The Connection Between Fitness and Mental Health
Taking care of yourself and your mental health continues to be at the forefront of many of our priorities, especially with the increase in mental health symptoms noted since the start of the pandemic1. Exercise has been shown to reduce depressive symptoms and prevent symptoms from forming2. It also has a strong correlation to preventing cognitive decline3. Exercise can reduce inflammation through various mechanisms/pathways and positively affect mental health and well-being4, among many other positive benefits. Now more than ever, it is important to take care of your mental health and prioritize it. Our bodies are designed to move, and as shown previously, it has a direct correlation to mental well-being. A relatively “easy” way to do that is through exercise.
3 Tips to Get Back Into Exercise
Routines are easy to stick to when they’re something you’re used to doing. When we fall out of our routines, it is much harder to get back into it versus staying the course and keeping the momentum going. Working fitness into a daily routine can be hard. For the most part, it’s an uncomfortable experience, especially if it’s not an activity that you particularly enjoy doing. Through my experience, I’ve seen three groups of people in regards to the experience of exercise:
