Exercise is one of the best medicines in the world, and it's totally free. It has long been seen as a way to maintain physical fitness and help prevent high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and other diseases. But now evidence suggests that exercise has a positive effect on the levels of certain mood-enhancing neurotransmitters in the brain. It may also boost feel-good endorphins, release tension in muscles, reduce anxiety, boost your confidence, gives you a distraction, help you sleep better, improves your sex drive, decrease depression, make you feel better about yourself and your body and reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. In addition exercise also increases body temperature, which can make you feel more at ease and peaceful. Wow, so many changes and it gets even better. All of these changes in your mind and body can improve such symptoms as sadness, anxiety, irritability, stress, fatigue, anger, self-doubt and hopelessness.
Your body was not designed to sit all day, it was designed for other things like hunting, gathering and running. This doesn’t mean you have to start hunting now, but it does mean that your body needs to move and stretch to stay in shape and flexible. And don’t think you have to sign up at the gym either, because exercise doesn't have to be vigorous to be beneficial. Ordinary activities such as cleaning the windows, climbing the stairs, gardening and house cleaning all qualify as exercise. Some people may feel the need to work up a sweat and get red in the face to feel satisfied with their workout, go right ahead if that makes you feel better, but it's not absolutely necessary. Again...... it all comes down to what makes you feel good.
Research suggests that it may take at least 30 minutes of exercise a day for at least three to five days a week to significantly improve your feelings, but smaller amounts of time (10 – 15 minutes) will improve your mood too.
So, if you decide to give this a try*, identify what you enjoy doing. Figure out what type of exercise or activities you're most likely to do. And think about when and how you'd be most likely to follow through. For instance, would you be more likely to do some gardening in the evening or go for a jog in the pre-dawn hours? Go for a brisk walk in the woods or around your neighbourhood? Or how about this one: dancing around your living room while your favourite music is playing? What ever you do, choose a form of exercise that you enjoy and then do it for 20 minutes (or more, if you want). Oh, and don’t make this about performance, it’s all about fun! Try to fit a short routine into your schedule. Again it doesn’t have to be vigorous or a long workout, a 10 minute walk will do too. Note how you feel before you exercise, and note how you feel after. I bet you are going to feel sooooo much better :)
5 comments:
I know in my own life activity (I don't want to call it exercise) and weight have had a very high correlation to depression. I really like that you have focused on having fun instead of performance.
What can I say Dakota, of course I agree. In fact all your mind, body sessions are good - do you do them al? Exercise is better than any drug. The tricky bit is starting off, find something you like as you say, make it a habit, a fixed date. Put some work in and you will soon feel the benefits. Walking, cycling and swimming are 3 of the easiest to get into. Of course I advocate cycling, but you can buy an Ipod and go for a 30-60 minute walk 3 times a week. How easy is that?
Same here, Jeffrey. I like to focus on the fun part more, because I believe that fun and enjoyment in life is vital :)
Believe it or not, Andre, but these things (sort of) saved my life and help me now on a daily basis…..let’s just say they keep me sane (well, more or less ;))
I workout 5 times a week, go for a 30-45 minute walk every day and when I go somewhere, I usually walk or hop on my bicycle. It’s kind of strange, when I was younger I really despised exercise, but now I can’t live without it :)
I hate excercising witha passion, but I do quite a lot due to wanting to keep to flab at bay and my friends getting stuck into it in one way or another.
I cylce 10 miles two or three a week, cross country, but with a pub visit in the middle of course!
I also do circuit training 3 times a week.
I look and feel good for it all, but boy it really is hard work. :]
They (or I) never said that exercising was easy, or a walk in the park, DoGGa. Coming to think of it, I actually suggested a walk in the park or something right there in that post…..tssk silly me ;)
I used to hate exercising with a passion, never did it until I wanted to lose weight. Now, I actually love it! Still, I have days I need to push myself to work out and sometimes I skip a day (ssstt…don’t tell anyone ;)) But in the end I don’t like to skip my work outs, because they make me feel great and give me tons of energy :)
Oh, and you do look great and in shape, not a flabby bit in sight…..keep up the good work :D
Post a Comment