The Cognitive Benefits of Working Out

Throughout time working out has been thought to only help you with physical benefits. Like staying in shape and being healthy. What if I told you there are not only physical benefits from working out but cognitive mental acuity. Leading to a healthier mindset and mental health. Working out can actually help you alter the way you approach obstacles. It also can help you from getting mental disorders.

People are probably wondering how physical activity could help you psychologically. Well there have been multiple studies over the past couple of years that show exercising is very beneficial in that aspect. When you work out there is a part in your brain called the cerebral cortex. That is the part of the brain that helps you think and learn. Working out helps strengthen that part of your brain. When that part of the brain is strengthened then it lowers the probability of getting a mental disorder. This is a great way for people who have mental disorders to try and get rid of it. Or if people who want to prevent mental disorders can lower their chances. 

There are studies that prove people who work out have a faster cognitive processing. This means that those individuals process thoughts and ideas quicker than one you do not indulge in physical activity. In the article “Reviewing on physical exercise and cognitive function” it states,“This demonstrates that participating in physical exercise programs exerts benefits in the physical and psychological spheres, and it is probable that physically active individuals have a faster cognitive processing.” Faster cognitive processing can lead to better mental health and meaningful thoughts. It is not too late to speed up your cognitive processing though. One can start working out today and  will see benefits in the next coming weeks and the long run. 

Participating in physical exercise can lower your risk of getting attacked by mental disorders. In recent analysis found physical activity has a significant increase in cognitive performance in elderly who have a cognitive deficit. This proves that exercising is an important factor in protecting cognitive decline.  

When trying to attempt to strengthen and fasten cognitive processes it depends on your workouts. Doing simple workouts is ok but not great. Try not doing lazy exercises because it could lessen your cognitive. This is because you are taking easy ways out. When doing exercises make sure it is helping you physically and mentally. If you go too hard though it could lessen your cognitive ability because it causes too much fatigue. This is only for a few minutes though. This makes cognitive processes speed up a ton. In a study made by our group, 23 healthy women aged from 60 to 70 years were submitted to 60 minutes jogging 3 times a week, and as complementary activity, they were submitted to stretching and flexibility exercises. After 6 months training, it was found an improvement in the attention, memory, agility, and in the mood pattern in 17 sedentary women. This shows that more than half of the participants had not only physical benefits but cognitive benefits. 

Working out is a great way to improve your mental. People work out to relieve stress because it is better than eating a bunch of junk food or being lazy. If one is lazy and does not have that motivation to really do anything, exercising is a great way to get out of that. It is doing something you do not want which ultimately changes your mindset. When you do not want to do something but you end up doing it. After finishing it one feels amazing. This is because working out is not something easy. This can totally change the way you start approaching opportunities in life.

People mentally are unorganized and lack a schedule in their daily life. Working out is a great way to get a person mentally straight. Meaning when you work out it is a part of your day to day schedule. So when someone is planning their schedule for the week or for the next day you have to plan your day around working out. This makes one day a lot more organized. It also helps strengthen your mind because one completes everything in the day needed to be successful. This then leads to the person being stress free. This is all by just working out for a total of forty five minutes to an hour. 

Exercising is a huge part of a steady lifestyle. Exercising also gives you an enormous sense of well being. If you cultivate a healthy exercise routine then this will improve your mental health. Working out helps people that are depressed and have anxiety make it go away or help control it. When exercising you are usually doing it for close to an hour or even more. This helps clear you mind or even expand what you are stressed about. This is great because it solves your problem and can even help find why you are stressed. “The Health Benefits of Exercise” states, “ Exercise has been proven to be effective for some people in treating and/or managing depression and anxiety.” There is a chemical in your body called cortisol which is basically “the stress hormone.” Exercise wears this chemical down which makes a person more relaxed after a workout.

In Conclusion, working out should not only be thought out to be great for your physical body but a huge part of keeping your mental health together. When people think of working out they only think about the physical part of it. People should understand that it can help you on a deeper level. Like cognitive mental acuity is also important when working out because it can improve how fast you think.

References

https://www.scielo.br/j/rbme/a/d6ZwqpncbKwM7Z74s8HJH8h/?lang=en

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12035-021-02411-z

https://www.siegeljcc.org/blog/2022/01/24/fitness/the-health-benefits-of-exercise/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAw6yuBhDrARIsACf94RVfxkOef7Re9OWXbnKX7fVv5lXoK1jJz4yYpHwc-5ngSR9XeQq6lq4aAtY2EALw_wcB