We know we haven't posted in a while, but going forward we plan to be a little more active and send you guys more helpful info. So without further delay here's the latest edition of our newsletter....
Exercise for Mental Health
Often when we think about exercise, we tend to think about how it can make you look and feel more confident in your clothes and improve your physical health. But one of the most important and often underrated benefits of exercise is its effect it can have on your mental health.
And after the past year we’ve all had to endure, I'm sure you'll agree that looking after your mental health is more important than ever before.
I mean, don't get me wrong, we understand that physical health is important, too. Exercise improves relative strength, bone density, cardiovascular health, hormone balance, blood sugar management, and more. It can also improve your appearance, which isn’t a bad thing 🙂
But studies show that as little as 15 minutes of exercise each day can help reduce depression, anxiety and stress.
And after a year of lockdowns, isolation and limited social interaction, experts fear that depression, anxiety and stress are at an all-time high.
Exercise can also improve your memory and self-esteem, boost your energy and help you get a better night’s sleep.
The best part is that you don’t need to spend 3 hours at the gym to get all these benefits of exercise. If you’ve been inactive for a while, start slow and build up as and when you feel ready. Hopefully as the weather starts to improve, you can get outside and go for a long walk to get your steps in or go for a bike ride.
If you have a park nearby, you can throw in some press ups or dips on a bench, or stop every hundred steps and do 10 squats.
And now that we're able to mix households again, ask a friend or your partner to join you, you’ll both not only benefit from the exercise itself, but also from the social interaction.
The best part about this is that you'll start to feel the emotional benefits of exercise almost immediately, whereas the improvements in your physical appearance can take some time to show.
Hopefully, one of the positives to come out of the pandemic is that it made us recognise that exercise isn’t just a physical activity with physical benefits and that the mental and emotional benefits of exercise may be even greater.