there is a constant stimulus. Be it muscle or bone or metabolic activities or even the areas of brain.
So more diversity in movements, more flexibility, newer challenges and more musculoskeletal usage would lead to better brain muscle activity and development.
It is similar to we buying a mobile phone for 1 lakh having advanced features and using it only for doing calls. Not using any other function. Over a period of time, it could be possible one of the features might not work or not respond properly when you require it.
There are many proven researches in which subjects who are clinically depressed and having some kind of mental disorder have been put through tailored fitness programs. There were many cases where the subjects have drastically recovered from the disorders like depression or ADHD.
Researches conducted in US showed that students with higher fitness scores or active in sports usually do better in academically we well.
After an intense bout of exercise, the probability of learning goes up by 20%. This is due to the release of protein call called Brain derived Neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This protein enables strengthening and development of neurons and prevents brain cell death.
A well-defined fitness program and conditioning combined with a proper nutrition plan would greatly improve the functioning of the brain, the way it responds to situations, efficient release of hormones, the way brain controls other organs.
Take a look at some of the famous bodybuilders or WWE champions. For instance Arnold or Rock. Their fitness and bodybuilding background does benefitted them in having a career in entertainment industry. Arnold did not become a successful politician and a businessman due to his muscles. Rock did not become the highest paid actor due to his huge body. It is their motivation, drive, discipline, consistency that has taken them to new heights.
It has been observed that many clinically depressed patients have low level of dopamine. Dopamine is key played in reward system. Dopamine is needed for motivation and attention and responsible for the feeling of satisfaction when we achieve something. This is the reason why when we accomplish something and rewarded, we feel more motivated, elated and in a mood to go for better goals.
Now there are drugs to treat many mental disorders like ADHD, depression and so on. Basically these drugs mimic what dopamine does. They get the patients to get focused and motivated so that they could go ahead with their lives.
Exercise and physical activity helps in enhanced release of Dopamine along with other neurotransmitters serotonin and noradrenaline. These are all good mood and feel good hormones. They normally are generated when we have an exciting, happy, jubilant moments or when we feel happy and proud of ourselves. That is going to increase your mood right after that workout. This improves the reward center of the brain.
Exercising properly reduces the level of cortisol. Cortisol is released in stressful situations. For example, when we see a tiger we need to run. Here cortisol shuts down all essential processes in our body and propels us to run for life. Cortisol for short period of times in good, but if you have cortisol in your body for extended periods then it is going to effect the brain functioning by damaging brain cells. A proper exercise routine would control cortisol release and enables us to react better to stress in our lives.
A physical activity like simply moving your body has protective and long lasting benefits on your brain and mental activity. And if done correctly with focus and dedication the amazing benefits could last for your lifetime. Your increased focus and attention could last at least for 2 hours if not more. It increases reaction times and reflexes.
Exercises improves not only your brain power but your mood, alertness, optimism for this day unconsciously but also you could protect your brain from depression, mood swings, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and other mental issues at later stages of life.
A well done exercise or any physical activity which exhausts you can change brain’s anatomy, physiology and functioning. During a physical activity new brain cells are produced in some of key areas of brain especially in Hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. The more you’re working out, the bigger and stronger your hippocampus and prefrontal cortex gets. These are the two areas that are most susceptible to neurodegenerative diseases as we age.
Think of exercising as a pension plan. Since we are IT employees we do receive pension when we retire. But you can have this amazing pension plan for mental health free of cost. But now the crucial question is how much time do I need to invest in fitness and physical activity per week. Researchers say that as little as 30 min of focus and well planned workouts, 5 times per week would get you going initially. This itself can make you feel the positive difference.
- Exercise is not just about fitness , aerobic capacity and muscle size. Sure, exercise can improve your physical health and appearance, reduce fat and cholesterol, sex life and may increase your lifeline. But these are not the only things that keeps many fitness enthusiasts get going.
- Many people keep fit and exercise because it give a sense of wellbeing. They fell energetic and focused throughout the day, they cope up well with stress, they sleep well, they feel positive and motivated to perform various tasks. Hence, physical fitness and exercise is not only benefits physically but it is a powerful mental booster, in fact it alleviates and heals many mental conditions.
- Exercise can be a remedy and natural self-made medicine for many mental conditions like depression, stress, anxiety, ADHD, PTSD. Not only helping with mental problems, more than this it helps us in improving memory, sharper thinking, higher self-confidence and self-esteem, stronger endurance, higher stamina. This is all possible because our brain release lot of endorphins and powerful hormones that are normally released in euphoric moments, rewarding situations, when we are very happy and joyful.
- Now a very frequent and relevant question that many of us get is how can I dedicate time and put effort when we already are stressed, with nonstop tasks, feeling exhausted, feeling overwhelmed, already tired physically or mentally. Exercise will make you feel better, but depression has robbed you of the energy and motivation you need to exercise, or your social anxiety means you can’t bear the thought of being seen at an exercise class or running through the park. For all these difficulties only solution is to take the first step and jump into action. It could be small steps but start without any doubt in mind. Believe and have full faith that the fitness and exercise you are going to take up is going to improve your condition definitely. Take exercise as priority and nothing else. As per your physical and mental boundaries do what best you could do, improve day by day, take help and support from fitness experts or do whatever you could but just be fixated on doing what you have decided to do. Be consistent. Consistency is key here.
- Some of the things that we could do to get started are like take small steps, start small, watch motivational videos, listen to fitness expert motivational videos, focus of physical activities and exercise you enjoy do anything you need to do to get going. Starting and then being consistent is important here.
- Even a short burst of 10 minutes’ brisk walking increases our mental alertness, energy and positive mood. Participation in regular physical activity can increase our self-esteem and can reduce stress and anxiety.
- Impact on our stress – known as the ‘fight or flight’ response. It is these hormones, adrenaline and noradrenaline, which raise our blood pressure, increase our heart rate and increase the rate at which we perspire, preparing our body for an emergency response. They can also reduce blood flow to our skin and can reduce our stomach activity, while cortisol, another stress hormone, releases fat and sugar into the system to boost our energy. Research on employed adults has found that highly active individuals tend to have lower stress rates compared to individuals who are less active
- Impact on our self-esteem: Self-esteem is how we feel about ourselves and how we perceive our self-worth. It is a key indicator of our mental wellbeing and our ability to cope with life stressors. Physical activity has been shown to have a positive influence on our self-esteem and self-worth.
- How do I start?
- Go to gym.
- Play a sport regularly. Join some club to meet similar minded people.
- Power yoga
- Learn dancing
- Overcoming barriers
- Make time and be consistent
- Be practical about goals
- Choose a routine that is sustainable
- Overcome barriers by combining indoor and outdoor activities
- Try to be involved in household work and activities
- AT work try to walk as much as possible, take stairs, do some leg and back exercise while at desk
- In this era of exponential growth of the “metabolic syndrome” and obesity, lifestyle refinements could be a cost-effective way to improve health and quality of life. And exercising and physical fitness is the most essential component of lifestyle refinements.
- The importance and effectiveness of exercising is not adequately understood by medical community to prescribe it for many of mental ailments and patients not understanding the fact that focused training could heal majority of health issues.
- Exercise improves mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood and by improving self-esteem and cognitive function.
- Patients suffering from schizophrenia who participated in a 3-month physical conditioning program showed improvements in weight control and reported increased fitness levels, exercise tolerance, reduced blood pressure levels, increased perceived energy levels, and increased upper body and hand grip strength levels.
- Many studies and researches say that strength and endurance training is more effective in reducing heart ailments. Compared to cardio exercises, strength training has more benefits even when done for a lesser period of time.
- Researchers found that engaging in either cardiovascular exercises or strength training reduces the heart attack chances by 30% to 70%.
References:
Data collected from various fitness experts and medical articles.
*Do read the Disclaimer