Exercising for Brain Power

Exercising throughout many years is viewed as a way to be in shape physically. This can be completed by lifting weights or some type of cardio. Exercising though is extremely great for your physical health but working out can actually benefit a human mentally. Even though working out is great for physical health. People could look at it in a different manner and try to get their mental strength. Many people probably argue this and believe exercising only helps people physically.  

The argument is that exercising can only benefit people in a physical way. This is definitely true to their point: working out is very beneficial to having a physically healthy lifestyle. But that is not the only thing that can be improved when working out. All it takes is a little bit of altering. One mental benefit is brain boost. Brain boost helps how fast you think. This is for things to help you process thoughts quicker and smoother. This also helps strengthen your memory. In a Waldern University study, “Studies on mice and humans indicate that cardiovascular exercise creates new brain cells, a process called neurogenesis and improves overall brain performance.” The study helps so that cardio not only improves your cardiovascular system but helps the brain. Doing workouts in a certain order can help your brain with memory. This is because having a set schedule in your workout helps the person remember what they have to accomplish during that workout. Leading to a person having better memory throughout the regular day.

Many people say that exercising does not do anything for a person’s mental health. This can be found untrue though. Something that people deal with mentally is depression and anxiety. This can be reduced by working out. There are studies that show that lifting a few weights a day or every other day can reduce your anxiety. Some people will tell you that is not true and it can not happen. But in a Waldern university study working out can actually help make someone happier. For example, “Exercise is a scientifically proven mood booster, decreasing symptoms of both depression and anxiety. Physical activity kicks up endorphin levels, the body’s famous “feel good” chemical produced by the brain and spinal cord that produces feelings of happiness and euphoria.” This informs the people that exercise releases endorphins that decrease symptoms of depression and anxiety. Even doctors recommend trying to workout before they give the patient medicines. This means why people say that exercising can not help someone’s mental health. They can get questions because there has been study behind it. There are doctors that are out there that study and recommend physical exercise to improve mental health like depression and anxiety.

Another mental benefit of exercising is decreased stress. Tons of people deal with stress throughout their lives. People try and make exercising out to be something it is not. Exercising is extremely beneficial to decrease personal stress. Even though stress is a mental issue and working out is a physical act. It can help relieve your stress and even get rid of it. By just increasing your heart rate in any workout that a person is completing. This can help reverse self-induced brain damage of stress. In a study, “which not only improve cognition and mood but improve thinking clouded by stressful events. Exercise also forces the body’s central and sympathetic nervous systems to communicate with one another, improving the body’s overall ability to respond to stress.” This shows that exercising pretty much gets the brain to start going. This then leads to the reduction of stress that a person is enduring. The argument that physical exercise only benefits humans with their physical body can be proven. That this is not true and that it can benefit the person’s mental stress that everyone deals with. 

Many people argue that exercising can only benefit humans physically. Yes physical exercise does indeed benefit physical health and is needed for day to day life. This can be proven to be not true. With the information stated above like depression and stress but reduced by working out helps further the point. This also helps people strengthen the brain with brain boost, that helps memory and cognitive function. The information given helps prove the point that exercising can benefit people mentally.

References

Walden University. (2016, November 18). 5 mental benefits of exercise. Walden University. https://www.waldenu.edu/online-bachelors-programs/bs-in-psychology/resource/five-mental-benefits-of-exercise

Pani, J., Marzi, C., Stensvold, D., Wisløff, U., Håberg, A. K., & Diciotti, S. (2022). Longitudinal study of the effect of a 5-year exercise intervention on structural brain complexity in older adults. A Generation 100 substudy. NeuroImage, 256(119226), 119226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119226

How physical activity improves mental health. (2022, December 29). Community Health of Central Washington – Community Health of Central Washington; Community Health of Central Washington. https://www.chcw.org/behavioral-health-how-physical-activity-improves-mental-health/