It 's no secret that exercise has a positive effect on our health and physical functions. The benefits of physical activity outweigh the negatives and, to be honest, it's hard to pinpoint a negative physical impact of exercise and sport. Our body is our capital! If it doesn't work properly, we become sick, lethargic and our well-being drops dramatically. We can counteract this with sport and regular exercise. Not only purely physical functions benefit when we move, but also our well-being, our feelings - our entire emotional and psychological state.
Happiness hormones
Not only do studies show that sport and exercise strengthen well-being and often lead to a good mood, but we can usually feel it first hand. Regardless of whether you get up for a late run after a long day at work, go swimming for 25 lengths or work out 30 minutes in the gym - we all feel better afterwards, right? The reason for this is, among other things, the biochemical processes that take place in the body during this time - the release of happiness hormones. The best known of these are endorphins, serotonin and dopamine.
What's interesting is that we can increase our dopamine levels with just 20 minutes of light jogging or brisk exercise. Particularly strenuous sports cause dopamine levels to rise within just a few minutes. As a result, we enjoy what we are doing, are more concentrated, more focused and more alert. The two hormones serotonin and dopamine, which are released during endurance sports, also have an antidepressant effect - so they have a mood-enhancing effect. From a medical perspective, the explanation for the satisfaction that comes with almost every sport lies, among other things, in the increased release of endorphins that exercise stimulates in the brain. The endorphins are the messenger substances that trigger the feeling of happiness.
Natural support of physical functions
Through evolution, humans are fundamentally predisposed to constant movement and not actually to constant sitting. So if we sit in the office all day, we are acting against our natural disposition, so to speak. So it's not surprising that exercise and sport always have a positive effect on physical functions and that constant sitting makes you feel bad, puts on weight and is unbalanced. Regular exercise in particular stabilizes the cardiovascular system, supplies the body with oxygen, supports blood circulation and strengthens the immune system. As a result, the body feels better, we have more energy, everyday life is easier for us and as a result we are in a better mood.
Self-confidence, body awareness and relaxation
If you train according to your own fitness, i.e. in such a way that you feel good, you will feel significantly better during exercise. This well-being lasts for some time, we are more balanced and our good mood also increases. These positive effects counteract mental illnesses such as depression or burnout. Sport also helps a lot in getting to know your own body and working with it. Through sport we learn to understand our body signals better. This can also increase self-confidence and often, as a side effect so to speak, the body defines its shape through regular exercise and you feel even better.
Switch off, relax and forget about your job, organization, family and everyday life - sport is the ideal solution for this too. With mindful exercise we can reduce our stress levels after a short time and with regular exercise we find it easier to deal with stress. Sometimes just a short walk at dusk is enough to leave the worries of everyday life behind you. What's important here is mindfulness: do what's really good for you and what you enjoy that day - and definitely not far beyond your own fitness level.
In addition, a connection between physical activity and improved sleep quality became clear. It has even been proven that exercise can help against sleep disorders. Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that any sport or exercise session initially increases your circulation and makes you awake and focused. Particularly strenuous sports that really put the cardiovascular system into overdrive should not be practiced late in the evening. Besides, what could be nicer than starting the day at dawn with a brisk walk through the park or riding your bike to work and starting the work day full of energy?
It's even more fun together!
The social aspect should not be ignored either. Whether it's a leisurely walk in the evening or morning with the dog, a bike ride together on the weekend, a jogging group on Thursday mornings or a funny small talk in the gym - through sport we make new contacts, strengthen existing ones and also have things in common with "strangers". Sport greatly strengthens our team spirit and personal bonds.
Just as important as the sport and exercise itself is the attitude and well-being. If you do sport in a good mood and feel good while moving, you are also giving something back to your body. It's no use subjecting yourself to constraints and seeing sport as a must. Those who find it difficult to motivate themselves to do sport and exercise can become aware of how valuable their own body is and what it allows us to do every day. See sport as an opportunity to support your body, to help it maintain its functions for as long and as well as possible and really see it as an opportunity to do something good for yourself.
Sources:
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-10798/6-reasons-why-exercise-makes-you-happy.html
https://www.livestrong.com/article/133041-importance-sports-health/
https://www.sportanddev.org/en/learn-more/health/health-benefits-sport-and-physical-activity
http://www.australianscience.com.au/health/social-and-physical-influences-of-sports-and-exercise/
