Whole Health Benefits of Exercise

You probably already know that exercise is good for your body. But did you know exercise also has a positive effect on your mental, emotional, and social well-being?

When most people think of the benefits of exercise, they often only think of the physical effects. In fact, there are multiple benefits of exercise namely mental, emotional, and social effects.

First, let’s begin with the benefits of exercise on your physical health. Studies have shown that exercise can help control your weight. In addition, it can help prevent excess weight gain, maintain healthy weight or promote weight loss. People often make the excuse that they “don’t have time in their busy schedule to exercise” but any exercise is better than none, even taking the steps over the elevator. Additionally, regular exercise can decrease your risk of health-related diseases like stroke, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Secondly, exercise can have positive effects on your mental and emotional wellbeing. This can include, but is not limited to decreasing depression, anxiety, and stress. Studies have shown that exercise can treat mild to moderate depression as effective as antidepressant medication. A recent study conducted in Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health showed that “running for at least 15 minutes per day or walking for an hour reduces the risk of depression by 26%.”

Exercise has a large impact on your brain activity, from neural growth to releasing endorphins that make you feel ‘good’. It is also a time where you can process all the negative experiences of the day and be thankful for what you do have, releasing all these thoughts that may be a product of depression.

In terms of anxiety, exercise is a natural and effective anti-anxiety treatment. This is achieved by relieving tension and stress and increasing physical and mental energy and all done through endorphins. When your body is under stress, your neck, face and shoulders tense up and some individuals may experience a stomachache or diarrhea. Thankfully, exercise can help eliminate these symptoms by relaxing your muscles and relieving tension. This is easily achieved because your brain and body are very closely connected.

Thirdly, there are social benefits of physical exercise. This is true no matter if it’s a running group, hiking club, or a yoga class. You are interacting, talking, and meeting new people who are interested in similar activities or interests as you. Studies have shown that having positive social relationships improves your self-esteem and self-confidence. This is a very important skill to have because it can help you in other aspects of your life, namely work, community or school group projects and with this you are now equipped to work well with others.

If that isn’t enough of a reason to get off the couch, there are additional hidden benefits of exercise including better sleep, mood and energy booster, and a better a sex life. Who wouldn’t appreciate that! All in all, after learning about the benefits of exercise I hope you can begin to implement exercise into your daily routine. And if exercise is a part of your routine, begin to reflect back on this and see if you are getting all of the benefits of exercise listed above for yourself.