How Exercise Benefits Your Mind as well as Your Body

The physical benefits of exercise are plain to see, but there are also a number of psychological benefits associated with keeping fit. You may decide to take up running or cycling for the purposes of losing weight and improving your fitness, but by making exercise a regular feature in your life, you will also discover how much better you feel. This isn't just about being able to run faster for longer without getting tired, as doing exercise actually makes you feel less stressed and more upbeat about life. That is one of the reasons doctors try to encourage people suffering from depression to increase their activity levels.

It is hard to appreciate the psychological benefits of exercise until you actually start doing some. You can obviously see how doing regular exercise transforms your physical self – enabling you to lose weight and develop muscles where previously there was only fat – but it is very easy to overlook the benefits of exercise for your mind. It is probably because exercise leaves you feeling happier and less anxious that so many people continue to exercise regularly. When you're somewhat of a couch potato it is hard to imagine what would drive anyone to go for a run when it is pouring down with rain and freezing cold outside, until you actually try it.

Some types of physical activity will appeal to you more than others. If you're significantly overweight, the thought of doing a high-impact activity such as running may fill you with dread, whereas walking or swimming may seem more tolerable activities. It helps to approach exercise with a positive mindset, because if you tell yourself you loathe all forms of exercise before even doing anything, you're only making it harder for yourself. Once exercise becomes part of your routine you will no longer avoid it like the plague, because you will appreciate how much calmer you feel after doing any kind of activity that gets your heart rate up.

Perhaps you're not the type of person who is ever going to love exercise, in which case it is even more important that you appreciate the physical and psychological benefits of keeping active. When you exercise your brain produces endorphins, which leave you feeling in a more positive frame of mind and it is these feel-good chemicals that can give exercise an addictive quality. Even if you do not enjoy doing exercise, there is always the option to make your workouts a social occasion. If you get friends and relatives on board, at least you will have someone to keep you company when you're working up a sweat, which should help to keep you motivated.

Thus, if you're having doubts about working on your fitness and doing some exercise, you might want to think again. In a stressful, hectic world it is worth taking time out for yourself and to do some exercise that will leave you feeling less frustrated, stressed and worried and better able to concentrate and deal with whatever life has to throw at you.