Everyone knows that physical activity is really good for your physical health. It improves heart health and fitness, it can help you lose weight if that’s something you’re concerned about – and as we know, it can also be hugely impactful for your mental health. As well as increasing serotonin levels and studies showing its positive impact on managing mental health disorders such as anxiety, regularly participating in sport can hugely impact your mindset.
But how exactly can regular physical exercise improve your life? Below we’ve picked three important ways in which it’s helpful, and we’re about to go into a little more detail to maybe inspire you and your friends to get hold of some tennis rackets!
- Physical health
The first and most obvious benefit of participating in sports regularly is its benefits for your physical health. Depending on the specific sport you will be able to improve all sorts of aspects of your physical health: for example climbing improves agility and strength, running improves cardiovascular health, and weightlifting improves strength and muscle tone. It’s safe to say, getting a regular amount of exercise will significantly improve your physical health! As you age, the way you take care of yourself will make a huge difference to your quality of life, so be sure to focus on your physical health and to make it a priority.
- Mental health
As well as being amazing for your physical health, exercise can work wonders for your mental health as it releases chemicals in your brain that makes you feel good giving you a mood boost. We’ve all felt that rush after a good workout or even after running hard for a bus, right? Well you aren’t imagining those feelings. Additionally, exercising regularly can actually have a knock on effect improving your quality of sleep, which is hugely beneficial for your mental health. Beyond the mental health benefits from just moving your body, many sports have a social aspect which can be great to help reduce depression and to make you feel like you have a community around you.
- Focus
As well as improving both your physical and mental health as outlined above, participating regularly in physical exercise and/or sports can also improve your focus. This is because it can teach you how to commit fully and dive into what you are doing, as well as making you more able to readily access that competitive drive that is essential for succeeding in physical activity – even if you are only competing against yourself! It’s been proven that exercising regularly can help concentration. If you’ve noticed lately that you’re feeling foggy and finding it hard to concentrate, the best thing to do may be to get involved with a physical hobby. It’s quite surprising how much exercise can positively impact your cognitive abilities.
Physical activity is a vital aspect of living a healthy life, which we should all try to incorporate – but it can be helpful to have it set out clearly what the actual benefits are. Hopefully this list will have helped just a little!