The Mental Health Benefits of Exercise

Exercising provides an entire list of mental health benefits that can improve daily life.

Depression and anxiety are some of the most prominent disorders among young teens and adults. However, working out can help improve those symptoms significantly.

Anxiety and Depression

• Running for 15 minutes or even walking for an hour can help reduce the likelihood of depression by 26%.

• Exercising can help boost physical and mental energy, and while exercising, proper breathing techniques are recommended, which are also popular techniques to help with anxiety attacks.

Stress

• Stress is common in everyone's everyday lives. When exercising, stress levels can drop significantly.

• Working out can help relieve stress and physical tension all throughout the body in parts such as your face, neck, and shoulders (Robinson).

Other Mental Health Benefits

Sharper Memory and Thinking

• Working out releases endorphins. These endorphins make you feel a lot better and help you concentrate on the things at hand (Robinson).

Higher Self-Esteem

• Regularly exercising help improve physical health, and when you look better, you can feel better about yourself as well. You will better appreciate yourself and find more joy in each individual achievement (Robinson).

Better Sleep

• Working out burns off energy and calories. That being, you will have less total energy at the end of the day, making you feel more tired. That leads to a higher quality of sleep and quantity of sleep as well (Robinson).

More Energy and Resilience

• Working out multiple times a week will give you more energy to get up and do other things when normal you would have been tired.

• That being, you can build resilience toward both emotional and physical issues as well as your immune system. You will learn better ways to cope with trauma instead of relying on drugs and alcohol (Robinson).