The 10 psychological benefits of practicing physical exercise

Many people join the gym to improve their cardiovascular health, to gain muscle or to have a movie body. However, there are other positive effects that we can achieve with the practice of regular physical activity, such as the psychological benefits.

Psychological benefits of doing sports: exercising is healthy for your mind!

Over the past decades, researchers have been discovering how to practice exercise can improve our cognitive functions, and regardless of age or physical condition, studies have shown that spending time for exercise too produces many benefits for our mental well-being. “Exercising regularly is good for your mood, memory or the learning"Explains psychiatrist John Ratey of Harvard Medical School, author of the book"The New and Revolutionary Science of Exercise and the Brain ”.

If you are used to exercising daily or if you are one of those who find it difficult to put on a tracksuit, pay attention to the following lines. Then from Psychology and Mind, we present the 10 psychological benefits of exercising.

1. Produces chemicals of happiness

Running a few miles can be tough But it's worth it! Exercise favors the release of endorphins, chemicals that produce a feeling of happiness and euphoria.

Studies have shown that they can even relieve symptoms of a depression. For this reason, psychologists recommend that people who suffer from depression or anxiety improve your quality of life by including exercise in your life. If you are not one of those people who practices physical activity on a daily basis, practicing exercise 3 days a week for half an hour can improve your mood instantly.

2. Reduce stress

After a hard day at work, there is nothing better than going to disconnect playing paddle tennis, stepping in the gym or running on the beach. One of the psychological benefits of practicing physical activity is that it reduces the stress.

In addition, exercise also increases the production of norepyrephrine (norepinephrine), a chemical that can moderate the brain's response to stress. So put on your sportswear and sweat a little, because exercise improves the ability of our body to time to deal with the tension that stress produces after so much office and so many day-to-day worries.

3. Improve self-esteem

Looking better physically will make you feel good. Continuous exercise will improve your self-image and improve your self-esteem. Regardless of weight, age, or gender, physical exercise can raise your positive perception of attractiveness of yourself, and consequently, make you value yourself more.

4. Improve your social relationships

As your perception of yourself and your emotional health improve, your social relationships can also improve. Due to your increase in self-confidence You will have a better chance of reaching out to others, and if you participate in directed classes or do group sports, it is expected that you will meet new people.

5. Relieves anxiety

The neurotransmitters released during and after exercise can help people with anxiety calm down. A bike ride or some medium or high intensity aerobic exercise can reduce the symptoms that the anxiety produces. Sport and exercise, therefore, not only serve to burn fat or gain muscle.

6. Prevents cognitive decline

As we get older the risk of suffering degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, especially from the age of 45. By doing physical activity, mainly between the ages of 25 and 45, it is possible to increase the chemicals in the brain that prevent the degeneration of neurons in the hippocampus.

In addition, practicing physical exercise on a regular basis and adapting the requirement for the elderly, is associated with a lower risk of mortality. Mainly, as a consequence of a cardiovascular protective effect, physical activity reduces the risk of suffering a cerebral stroke and improves cognitive function reducing the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's.

7. Improve your memory

Exercising regularly improves your memory and the ability to learn new things, as it increases the production of hippocampal cells that are responsible for memory and learning. Research in this field positively relates the brain development of children with their physical condition.

This not only happens in the case of minors, older people can also improve their memory by training. A study of Winter and Breitenstein (2007), showed that performing sprints improves vocabulary acquisition and retention in adults.

8. Increase your brain capacity

When you exercise, your brain produces more neurons and more connections between them, a phenomenon known as neurogenesis. Therefore, your brain will gain shape and its learning capacity will increase.

In an investigation of Vaynman, Ying and Gomez-Pinilla, it was shown that intense training increases the levels of a protein known as BDNF (Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor) found in the brain, and believed to positively influence decision-making, thinking, and learning. To delve into this topic, we recommend that you read the article "5 tricks to improve your intelligence", from the psychologist Bertrand Regader.

9. Helps you be more productive

An investigation of Schwarz and Hasson (2011) concluded that workers who practice exercise or sport regularly are more productive and they have more energy than their sedentary peers.

In addition, if we go to practice sports at noon, during the lunch break, or before going to work, the Activity will help us to stay more active throughout the day, avoiding moments of downturn or lack from attention at work.

10. Helps control addiction

The brain releases dopamine (the reward neurotransmitter) in response to a pleasant stimulus such as sex, drugs or food. Unfortunately, there are people who become addicted and dependent on substances that produce their release in large quantities. The practice of exercise can help in the recovery of the addict, because the short sessions of exercise have a positive effect on alcohol or drug addicts by delaying carving (at least in the short term).

Alcohol abuse also prevents normality in the life of the addict. A negative consequence of excessive consumption of this substance is that disrupts circadian rhythms, and as a result, alcoholics have a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep if they don't drink alcohol. Exercising can help restart your biological clock Y It helps to sleep.

Concluding

In summary, physical exercise is natural, it is easy, it helps you improve your quality of life, increases your self-esteem, prevents diseases and improves your learning. After reading this, are you still going to want to give up these benefits?