7 Psychological Benefits Of Doing Physical Exercise

With physical exercise, cerebral blood flow increases and oxygenation improves, thus improving cognitive activity and delaying possible deterioration associated with age

Most people join the gym or start doing some exercise to improve their physical appearance. Although this is a valid reason to motivate yourself to adopt a healthy lifestyle, it must be taken into account that the benefits are not only on an aesthetic level. What if we told you that physical exercise is also good for your mind?

Surely, you have heard on occasion that physical activity helps to release emotional tension or stress. Keep this idea in mind so you can delve into the psychological benefits of exercising.

Physical exercise is healthy for the mind

According to Dr. Paola Escobar, specialist in psychiatry and mental health and coordinator of the Institute of Neurosciences, physical activity helps to improve the quality of life of human beings and promotes “the increase of neurotransmitters to maintain and protect cells nervous, which promote learning and attention ”, which improves the processes of learning, memory and attention.

In summary, exercising has several mental health benefits. Here are the main ones:

• Improves memory.
• Stimulates creativity.
• Helps release tension and relaxes.
• Helps prevent premature aging.
• Increases the production of red blood cells, which helps oxygen flow in the brain.

On the other hand, Denisse Oller explains that “physical activity helps to alleviate the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, especially through relaxation exercises such as yoga, but also through aerobic exercises, such as running and swimming, which help to reconcile a deep and continuous night sleep ”.

1. It makes you happier

When we do physical exercise we release endorphins, which allow us to feel euphoric and full of happiness. This is why physical exercise is highly recommended for those who suffer from depression.

Similarly, if you have problems with stress or anxiety, exercise can help you release the tension that drains both your body and your mind. In this way, you can relax, sleep better and be much more productive in your daily life.

2. Improve self-esteem

Exercising will allow you to look better and eat much healthier. This will be an injection of self-esteem that will make you value yourself much more. If you have trouble accepting yourself, exercise! It will help you look better and feel better. In addition, this will make you project the best version of yourself towards others.

3. Improve your social relationships

Having a better perception of yourself, feeling happy and comfortable, in addition to helping to value yourself, will help your social relationships improve. As you will have greater self-confidence, this will make you reach others in a deeper and easier way.

In addition, you will encourage yourself to participate in directed activities, play sports in a group or strike up a conversation with someone you don’t know just because you feel good and sociable. This will make you feel very good and very positive.

4. Prevents cognitive decline

If you are concerned about degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, you should know that physical exercise can help you prevent them. That is why, between the ages of 25 to 45, you should take the opportunity to exercise regularly. In the future, you will appreciate it.

5. Helps control addictions

If you have an addiction to any drug, alcohol, tobacco or others, you should know that physical exercise can help you control them and, in some cases, you will even be able to eliminate them completely.

How do you do this? Addiction has a lot to do with the dopamine hormone, a hormone that is also released when we exercise. That is why it is tremendously effective in the case of controlling an addiction.

6. Improve memory

Exercise increases the production of hippocampal cells that are responsible for memory and learning. Thanks to this, your memory improves allowing you to learn or remember things in a much more effective way. Sedentary life is not positive for your memory.

7. You will be much more productive

We may believe that doing physical exercise can make us much more tired and, as a consequence, perform worse at work or in the activities that we have to do.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Exercising will allow you to have much more energy because, believe it or not, it will allow you to stay active throughout the day. In this way, you will avoid downturns and inattention at work.

Do you lead a sedentary life? Do you exercise regularly? These are just some of the benefits that doing physical exercise can provide you.

If you feel bad, if you are not productive, think about whether exercising can improve all this. Sometimes something as simple as moving can be the solution to many problems.