Take Your Brain to the Gym

5 min readDec 9, 2020

Is exercise is good for your mental health?

Often exercise is praised for all of its physical health benefits, which are amazing and endless but often overlooked are the benefits to mental health.
Exercise helps us feel better as it stimulates the release of endorphins and serotonin in the brain that improves your mood. Exercising either in the gym or outside can help alleviate feelings of loneliness or isolation, getting you out into the world.

Why does It help?

While exercising, highly oxygenated blood is pumped through the brain, helping you to think more clearly. During your session, you are also focused on the task at hand, meaning you are present at the moment. You are focused on the next rep, the next step, or the next movement. It is like an active meditation, helping you forget about the day’s problems at work or that future meeting that you’re dreading. It also increases the connections between nerve cells in the brain. This helps to improve memory and protect your brain against injury and disease.

Take Your Brain To Gym | Image Edited By Author.

According to some studies, it has been shown that regular exercise can be as effective as medication in some people, reducing the effects of anxiety and depression. The effects of one vigorous session can last hours, and a regular exercise program may reduce the effects significantly over time.
Exercise can make you feel better even if you’re feeling fine already. Exercise also reduces the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, obesity, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.

How long should you exercise for?

According to Harvard Medical School, guidelines suggest adults aim for 30 minutes of moderate to intense physical exercise per day. Depending on your fitness levels, this could vary from a brisk 30-minute walk to a high-intensity interval class. It doesn’t matter what exercise you choose, make it something you really enjoy. If you find running is not for you, try a group class or a boot camp; maybe team sport is your thing. All are great choices, and you may not find the perfect thing straight away, but don’t be afraid to give plenty of new things a try; you never know what you may like.

Sometimes keeping the motivation can be hard. Motivation comes and goes, but the most dedicated exercisers don’t wait for motivation. They make it a habit; it is a part of what they do daily. Schedule exercise into your routine even if this means waking up 30 minutes earlier; exercising will help you sleep much easier at night as well.

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Take Your Brain to the Gym

Is exercise is good for your mental health?

Why does It help?

How long should you exercise for?

In Fitness And In Health

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Written by Tamimqukba