The Effect of Excersie on Mental Health I. Introduction A. Although most people know about the many physical benefits that result from consistent exercise: 1. More than 60% of adults do not achieve the recommended amount of physical activity. 2. In addition, 25% of all adults are not active at all B. This is disturbing, not only because so many people are missing out on the physical benefits that result from exercise, but on the mental benefits that result from exercise as well II. Body Main Point #1: A great deal of attention has been paid to the relationship between physical fitness and psychological health. The four psychological areas that have been studied the most are: 1) Psychological well-being and mood, 2) personality and self-concept, 3) Psychological stress response, and 4) cognition (i.e.- perception, knowledge, and awareness; thinking) A. Well-Being and Mood (Short & Long term Benefits of Exercise) 1. Short Term Benefits a. The most common result of these studies is that physical activity improves mood and well-being immediately following the exercise. b. [Berger and Owens, 1988] One study examined 170 people. One group attended swimming, fencing, or physical conditioning classes. The second group attended lecture classes where no exercise was involved. i. Questionnaires that were filled out directly before and after the class sessions showed significant mood improvement in the classes where exercise was involved (compared to the non-physical activity classes). 2. Long Term Benefits a. Most of these studies indicate that having a consistent exercise program improves well-being and mood. b. [Moses, et al, 1989] This study examined a random sample of... ... middle of paper ... ...y also improve work-related habits. B. Other 1. Though there are many theories on exactly how exercise improves psychological well-being, no one theory has any substantial experiential evidence to back it up. 2. There has been virtually no research regarding the frequency and duration of exercise sessions on mental health. Thus, it is impossible to determine the optimal frequency and duration of exercise for psychological improvements. 3. Finally, the types of exercise that enhance psychological functioning the most have not been determined. This is because most research relating exercise to mental health has been done with aerobic activities (i.e.- running, walking, biking, and swimming). 4. [Doyne, et al, 1987] More recent research suggests that anaerobic exercise, such as weight lifting, may be at least just as effective an aerobic exercise.
In the book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and The Brain by Dr. John J. Ratey, MD (2008), Ratey discuses how exercise can help treat many mood disorders and how it can help strengthen our brains. This book is divided into ten chapters all with five to ten subsections in them. The chapters include: Welcome to the revolution: A Case Study on Exercise and the brain, Learning, Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Attention Deficit, Addiction, Hormonal Changers, Aging, and the Regimen.
As stated above, there are many benefits of exercise beginning with mental health. A Penn State University study found that “those who exercised, whether it was a mild, moderate or vigorous workout, had more pleasant feelings than those who didn’t.”
“Studies also show that exercise has a positive influence on depression. Physical self-worth and physical self-perception, including body image, has been linked to improved self-esteem.” Says Sports and Development. A number of studies have shown that exercise may play a therapeutic role in addressing a number of psychological disorders. Sports are one of the most popular ways to reduce negativity and mental disorders in your
Some hypothesize that moderate levels of exercise will decrease the symptoms of mental health conditions (Blumenthal et al., 2007; Diaz & Motta, 2008; Motta, Kuligowski, & Marino, 2010; Rosenbaum, Nguyen, Lenehan, Tiedemann, van der Ploeg, & Sherrington, 2011) and therefore be used as an alternative or complimentary treatment option for mental health (Libby, Pilver, & Desai, 2012).
There are many benefits of exercise on the human body, not only physical, but mental. Research has proved that exercise can benefit your mental health and your ability to learn. Exercise has many positive effects on patients suffering from a mental health disorder, such as depression or anxiety. Exercise releases chemicals in the brain called serotonin, which is a mood booster. The chemical can combat depression and help alleviate some of the symptoms that come with it. Exercise is shown to alleviate 25 different medical conditions, whether through secondary or direct benefits, such as Alzheimer’s. People who exercise are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than ones who don’t because exercise releases chemicals in the brain that support the healthy growth of neurons. Exercise can also serve as a mental “buffer” against problems such as stress, which prevents further problems like depression. This creates a mental resistance to outside forces, which aid in day to day life. Exercise can also help in education. Studies show that schools with academic programs that lack physical education perform worse than ones that have a more robust system. Majority of research indicates that replacing some academic periods with physical education results in higher academic achievement for students and improved concentration and focus. Exercise is shown to increase circulation and blood flow to the brain which increases cognitive function and the efficiency of the brain, having a profound impact on the human body and its ability to function efficiently. Exercise also engages the prefrontal cortex and stimulates it, which is responsible for complex thought and problem solving. This is proven to increase creativity, concentration and test scores. Stu...
Some people have thought that exercise positively affects the brain as well as the body. Preliminary evidence suggests that physically active people have lower rates of anxiety and depression than sedentary people do (2). It seems logical that an active lifestyle would help the brain. However, the scientific observations were lacking. Now several biological studies indicate that working out does benefit the brain. This new insight may point more towards the notion that exercise has overall health benefits and also may lead to specialized physical activity programs for patients (1). Exercise may improve mental health by helping the brain cope better with stress, according to research into the effect of exercise on neurochemicals involved in the body's stress response (2). These findings come from animal as well as human studies and are leading to a better understanding of the overall health rewards of exercise and heightened support for exercise regimens that could aid recovery from a wide range of illnesses. Furthermore, the ongoing research indicates that specialized exercise regimens may help repair damaged or aged b...
The influence of exercise and its beneficial impact on cardiovascular health has been observed in multiple epidemiological and mechanistic studies (1). In addition to the cardiovascular health benefits of exercise, there has been a positive correlation with exercise and improvements in glucose regulation, weight control, and even clinical depression (1). The impact of exercise has helped promote the positive prognoses of several pathologies; more recently, exercise has even demonstrated beneficial influences associated with an increase in cognition and memory (1).
Exercise can act as a very efficient way to help prevent age-related diseases. Bradley says that many recent studies focusing on the correlation between physical activity and mental health, clinical evidence have shown that exercise can have a positive effect on the outcome of treating mental illness, such as Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and Parkinson’s disease (Bradley). Physical Therapy improves the patient's’ quality of life and lessens the pain of the disease itself. “Some authors state that the influence of exercise on brain functioning might be related to the human evolutionary process, since physical activity is associated with survival. It has been suggested that individuals who exercise might show a biological advantage over sedentary individuals”(Bradley). So considering that exercise is very much related to improving the mental health of the elderly, we should consider adding physical therapy into the everyday life schedule of residents in nursing homes, where they will have the one-on-one contact and encouragement they
Exercise also helps expedite the movement of the nutrients to the cells and the toxins from the cells improving digestion and elimination. The endurance and energy level a person’s body is also increased. Exercising increases a person’s life span by slowing aging process. Muscle tone in the body is improved and weight loss is controlled making a person look and feel better. This type of feeling really helps boost a person’s self-esteem and decreases depression. Physical activity relieves stress and tension from a person’s body by clearing the mind. Anxiety can also be released in exercises such as kickboxing, aerobics, or tae-bo.
Exercise improves psychological well-being and replaces inactive habits that usually lead to snacking. Exercise can represent as a minor weight loss pill. Scientists have found that regular participation in aerobic exercise have been shown to decrease overall levels of tension, elevate and stabilize mood, improve sleep, and improve self-esteem. Anti-anxiety effects can stimulate by just doing a five minutes of aerobic workout. Exercise is also consider vital for maintaining mental fitness, and it can reduce stress. According to some studies, it reduces fatigue, improves awareness and concentration, and enhances overall cognitive function. This can be especially helpful when stress has worn your energy out or ability to concentrate. Staying physically active has always been encourage by physicians and it improves physical condition and fighting disease. When stress affects the brain, with its many nerve connections, the rest of the body feels the impact as well. Therefore, that is the reason why the mind feels better when the body feels better (“Physical Activity Reduces Stress”). It’s common knowledge that exercise and other physical activity produce endorphins—chemicals naturally released in the brain to reduce or that act as natural painkillers—and also improve the ability to sleep, which in turn reduces stress. However, endorphins can be produce throughout the body by meditation, acupuncture, massage
All over the world, it is believed that physical exercises help people achieve wellness. Physical exercise not only encourages physical wellness but also have a significant impact on mental stability and health. Although such positive believes stand, many benefits of physical activity has lost value overtime, as people nowadays have the tendency to rely on modern technologies and machineries, which are believe to make life easier. This often leads to shortage of physical activity and over sometime both physical and mental health will deteriorate. This argumentative essay, will explain how engaging in physical exercises improve one’s mental health.
We encourage everyone to lose weight the old fashion way; burn it. But, we acknowledge this is not for everyone, so regardless of how you go about tackling fitness or weight loss. Understanding the benefits of physical fitness can go a long way in your long term success. On the other hand, not being fit and healthy can affect your overall health, including your cardiovascular health, your well being, your energy levels, and even your mood. So grab yourself a cup of coffee or better yet a healthy cup of tea and stay with me.
It even helps you test better according to a the Mayo Health Clinic’s statement: “Those who had exercised during the preceding month but not on the day of testing generally did better than those who had been sedentary, but did not perform nearly as well as those who had worked out that morning.” Another internal effect of working out is muscles receiving more blood, higher VO2 level, and helping maintain bone mass. The fitter a person is, the more efficiently their heart works therefore, blood pressure decreases and new healthy blood vessels form. Exercising expands a person’s life cycle because the more someone workouts, the healthier they are. Furthermore, the brain is one part that no one would think exercising has anything to do with, but it’s the main one that is affected. Exercising results in increased brain flow which helps the brain function more efficiently. Also, new brain cells are formed that help boost memory and learning. A number of neurotransmitters are triggered, these are what controls a person’s mood; this is how exercise prevents depression. Working out improves development of neurons, production of nerve protecting compounds, and can reverse brain and muscle decay. There are various positive internal effects that exercise has on people’s
Physical fitness have numerous benefits including muscle strength, muscular endurance, brain activity, preventing obesity and lowering risk or major body problems. Reduces gaining weight, improves losing weight and less likely to have accidents later in life. Also improves ones lifespan, living a healthier life and improves sleeping. Physical activity helps reduce ones stress, anxiety, and depression also improves over all life. A half hour or so of physical activity daily can yield benefits. Also can improve ones flexibility (Brezina), which can effe...
Exercising helps in many different ways such as gaining muscular strength and ability. A person's desire is to lose weight and have a perfect toned figure, but it also helps ease a lot of other conditions as well. Exercising is considered to be a mood booster. It helps improve self esteem and will lower depression. It will make a person a lot happier, and will help bring a positive reaction in the body. Physical activity is very important for obesity. It is really important for obese children or adults to get some form of exercise in their lives. It can be very beneficial for them and can help prevent long term illnesses. People that exercise on a daily basis do it because it helps them feel more positive about themselves and they will be more energized, motivated and focused for the day. It gives people an excessive amount of happiness.