In the modern working world, exercise has become something which is thought about separately to the core workings of our daily routines – it is not something that is passively achieved through simply going about our daily lives. A caricature of the day in the life of a computer-based worker (especially one who works from home) might follow a simple blueprint of waking up, sitting down to work, and relaxing, with various chores scattered around the day. Exercise rarely follows naturally from any of these activities, so they have to purposefully set aside time to do so, often when they’re tired and it’s not very inviting to do so. As a result, it’s easy to fall into the rhythm of a sedentary lifestyle, with reduced physical and mental health as a consequence.
I can personally vouch for how much of an effect exercise can have on your mental wellbeing. During the UK’s COVID-19 lockdowns, being unable to go to the gym had a noticeably negative effect on my mental health. It wasn’t at all about my body image, or knowing that my PRs were fading away by the day, it was simply about not doing the exercise itself and having a low level of physical exertion. I wish I had recorded data on this, because I’m sure that patterns in my happiness would have tracked almost perfectly with the periods in which the gyms were open. I’m hoping that this blog can touch lightly upon the science of the cyclical, inseparable nature of physical and mental health, and maybe encourage one or two readers to form a habit that they won’t look back on.
Exercise improves mental health
Introducing a small amount of exercise into your routine can have disproportionately positive effects on mental health. Exercise stimulates the production of various neurotransmitters, including:
- endorphins, which reduce pain perception, increase feelings of wellbeing, and reduce stress.
- serotonin, which regulates sleep, digestion, appetite, memory and cognition, and increases happiness and wellbeing.
- dopamine, which improves motivation, memory, mood, and attention.
These neurotransmitters are instrumental in having well-regulated mental health. Just doing a small amount of exercise to stimulate their production can improve your outlook on life without even impacting the things which may have been causing concern or distress in the first place. It’s not going to pay your mortgage, but it will make you more optimistic and less bothered by life’s trials and tribulations.
In a study of over one million participants, those who exercised self-reported a 43% lower mental health burden per month, with the largest effect size seen in those who exercised between 30 and 60 minutes, three to five times per week (Chekroud et al., 2018). However, vigorous over-exercise was found to produce a negative effect not unlike that of doing no exercise at all, so remember to take all things in moderation.
Mental health is physical health
Improved mental health has an intrinsic positive effect on physical health, outside of that which comes from exercise originally.
As explored earlier, serotonin (one of the “happy chemicals”) plays a key role in the regulation of many homeostatic processes including sleep and digestion. Improved quality of sleep results in more optimal cycling of REM and deep sleep, which improves memory & cognition and physical recovery respectively. Greater physical recovery subsequently improves immune function, reducing the likelihood of illness. Essentially, being happier means you sleep better, which helps your brain fire on all cylinders and helps your body stay prepared for whatever is thrown at it.
Outside of nerdy biochemistry, simply being happier and having a more positive outlook can motivate you to lead a healthier lifestyle. This may be a circular effect in that it encourages you to exercise more (within reason!), or perhaps improve diet, or escape self-destructive or harmful habits. Happiness lets you take greater control of your life and helps you be better to yourself.
Lastly, academic literature points to positive emotions being inversely correlated with risk of heart failure, and positively correlated with increased telomere length which indicates a slowing of the cellular aging process (Boehm & Kubzansky, 2012).
Go and get moving!
Exercise and happiness are a package deal – improvements in one almost always results in improvements in the other. It’s a shame that exercise has become something that needs to be pursued separately to the core activities that modern working life demands, but the benefits of doing so are disproportionate. I encourage everyone to take some time to get their legs moving, be it going for a walk or a jog at lunch time, or going to the gym a few times per week – you may never look back.
References
Boehm, J. K., & Kubzansky, L. D. (2012). The heart’s content: The association between positive psychological well-being and cardiovascular health. Psychological Bulletin, 138(4), 655–691. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027448
Chekroud, S. R., Gueorguieva, R., Zheutlin, A. B., Paulus, M., Krumholz, H. M., Krystal, J. H., & Chekroud, A. M. (2018). Association between physical exercise and mental health in 1·2 million individuals in the USA between 2011 and 2015: A cross-sectional study. The Lancet Psychiatry, 5(9), 739–746. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30227-X