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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Exercise is more than just a workout because its benefits are not limited to simply improving physique – it tackles the psychological aspects well. These are seven workouts that do more than make you proud of what you see in the mirror:
Combat sports
While initially intimidating, combat sports such as kickboxing and martial arts have profound benefits on mental health. These sports enforce discipline upon its participants, making them develop an inherent sense of awareness and self-control. Particularly, if one suffers behavioral problems such as excessive anger and aggression, the act of committing oneself to combat sports ironically diffuses the aggressive and irrational tendencies.
Yoga
Close your eyes and say goodbye to stress and anxiety with yoga. The moment you step on the mat, nothing exists except for you and your practice. Yoga cultivates an inherent sense of mindfulness over one’s body; since poses must coincide with controlled breathing, the body comes to a gradual state of relaxation that lowers blood pressure, heart rate, and cortisol.
Weightlifting
Weightlifting daily proves that there is no easy or fast way to getting stronger and looking your best. Over time, you begin to realize that results – such as weight loss or muscle gain – require time, effort, and patience on your part and are never instantly gratified. Without question, this mindset would translate into how you approach accomplishing goals outside the gym as well.
Running
The “runner’s high” is addicting for a good reason. After a prolonged period of running, your brain triggers an incredible production of endorphins in the brain, making you feel naturally euphoric and less likely to be affected by negative emotions and bad days. Besides that, running sharpens your memory since the brain is getting a constant influx of blood flow and constant oxygen.
Swimming
Swimming can aide sleep deprivation and helps beat insomnia. It is low-impact and an all-around relaxing and meditative-like sport. Additionally, since water induces sensory deprivation, it completely diminishes both the mental and physical stress on the body. The temperature of a body water can also help you feel tired and make it easier to fall asleep in the first place.
Dance
Dance is an all-around endorphin and dopamine catalyst. Not only do you learn to communicate and express your body through this exercise, the music used to sustain your rhythm stimulates even more feel-good hormones! Along with the liberation of dancing to your heart’s content with whatever dance style chosen, dance inherently strengthens hand-eye and balance coordination, making you less prone to accidental injuries.
Cycling
If you need an exercise that pushes your mental capabilities and demands the utmost focus, cycling is your best bet. It requires you to implement spacial awareness to the best of your abilities while simultaneously training the mind to continuously utilize muscles that keep your bodyweight upright on the bike and moving forward. Surprisingly, cycling also improves your sex life. Under the research of Dr. Matthew Forsyth, he found that cycling muscles directly correlate to the ones used during intercourse, which evidently, increases stamina and sexual performance.
In conclusion, exercise is more than just an activity that improves physique. Whether you need to work on self-esteem, confronting internal conflicts, or raising your confidence, exercise stimulates the production of endorphins and dopamine, the body’s “feel good chemicals” which are natural painkillers and positive emotion triggers. Furthermore, if you are currently treating a mental illness, you can include exercise in conjunction with the treatment of medication and therapy. While not ultimately curing mental illness all-together, exercise alleviates its symptoms and can be relied upon as a healthy coping mechanism. Lastly, if you include exercise in your daily routine, it cultivates a goal-oriented mindset that translates itself into the things you do in everyday life, thus making you more susceptible to accomplishing your goals.