The Link Between Mental Health and Fitness
Many people start their fitness journey for different reasons. Most, if not all the reasons that people start in the gym have a link to mental health. You might be asking yourself, “how is this true?” But there have actually been studies made that show a direct correlation between mental health and how physically fit someone is. From personal experience, I can also say that starting to take care of myself physically has helped me cope with anxiety, and boost my self-esteem. In this blog I hope to be able to provide you with some tips and tricks that will help you keep a positive mindset and stay motivated throughout your fitness career.
Here are some tips to use to just constantly have a positive mindset at the gym. Remember, the gym is a tedious place, sometimes it may seem like it is all pointless but that is never the case. The first thing you are going to want to do is to visualize your success, and you being at the point that you want to reach. When you picture yourself at the goals that you have set for yourself, it makes staying in the gym for the long term benefits that much easier! If you visualize a strong end result, it will make the grind that much easier. Picture yourself reaching your goals, and being happy that you did not give up. The second tip we have to help you stay on track with your goals, is just to always make sure you reflect on your achievements and what you have already accomplished. Let’s say your goal was to lose 20 pounds, and you have already lost 5. Think about how much progress you have already made towards your end goal, and allow that to keep fueling you in your journey. You can look at progress pictures, look at the weight that you can lift now compared to when you began, or just simply see how you feel mentally. Another way that can help you stay positive at the gym, is to take small steps along with big ones. What I mean by this, is that even though you always want to have an end long term goal inorder to keep you progressing for a while, taking small steps and looking at smaller goals will help you pat yourself on the back for the progress that was made.
Something that has personally helped me stay motivated in the gym, is just simply comparing my mental health before the gym and after. Before the gym, I was lazy, insecure, and struggled to perform any task that even just took the slightest bit of effort. Before I started working out, I would always just constantly feel tired, and drag my day along. Once I started going to the gym that all changed. There was just a burst of energy that came into my life. Almost like a “second wind.” Overall, it just made me a more productive person and changed my attitude from a “glass half empty,” to a “glass half full.” To be honest without the gym I am not sure if I would still be pursuing a degree today. I owe a lot of everything I have been able to accomplish recently to fitness, and the gym.
Now, if you have really never gone to the gym for a long duration of time, you might be saying to yourself, “I have tried and the gym has not helped me mentally.” There are also those of you that have been on your fitness journey for a long time, and agree with what I am saying. For all of those reading there actually is a science behind it that shows the direct correlation that physical and mental health have to each other. An article from the National Library of Medicine (link to full article at the bottom), has in depth explanations about the exact correlation. A lot of the time people who struggle mentally tend to neglect physical fitness, because most of the time depression and anxiety makes someone not want to leave their home or do much. Aerobic exercises, like jogging, cycling, swimming, walking, gardening, etc. Have been proven to reduce anxiety and depression. The actual scientific reasoning behind this is that with the exercise comes an increase in blood circulation to the brain. This also has an influence on the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis, which is directly related to being stressed out. To go along with fitness being beneficial to mental health, studies have also shown that simply being distracted, having self-efficacy, and being able to socially interact with people will also help lower depression and anxiety. To add to this, as a personal experience, before I started going to the gym I would essentially lock myself in my house, just thinking about bad outcomes of things or being nervous about what the future has in store. It made me anti social, I didn’t really make any new friends, or even speak to my old ones I have known for years. Then once I started going back to the gym it got me back into that outgoing personality that I had growing up. It felt like I had become a child again. Also simply just improving self-esteem and cognitive and physical function will help you out mentally. You just have to simply try it, if you have not. There is no better feeling than feeling gratified because of all of the hard work paying off that you have put into something. Those of you that have been in the gym for a while understand what I am saying here.
Here are some specific examples of those health benefits:
- Your sleep will be improved
- Your sex drive will increase
- Body will be able to endure more
- Relief of stress; will not feel as stressed as often
- Overall better mood
- Energy Increased
- Overall healthier physical condition; even cardiovascular fitness
These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to physical fitness and mental health being related. I can sit here and preach all day, but you will not truly know the effects until you go and try working out for yourself. Two quotes that I love to live by are “1% better everyday, small changes over time lead to big results.” This goes back to what I was saying with the small steps being taken to achieve a big accomplishment. Also another one is a quote by none other than Nelson Mandela. “I have always believed that exercise is the key not only to physical health but to peace of mind.” The mind cannot feel the way it should if the body is not in physical shape. Don’t knock it till you try it, and I hope this blog is able to help get some people in the gym!
