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Exercise and mental health
Exercise and mental health
Physical fitness on mental wellbeing
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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... ... middle of paper ... ...e-childrens-learning>. Rogers, Chris . "What Is the Relationship Between Physical Exercise & Learning Ability?." LIVESTRONG.COM. N.p., 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. . "The exercise effect." http://www.apa.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. . staff, Mayo. "Depression and anxiety: Exercise eases symptoms." Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 1 Oct. 2011. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. . Davis-Laak, Paula. "7easy resilience strategies for busy, complicated lives." Phsycology today. N.P, 10 Jan. 2011. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. .
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.
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).
Walking on the street, jumping the fence, running the race, swimming in the pool or playing a football, if you keep on doing this, you are doing a wonderful job. Being a physically active not only improves your physical health, it also helps you built mentally strong. Physical activity encourages the brain to work at optimum capacity to increase productivity and helps to release the endorphins (the chemical produced by the brain) to make brain and body relaxed. The first step in life for prevention and management of disease and disorder is exercise. Exercise and Physical activity gain the attention of researchers regarding treatment of different psychopathological Disorder. Many research shows that involving in physical activity and exercise
A recent study shows that on average boys do 29 minutes of physical activity a day; while girls only do 18 minutes of physical activity a day (Henshaw 2). This falls extremely short of the recommended 60 minutes by health officials. At the point when kids and youths take part in any event 60 minutes of physical action consistently, various wellbeing benefits occur (Henshaw 4). Some of these being that it enhances respect toward oneself, and diminishes stress and anxiety. Beyond these known wellbeing impacts, physical action additionally has beneficial influences on scholastic execution. “Among elementary school students, 40 minutes of daily exercise increased IQ by an av...
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).
A study done at the American College of Sports Medicine reported that “fourth and fifth grade students who ran around and otherwise exercised vigorously for at least 10 minutes before a math test scored higher than children who sat quietly before an exam.” Physical activity is said to improve much more than physical health, and is known for the improving one’s memory and focus. Another article mentioned that physically active students tend to outperform their peers in the classroom who are not active. The article also mentions that “physically active students have larger brain volumes in the basal ganglia and hippocampus, areas associated with cognitive control and memory (Medical News, 1).” Exercise has been known to help students concentrate better in their classes, and accomplish their homework later
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).
Past studies in both animals and humans have proposed that length of exercise is associated with better cognitive function (Colcombe & Kramer, 2003; Holmes, Galea, Mistlberger, & Kempermann, 2004). However, other studies have proposed that only small doses of exercise are needed to see significant health benefits (Beddhu, Wei, Marcus, Chonchol, & Greene, 2015; Hupin et al., 2015). Past studies have also found that shorter duration high-intensity regimens are also beneficial in regard to cardiovascular and metabolic function, musculoskeletal benefits and cognitive performance. (Gibala et al., 2006; Gillen, 2012; May et al.,
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.
Exercise helps memory and thinking by direct and indirect means. The direct benefits of exercise have to do with its ability to reduce insulin resistance, reduce inflammation, and stimulate the release of growth factors. Indirectly, exercise improves mood, sleep, and reduces stress and anxiety. Having issues in these areas can cause cognitive dysfunction. Many studies have tried to prove that the parts of the brain that control cognition and memory are larger in people who exercise compared to people who don’t.
Throughout the years, physical education has proven to have many physical benefits. The age-old apothegm that states that “An hour of play each day” is beneficial to students has proven to ring true. Many people acknowledge the physical side of physical education and overlook the cognitive benefits of the course. Not only does physical education affect the physical aspects of the body, it affects mental aspects as well.
It is no secret that staying physically active is a great way to maintain a balanced lifestyle, stay healthy, and stay happy. But why is this so? According to Harvard University’s Health Blog, exercise directly changes brain structure, enlarging both the prefrontal cortex and the medial temporal cortex, improving memory, learning, as well as critical thinking skills (Godman). These effects, combined with the release of endorphins, improve your mood by jump-starting several biological processes, thus reducing stress and relieving anxiety. There are numerous positive benefits of aerobic exercise on the brain, from a chemical standpoint, a biological standpoint as well as from a psychological one.
"Diseases and Conditions." Depression and Anxiety: Exercise Eases Symptoms. Mayo Clinic Staff, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
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.
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...