Are you aware of the social and emotional benefits of exercise? Are you looking to improve your emotional well-being? Ironically, all of us at Pledge To Fitness® are surprised that we are not asked by people when visiting or booking their first few sessions, “I just want to feel better.” Regular exercise can help with anxiety or depression, improve mood, and increase confidence and self-esteem. It is well-documented that exercise like pilates can reduce stress as well as smiling with your peers at the gym increases your sense of social connectedness. Most of us will not become fitness models, so we encourage you to consider physical fitness training to become stronger, more confident, and full of energy.
We don’t control events such as pandemics, other people’s behavior, the economy, or international supply chain delays. We control decisions, moods, feelings, food choices, and the amount of exercise we do. This affects our brain chemistry and the master chef of which cocktail of hormones are produced in our heads, including our level of personal satisfaction and happiness with our lives.
Are you going through a stressful period in your life? When you are under stress, your brain produces stress hormones. A simple google search can show that regular exercise can produce endorphins. These endorphins are serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin. This is a fun short video showing what happiness looks like in the brain. This clip shows molecules of the protein myosin drag a ball of endorphins along an active filament into the inner part of the brain’s parietal cortex, which produces happy feelings.
Do you remember the Pixar movie, Inside Out? In case you don’t remember the movie, here is the summary from IMDB (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2096673/):
After young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moved to San Francisco, her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness – conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house, and school, when Joy and Sadness are inadvertently swept into the far reaches of Riley’s mind, the only emotions left in Headquarters are Anger, Fear, and Disgust.
Our personal trainers at Pledge To Fitness® are looking forward to Pixar’s sequel coming to theaters soon. As many of our clients are busy, tired parents, we look at inspiration from YouTube to get creative ideas on how to hack their kids’ moods. This video is suitable for dealing with tired, grumpy kids: 7-Minute Emotion Regulating Activity To Help Kids Calm Down! [with mindful breathing techniques] to Shake off those icky feelings by “Brighten Up! Kids”
This is a healthy exercise hack, and we have control of our lifestyle modifications. Anyone who finishes their fitness workouts with our trainers experiences the rush of euphoria, an exercise high, and a sense of accomplishment. So a sensible lifestyle choice to improve and manipulate our brain chemistry to make happier choices is to exercise more.
Here are some chemicals produced in the brain when we exercise:
- Endorphins are neurotransmitters responsible for relieving stress and pain.
- Serotonin is influential for learning, memory, and happiness and regulates body temperature, sleep, sexual behavior, and hunger. When your serotonin is in check, you don’t reach for as many french fries.
- Dopamine influences our mood.
Here is a quote from our founder, Andres: “Exercise makes you overall feel better by improving blood flow, decreasing muscle tension, and endorphins reduce your perception of pain and trigger positive emotions. Everyone who has experienced a runner’s high has experienced this but even jumping for a few minutes can improve your thinking and produce endorphins.”
Here is a list of exercise’s ten emotional, social, and mental health benefits:
- Improves sleep
- Improve self-regulation of emotions and moods
- Improves focus
- Improves our ability to manage stress
- Improves self-esteem
- Increases the release of “happy chemicals.”
- Improves your positive self-image and self-talk, all the while increasing the perception of your self-worth
- Increased Cognitive Function is essential for aging seniors who want to live fulfilled lives watching their grandchildren grow.
- Reduces feelings of anxiety
- Boosts our energy levels
It’s also important to remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all regarding exercise. This is why our personal trainers focus on your health and wellness goals and fitness progress. There is a reason why our motto is: “Love who you see in the mirror.” Everyone at our gym is part of your plan to find physical activities that you enjoy. It can be incorporated into your daily routine, making it more likely that you’ll stick to an exercise plan over the long term. We design a program that helps you reclaim your energy, passion, and motivation in your body, mind, and spirit. Most important is finding your reasons to pursue happiness and stay fit for life.
If you need help becoming more active or if you simply want to try new activities, schedule your first free complimentary nutrition coaching session at Pledge To Fitness® to achieve your health and wellness 2023 goals which include looking good in your jeans, here.
Our personal trainers meet you at your level of fitness – and build you up from there! They will challenge you and push you further than you would go yourself or even with the help of your family or friends. Making this commitment can help you stay accountable, maintain motivation and reach your fitness goals. Let us build a program designed to challenge you and have fun while on the way to your goals. We are here to talk to you, push you through your workouts, and keep you moving! Isn’t it time to invest in yourself?
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