Wanna start your week feeling happier?
Exercise is your key.
We all know exercise is good for our bodies: it helps build muscle, burn body fat, strengthen our bones, and improve our mobility.
You’ve also probably experienced how exercise makes you feel good mentally: lower stress after the gym, more focus during your day… you’re just a generally more awesome “you” after a workout.
But… How does it do that?
Inspired by a chat I was having with a colleague a few weeks ago about the connection between physical and mental health, here’s how exercise not only makes us healthier, but also makes us happier:
1) Exercise Improves our Mood
If you’ve ever listened to Andrew Huberman or similar health and wellness podcasts, you’ve probably heard them mention serotonin. This cool little neurotransmitter – a chemical that allows your brain’s neurons to talk with each other – is responsible for influencing everything from our moods to our learning and memory.
The key: Exercise boosts the production of serotonin, helping us feel good and perform well mentally.
2) Exercise Boosts our Endorphins
Have you ever experienced a “runner’s high?” You know, that feeling of lightness and pleasure after pushing the pace for a while? You can thank endorphins – a hormone made in your brain that helps block feelings of pain, lowers your stress, and improves your mood. They’re a nice “one-two punch” alongside serotonin for how exercise helps us feel good.
The key: Exercise boosts endorphins, helping reduce our sensation of physical and mental pain, and manage our stress.
3) Exercise Reduces our Inflammation
Inflammation gets a bad wrap, but it’s actually a natural response by your body to things like fighting infections and promoting healing. Ever experienced swelling after an injury? That’s inflammation doing its job to help you heal. If it’s short-term and specific, inflammation isn’t bad.
The bad stuff starts to happen when inflammation is CHRONIC – meaning it’s long-lasting and not addressing anything specific in your body. Prolonged, unmanaged stress can cause chronic inflammation and increase the risk of many diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, and even depression.
The key: Exercise helps lower inflammation, which in turn helps lower the risk of many conditions and diseases.
4) Exercise Lowers our Stress
Finally, we’ve all probably experienced the stress-relieving effects of a hard workout. You walk in the gym stressing about your to-do list, and you leave feeling relaxed and happy.
Exercise lowers our stress by not only boosting serotonin and endorphins, like we saw above, but also by lowering inflammation, which has been linked to stress and depression. Several studies have found exercise to be an effective, complementary treatment for depression.
The key: If you’re feeling stressed, hit the gym. I guarantee you’ll feel better. If you need help building an exercise habit, just reach out and I’ll help get ya started.
Have a happy, healthy week, ya’ll. Go get some exercise!
Love ya lots,
Ian
P.S. I’m currently offering free, 30 minute consultations to help you build habits for a healthier, more balanced and productive lifestyle. Reserve your spot here before they fill up.
Ian Estabrook 