Exercise and mental health: why is it so good for our minds?

Exercise as my coping mechanism

Exercise has always been my coping mechanism. It is my number one self-care activity. It’s my tool for managing when I feel down. It has helped me battle through depression, anxiety and get to a healthy relationship with my body after having an eating disorder. It has been a constant in my life through relationship breakdowns and divorce, through grief and fertility losses. It has helped me be the person I am, feel comfortable in my own skin, have energy, be creative and helped me get up in the morning. Exercise makes me feel my best self. See my previous post on the“flow” state for more on why I love exercise.

Those of us who love exercise know how good it can make us feel and we can’t live without it. I am passionate for others to find this and embrace the power of exercise for their mental wellbeing and resilience.

The mental health benefits of exercise

We know that exercise has multiple mental health benefits including:

Reducing stress, anxiety and depressive thoughts
Improving mood, self-esteem, optimism and confidence
Increasing concentration, creativity and stamina
Nurturing connection, purpose and meaning in life
Increasing sleep duration and quality (leading to all of the other benefits we get from sleep – see my previous blog post on this topic)
Reducing the chances of developing degenerative diseases such as dementia
Making us less prone to loneliness

Exercise is scientifically proven as a preventative strategy against developing mental health disorders as well as a treatment for existing disorders. This topic is slowly gaining more traction in the medical, health and wellbeing world and there’s lots of research out there to support this. But why is this the case?

Exercise can prevent depression, anxiety and stress

Brendon Stubbs is head of physiotherapy at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. He’s also a lecturer and researcher at Kings College London specialising in helping people find exercise to alleviate and/or build up resilience to prevent mental health conditions. I came across Brendon through my favourite podcast Feel Better Live More podcast. I am fascinated by his work and his ethos.

In his work Stubbs refers to a study, by Schuch et al, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 2018 which followed 260,000 people and their exercise habits over 7 years. The study showed that people following recommended guidelines in terms of activity were 30% less likely to develop depression. Stubbs’s research has shown that even if you are predisposed in your genetic make up to develop depression, exercise can act as a preventative measure.

Studies on sedentary behaviour have shown that after just a week of low activity, in people who were previously active, signs of stress, anxiety and depression start to emerge. This is something a lot of us know intuitively but it’s great to see the research base growing in this area.

So why is exercise so good for our mental health?

There are many reasons and it is a very complex question. From the reading I have done I’ve come up with 6 scientifically backed reasons:

1. Exercise changes the brain

Exercise increases the flow of oxygenated-rich blood to the brain helping to produce new brain cells, a process called neuroplasticity. In her book, The Source, neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart talks about how exercise makes the brain more agile:

“Those who exercise have better higher brain functions like emotional regulation and flexible thinking, and are better able to quickly switch between tasks”.
Dr Tara Swart, The Source

Brendon Stubbs talks about how exercise can produce real and significant growth and changes in the hippocampus in just 12 weeks of consistent exercise. This is the area of the brain which is important for processing emotions and consolidating memories from short to long term.

Research is also being done into the protein BNDF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). BNDF is important for brain cell health and repair, regulating mood and for processes such as learning and memory. People who do more exercise release more BNDF. Tara Swart notes that research has shown that those doing exercise they enjoy rather than seeing it as a chore actually release more BNDF.

2. Exercise releases feel good chemicals and proteins

Exercise releases a number of feel good chemicals: dopamine, endocannabinoids, norepinephrine, and serotonin.

Kelly McGonigal in her book The Joy of Movement talks about the runner’s high. She discusses how some forms of persistent aerobic exercise such as running, cycling, dancing and swimming release endocannabinoids. This is the neurotransmitter cannabis mimics. It results in making us feel less anxious and worried, more hopeful and optimistic and increases pleasure from social contact.

See my blog post on The Joy of Movement for a more in depth summary of why endocannabinoids and what they do.

Exercise can also trigger a rush of endorphins and dopamines which reduce the feeling of pain and create feelings of euphoria. Serotonin can boost mood and an overall sense of wellbeing and is also increased through exercise. Serotonin also has an important role to plan in improving appetite and sleep.

3. Exercises reduces stress chemicals

Exercise is proven to reduce the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline and regulate the body’s fight or flight response. It is also proven to increase norepinephrine which can help the body respond to stress. Exercise such as yoga is thought to correct a balance between the body’s parasympathetic state (the body’s natural relaxing mode) and sympathetic state (fight or flight mode).

Mithu Storoni, in her book Stress Proof, refers to exercising influencing the effects of rumination after a stressful experience. Exercise can improve prefrontal control over the HPA-axis response (the body’s stress response axis).

Dr Rangan Chatterjee, in his book, The Stress Solution says:

“exercise is one of the best ways to pull yourself out of a damaging stress state that’s been caused by too many Micro Stress Doses”.
Dr Rangan Chatterjee The Stress Solution

Research has shown that the brain chemical GABA is increased through exercise which encourages the brain into a calm state. Dr Chatterjee also discusses the role of telomeres (protective material found at the end of our chromosomes inside our genetic material). If your telomeres are damaged you will age more prematurely and experience more stress. A study conducted in 2010 with stressed out women concluded that “vigorous physical activity appears to protect those experiencing high stress by buffering its relationship with telomeres”.

However too much exercise and overexerting yourself can have the opposite effect and actually increase stress in the body so make sure you get the balance right.

4. Exercise can reduce inflammation

Research has shown that exercise can significantly reduce inflammation and help the body heal itself as well as protect against infection.

Kelly McGonigal discusses how proteins called myokines are released by the muscles into the blood stream every time we move a muscle. There are 35 different types of myokines all producing positive effects on the body from helping muscles grow, regulating blood sugar levels, reducing inflammation, and reducing disease. See my blog on the Joy of Movement for more on myokines.

A type of myokine is a protein called Interleukin 6 (IL-6) which is released by the muscles during exercise. This protein plays an important role in fighting inflammation in the body. The longer your workout the more IL-6 is released.

5. Exercise has a powerful psychological and social impact

Moving your body can have a powerful effect on your thoughts and mood as it can distract from painful emotions, worries and everyday stresses. Meeting workout goals or achieving a target such as running a 10K race or lifting a target weight can boost confidence and self-esteem, purposefulness and meaning in life.

The physical side effects from exercise such as weight loss and improved body tone and shape can increase self-confidence and self-esteem. You will experience a renewed sense of energy and may even achieve other ambitions in your life as a result. If you build self-compassion and respect for your body through physical movement it is more likely you will want to nurture and care for your body and mind through nutrition, sleep, meditation and other important wellbeing activities.

Exercising in groups with others can have an added benefit of boosting more feel good chemicals in the brain, increasing social connectedness and reducing loneliness. It also means it’s more likely people will be motivated to engage in activities if they are partaking with others.

6. Exercise has a positive effect on mood

Specific exercise has a different effect on the brain and body. As Kelly McGonical discusses, each form of exercise is uniquely personal in meaning to each individual. It creates a neurological feedback loop in the brain. For example, someone who loves lifting weights may get an empowering sense of feeling strong or in control. Perhaps a runner may feel a sense of freedom, a swimmer a sense of weightlessness and carefreeness. Dance and yoga might send out signals of joy and openness triggered by open arm gestures and body stance.

5 minutes a day can make a difference!

The best news is that you don’t have to sweat it out for hours in the gym to feel these benefits. Even as little as 5 minutes a day can give you a positive boost to your mental health. If you want some help in getting to a place where you find the joy of movement and feel your best self in all areas of your life as a result then contact me!