The 10 Psychological Benefits Of Practicing Physical Exercise
Many people join the gym to improve their cardiovascular health, to gain muscle or to have a movie body. However, there are other positive effects that we can achieve with the practice of regular physical activity, such as psychological benefits
Therefore, in this article we will focus on the way in which the habitual practice of exercise provides benefits to our emotional well-being and our mental health in general in the medium and long term.
Psychological benefits of playing sports: practicing exercise is healthy for your mind!
Over the past few decades, researchers have been discovering how to practice exercise can improve our cognitive functions and regardless of age or physical condition, studies have shown that setting aside time for exercise also produces many benefits for our mental well-being “Exercising regularly is good for mood, memory or learning,” explains psychiatrist John Ratey of Harvard Medical School, author of the book “The New and Revolutionary Science of Exercise and the Brain”.
If you usually exercise daily or if you are one of those who find it difficult to put on your tracksuit, pay attention to the following lines. Next, from Psychology and Mind we present the 10 psychological benefits of exercising.
1. Produces happiness chemicals
Running a few miles can be hard, but it’s worth it! Exercise promotes the release of endorphins chemical substances that produce a feeling of happiness and euphoria.
Studies have shown that they can even relieve symptoms of depression. For this reason, psychologists recommend that people who suffer from depression or anxiety improve their quality of life by including exercise in their lives. If you are not one of those people who practices physical activity daily, by exercising 3 days a week for half an hour you can improve your mood instantly.
2. Reduce stress
After a hard day at work, there is nothing better than going to unwind by playing paddle tennis, hitting the gym or running on the beach. One of the psychological benefits of practicing physical activity is that it reduces stress.
Additionally, exercise also increases the production of norepyrephrine (norepinephrine), a chemical that can moderate the brain’s response to stress. So put on your sports clothes and sweat a little, exercise improves our body’s ability to deal with the tension that stress produces after so much office work and so many daily worries.
3. Improves self-esteem
Looking better physically will make you feel good. Continuous exercise will improve your self-image and improve your self-esteem. Regardless of weight, age or gender, physical exercise can raise blood pressure. positive perception of attractiveness of yourself, and consequently, make you value yourself more.
4. Improve your social relationships
As your self-perception and emotional health improve, your social relationships can also improve Due to your increased self-confidence you will have a better chance of reaching out to others, and if you participate in guided classes or do group sports, you will hopefully meet new people.
5. Relieves anxiety
Neurotransmitters released during and after exercise can help people who suffer from anxiety calm down. A bike ride or some medium or high intensity aerobic exercise can reduce the symptoms that anxiety produces. Sports and exercise, therefore, do not only serve to burn fat or gain muscle.
As we get older, the risk of suffering increases. degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, especially after the age of 45. By carrying out physical activity mainly between the ages of 25 and 45, it is possible to increase brain chemicals that prevent the degeneration of hippocampal neurons.
Furthermore, practicing physical exercise regularly and adapting the demands for older people is associated with a lower risk of mortality. Mainly, as a consequence of a cardiovascular protective effect, physical activity reduces the risk of suffering from a cerebral stroke and improves cognitive function, reducing the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s.
7. Improve your memory
Practicing regular exercise improves your memory and the ability to learn new things, as it increases the production of hippocampal cells that are responsible for memory and learning. Research in this field positively relates children’s brain development to their physical condition.
This not only happens in the case of minors, older people can also improve their memory by training. A study of Winter and Breitenstein (2007), demonstrated that performing sprints improves vocabulary acquisition and retention in adults.
8. Increase your brain capacity
When you exercise, your brain produces more neurons and more connections between them, a phenomenon known as neurogenesis. Therefore, your brain will gain shape and increase its learning capacity.
In an investigation of Vaynman, Ying and Gomez-Pinilla , it was shown that intense training increases the levels of a protein known as BDNF (Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor) found in the brain, and which is believed to positively influence decision making, thinking and learning. To delve deeper into this topic, we recommend that you read the article “5 tricks to improve your intelligence”, by the psychologist Bertrand Regader
An investigation of Schwarz and Hasson (2011) concluded that workers who practice exercise or sports regularly are more productive and they have more energy than their sedentary companions.
Furthermore, if we go to practice sports at midday, during the lunch break, or before going to work, the activity will help us stay more active throughout the day, avoiding moments of depression or lack of attention in the job.
10. Helps control addiction
The brain releases dopamine (the reward neurotransmitter) in response to a pleasurable stimulus such as sex, drugs or food. Unfortunately, there are people who become addicted and dependent on substances that cause their release in large quantities. The practice of exercise can help in the recovery of the addict, since short sessions of exercise have a positive effect on alcohol or drug addicts by postponing “carving” (at least in the short term).
Alcohol abuse also prevents normality in the addict’s life. A negative consequence of excessive consumption of this substance is that disrupts circadian rhythms , and as a result, alcoholics have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep if they do not consume alcohol. Practicing exercise can help reset biological clock and helps you fall asleep.
Concluding
In summary, physical exercise is natural, it is easy, it helps you improve your quality of life, increases your self-esteem, prevents diseases and improves your learning. After reading this, are you still going to want to give up these benefits?
