Mental Health seems to be constantly in the news in one form or another. How we’re not paying attention to our own mental health and a lack of knowledge when dealing with others.
I know what you’re thinking: “What has mental health got to do with my exercise goals?”
The short answer is – everything.
Mental health drives all your behaviour, so its probably wise to pay attention to it.It is also very closely linked with your physical health.
A study into how psychological wellbeing can adversely affect wound repair ( read: immune response) showed that carers responsible for looking after their own relatives suffering with dementia (high stress activity- as if that needs underlining) took 24% longer to heal than the their less stressed counterparts. (1)
So therefore, it’s probably no huge surprise that if your mental health can affect your physical health that the reverse is also true- your physical health can affect your mental health.
Exercise release’s endorphins- your body’s own natural antidepressants. They help you concentrate better and make you sharper- far more than all the brain training games that have still yet to be proven to be effective.
With regular exercise you sleep better, your cardiovascular strength increases resulting in greater and more sustained energy levels- and who doesn’t want more energy?
With resistance training the benefits increase even further with increasing your bone density, very useful if you want to stave off osteoporosis…
One last quick tip, blood sugar lows can affect your mood- massively. So, if you’re feeling low, just double check when it was you last ate something, sometimes a quick bite can find your mood levelling out quite quickly.
And by “quick bite” remember; a nice slow burn snack will always be preferable to a quick, hit sugar high. Until next week… 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3052954/ll-us-why-new-upcoming-book-super-body-super-brain-release-april-27th-2010/attachment/7/
CC Personal Training 