Exercise helps to reduce stress and improve someone’s over all moods. According to Otto and Smits (2011) exercise can be as powerful as antidepressant medications in treating depression, and, more broadly, regular exercise is linked with decreased anxiety, stress, and hostility (p. 7). There are several reasons how exercise reduces stress. By exercising daily we allow our bodies to adapt to different demands and stressors, because exercise is a stressor. A good way to understand this is to think of exercise as the preparation time before a big test, the more you study the better the result will be when you finish that test. Therefore, the more you exercise the better prepared your body will be to handle an added stressor such as a big project that is due for work. Another way exercise reduces stress is due to neurotransmitters, which are chemicals that all for communication between brain cells. Exercise reduces levels of the body’s stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. It also stimulates the production of endorphins, chemicals in the brain that are the body’s natural painkillers and mood elevators. Endorphins are responsible for the feelings of relaxation and optimism (Exercise to Relax, 2011). When an employee is less, they will be able to think clearly and focus on the tasks they need to complete for the day. By having an on-site exercise program employees will be able to exercise on their lunch break or come in early in order to de-stress and be focused for
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).
Need an emotional lift? Or need to blow off some steam after a stressful day? According to a 2006 research paper published by University of Texas at Austin, a workout at the gym or a brisk 30-minute walk can help.(Logos) Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier and more relaxed. You may also feel better about your appearance and yourself when you exercise regularly, which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem.
Regular exercise has many benefits Exercise also helps to protect against depression, and helps you better manage stress.
Thirdly, physical exercise itself could re-shape our body, make body stronger and looks healthier. It hence can improve individual’s attractiveness and confidence and hence can enable a positive life attitude. Fourthly, since the physical exercise normally would enable individual to interact with others, socialising with participants and friends in a such low-stress way might meet human’s belonging needs. It therefore could make people have a good mood and recharge themselves to fight against stress (Elizabeth, 2011).
Since 1990s, many scientists agree that exercise has positive impacts on people’s physical health and mental health (SIME WE, 1987). From Morgan and O’Connor’s research, people can reduce stress and state anxiety by doing physical activities; also gain emotional pleasure from the process (Morgan and O’Connor, 1988). Later in 1997, Landers states that physical activities can reduce people depression after weeks of regular and routine exercise. In addition, people can benefit from more
This paper perpetuates to expand fortifying major health benefits of conventional physical activity and exercise. However, there is withal a growing body of erudition that substantiates that physical activity withal amends psychological salubrity. The following literature attempts to review the various effects of physical activity and the mental health variables. It will especially focus on the psychological effects of exercise
In the book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and The Brain by Dr. John J. Ratey, MD (2008), Ratey discuses how exercise can help treat many mood disorders and how it can help strengthen our brains. This book is divided into ten chapters all with five to ten subsections in them. The chapters include: Welcome to the revolution: A Case Study on Exercise and the brain, Learning, Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Attention Deficit, Addiction, Hormonal Changers, Aging, and the Regimen.
One simple exercise could make you stronger and less stressed. That exercise is running. In recent studies they say, “It also helps slow the aging process, relieve stress and anxiety, and enhance the immune system,” (Bryant). All these factors increase your health in some way and it is all because of one activity you could do for at least
Physical activity has been proven to stimulate various brain chemicals that can leave us feeling happy and relaxed. Dr. Mary de Groot of Indiana University ran a study on the link of depression and diabetes with exercise. With the diabetes patients, she had them perform a 12-week exercise and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention program. The group that exercised showed improvements both in depression and in blood sugar levels. (Weir) Working out consistently can also help tremendously with our self-esteem and confidence. Exercise can boost our energy by improving our endurance and muscle strength that can benefit us in daily life situations such as at work or school. It may seem counter intuitive to say, but expending energy can help us gain more energy. It can help your cardiovascular system work more effectively by delivering oxygen and nutrients to your tissues. More than 90% of studies indicate that exercise increases energy for nearly every group, ranging from sedentary to healthy adults to cancer patients. Exercise can also make us sleep more efficiently by being able to fall asleep faster and reach an even deeper sleep. This effect happens over time the more consistent we exercise. Research has shown that exercise has a long term effect on sleep, but having quality sleep has a short term effect on our
Physical activity helps reduce stress and can help prevent some cases of depression. Studies show that people who exercise regularly experience longer, deeper, more restful sleep. Exercise also reduces anxiety, and consistent activity provides more relief for those with
399). Investigations on the chronic effects of exercise have involved programs which last approximately 2-4 months consisting of two to four sessions per week. Most research on effects of acute exercise has focused on the reduction of state anxiety. Recent studies, (Focht & Hausenblas, 2001; Ekkekakis, Hall & Petruzzello, 1999) showed that aerobic exercise resulted in lowered state anxiety and higher tranquility scores. In addition to this, other research has revealed that moderate-intensity exercise produced the greatest positive effects in affective responses implying that the anxiety reduction following exercise occurs regardless of the intensity, duration or type of exercise (Berger, Pargman & Weinberg, 2002, pp. 399-401). Raglin and Morgan (1987) found that state anxiety was reduced for 24 hours after the exercise bout, whereas participants in a control rest condition returned to baseline levels within 30 minutes (Berger, Pargman & Weinberg, 2002, pp. 400). Although acute exercise is no more effective in decreasing state anxiety than quiet rest of distraction, the effects last longer. According to Breus and O’Connor (1998), the decrease in state anxiety after exercise lasted several hours, which was more than in the distraction and quiet rest groups. This implies that positive effects may be gained after a few weeks of training, but enduring effects may only be achieved through continuous exercise.
Exercise also helps to create a high content of other chemicals in the brain, such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, all which regulate the body and brain in different ways (Collins). Serotonin livens a person’s mood, while also helping to regulate sleep, develop their memory and learning abilities, and create or maintain certain social behaviors (Bouchez). Increased levels of these chemicals help people with mental illnesses respond to stressful situations in a more acceptable fashion, helping them to transition back into normal society quicker.
People who works long hours are greatly affected especially ones that start work before sunrise and end after sunset. These workers receive little sunlight which affects their mood and circadian rhythm as mentioned above. In addition, working long hours deprives people leisure time to do the things they love which can make them feel discontent. Working long hours may also cause them to feel resentful toward their work, life, and family. As the resentment grows, it may cause tension at home and work which may further depresses their mood. In addition, these grueling hours of work deprive people of adequate exercise. It is no secret that exercise can uplift our mood because the brain releases endorphin when we exercise. A lot of people who works long hours may not have time to exercise. On their off days, they might have family obligations that prevent them to exercise. Or they may simply feel too tired or lazy to exercise. Still, there might be people who live in really cold or snowy weather that is less than motivated to leave their house to work out. The lack of exercise can deprives the body of the happy chemical that may reduce stress and improve mood. Finally, poor eating habits can also add to our depressed mood and deplete our energy levels. Busy people have less time to cook nutritious meals and resorts to fast food that is fattening and lacking in nutrition value. This poor eating habit
General recommendations are now widely accepted as to the general advantages of exercise in terms of physical health, such as its ability to prevent weight gain, coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and osteoporosis.14 It appears that health promotion schemes have shied away from extolling exercise’s psychological benefits. After all, there is no government campaign, no public policy initiative, which pontificates exercise on account of a concern for mental wellbeing. Although many people would identify that exercise has a positive influence on mood state, it appears that, generally speaking, this is regarded as a positive correlation, rather than a causal relationship. The ‘healthy body, healthy mind’ concept is thus, for many, a heuristic utopia, rather than a scientifically proven
Exercise may be one of the most important influences on your overall health to date. While the only benefits that are mainly focused on are the physical benefits, significant psychological impacts can also be linked to exercise. Although some of these benefits aren’t viewed with much enthusiasm, studies have proven that exercise can actually improve one’s quality of life greatly by increasing not only their physical health but their mental health as well. It is because of this that exercise is a