Boosting your mental health can be as simple as moving your body. Exercise can improve your mood, relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety, and it’s a great way to manage stress.
And exercise can sometimes be a burden for some, especially for people who don’t like going to the gym.
Fortunately, you don’t have to become a bodybuilder to reap the mental health benefits.
Why should you exercise for mental health?
Exercise makes you feel good about yourself, and when we talk about exercise, we don’t just mean going to the gym and lifting weights.
Exercise is anything that gets you moving your body muscles, and you don’t have to leave your house to boost your mental health through physical activity.
Benefits of exercise on your mental health:
- – Improve body image
- Better mood
- Reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety
- – Decreased symptoms of ADHD
- – High self-esteem
- -sense of accomplishment
- – Increase self-confidence
- – Feeling proud
There is no single type of exercise that fits good mental health, which means you have the flexibility to find something that works for your life, according to cnet.
Practical tips to start exercising for mental health
Getting started is the hardest point, so it’s important to determine an appropriate strategy for making exercise a staple of your daily routine.
Choose an activity that you enjoy
Try not to think of exercise as something you have to do, and instead see it as another tool you use in your wellness journey.
Set realistic goals
Exercising too much can negatively affect your mental health, especially if you set yourself goals that you can’t reasonably achieve.
Set small goals that you can build on as you go, and remember you have nothing to prove to anyone other than yourself.
Reward yourself
Rewarding yourself for completing a workout is a great idea to make it a habit, and it doesn’t have to be anything major, maybe an extra episode of your favorite show or a hot bubble bath.
Make it a social thing
If you’re someone who thrives when you have responsibility, make your exercise a social activity with friends.
Exercise is an excellent tool for managing everyday symptoms of mental health conditions; However, exercise is not intended to replace treatment and medication for those who depend on it to function.