(Source: bluedoormedia.co)
You know that feeling that rushes through the body after you exercise? Most of us know this natural high comes from endorphins. However, what a lot of people don't realise is that the mental health benefits of exercise are much, much broader and deeper than a quick "runners high".
When I was in my 20s, I tried to build a running regime into my life a number of times in order to burn fat. I’d start out motivated and excited, then it would end with all manner of excuses. I tried it on the treadmill, on the road, in the afternoons, in the mornings, and each time I let it go. Sound familiar? The problem was that I was looking for an outcome that didn’t justify the effort – compared to diet, cardio is actually a really poor way to lose fat, and it wasn’t until I found out about the mental health benefits that I had a strong enough reason to stick with it.
When we exercise, we produce a chemical called Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor (BDNF), something with so many benefits it’s earned the title “brain fertiliser” (Deans, 2017). This chemical helps our brain repair, improves learning and memory, reduces depressive and anxious states, and counteracts age-related risks such as dementia and Alzheimer’s (Luarin et al, 2001). In short, it protects the brains of the oldies, makes the brains of young’uns into a learning sponge, and makes everyone in between happier, healthier and more resilient. On top of that, exercise reduces stress, improves sleep, increases serotonin, and of course, releases those famous endorphins – a relaxation & pain relief chemical similar in structure to morphine (Bruce, 2022).
It doesn't end there. Research has consistently shown that moderate physical exercise is equal to or more effective than anti-depressants in treating depression (Ilardi, 2009, p. 21). How much exercise do you need to hit this effect? As little as 18 minutes (Joiner, 2017, p. 68). That’s right, for the amount of time it takes to watch Wendy Suzuki’s brilliant TED talk on the endless mental health benefits of exercise, you can create a life-changing lift in your mood.
I could go on, but enough with the science – how do you get from “exercise is my worst enemy” to “exercise is second nature”? Here are a few simple tips that can help:
1. Start small.
James Clear makes a compelling case in Atomic Habits (2018) that any habit should only take two minutes to begin with, since anything else is too much of a shift for our stubborn selves to implement. I’d say go a bit higher than this with exercise – even just five minutes a day – and work your way up from there. Remember that with almost anything in life, long-term consistency beats short-term intensity.
2. Start early
If exercise is the very last thing you want to do, then make it the very first thing you do. Get that one thing you least want to do out of the way first. This is a trick known as “eat the frog first” – an analogy showing that once the most undesirable thing is out of the way, it clears the day up for the things you do want to do. For students reading this, exercise in the morning will drastically increase your memory and focus throughout the day, and studies have shown people who exercise early have better sleep (Fairbrother et al, 2014). If morning exercise is simply not a possibility for whatever reason, then get it out of the way as soon as you finish work or school.
3. Choose something you enjoy (or something you can tolerate)
I once tried to get fit by starting a swimming routine. It’s easy on the joints, great for the lungs, and awesome in theory. In practice, I hate swimming. I dived into the pool and made it to the 25 metre mark before climbing out in disgust. Choose something you enjoy, or if you really despise exercise, choose whatever it is you despise the least.
4. Write down your intentions
A study in the British Journal of Health Psychology split participants into three groups. The first group were asked to start an exercise regime. The second group were asked to start an exercise regime and they were shown a bunch of motivational materials on how much it would benefit them. The third group had the same as the second group, but they were also asked to write down the day, time and place they would exercise the following week, each week. The results? There was practically zero difference between the first two groups (35% and 38% respectively were exercising once a week when researchers followed up). The third group? A whopping 91% of them were exercising (Milne et al, 2002). Write down your plans – time, day and location.
If you only remember one thing from this, let it be this – “motivation” doesn’t work, but simple habits and planning do.
References
Bruce, D.F. (2022). Exercise and depression. WebMD. 1st April. https://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/exercise-depression
Clear, J. (2018). Atomic habits: An easy & proven way to build good habits and break bad ones. Avery.
Deans, E. Brain fertilizer: Some secrets of depression and BDNF. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201706/brain-fertilizer
Fairbrother, K., Cartner, B., Alley, J.R., Curry, C.D., Dickinson, D.L., Morris, D.M. & Collier, S.R. (2014). Effects of exercise timing on sleep architecture and nocturnal blood pressure in hypertensives. Vascular Health Risk Management, 10, 691-698.
Ilardi, S. (2009). The depression cure: The six-step program to beat depression without drugs. Vermilion.
Joiner, T. (2017). Mindlessness: The corruption of mindfulness in a culture of narcissism. Oxford University Press.
Laurin, D., Verreault, R., Lindsay, J., MacPherson, K., and Rockwood, K. (2001). Physical activity and risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in elderly persons. Archiv. Neurol. 58, 498–504.
Milne, S., Orbell, S. & Sheeran, P. (2002). Combining motivational and volitional interventions to promote exercise participation: Protection motivation theory and implementation intentions. British Journal of Health Psychology, 7, 163-184.
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