Can we talk about physical activity for a minute?

More specifically can we talk about the effects physical activity can have on your body and mind?

How many times have you thought to yourself “Man, I really need to be more active” or been depressed because “You never feel motivated”

Sound familiar?

Well today let me tell you my personal experiences and research on the matter.

I personally have gained a bit of weight, was losing quality of sleep, and was feeling very unmotivated to do anything about it so I decided to do a bit of digging and find out if I could modify my behavior using the information that I found.

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The first key to gaining motivation was to not be so tired and according to the National Sleep Foundation, “People sleep significantly better and feel more alert during the day if they get at least 150 minutes of exercise a week”.

There has also been research suggesting that the extra activity in a day to day life can help so significantly in aiding sleep it is possibly being looked at from a pharmaceutical stand point.

As stated by Brad Cardinal, a professor of exercise science at Oregon State University, “Increasingly, the scientific evidence is encouraging as regular physical activity may serve as a non-pharmaceutical alternative to improve sleep”. This goes to show that physical activity really can influence more than just physical appearance. Combining these two pieces of information my goal then became to engage in physical activity for thirty minutes a day five days out of the week at the gym or otherwise.

For one week I decided to simply track my activity and evaluate my behavior. While doing this I found that I only went to the gym or made some sort of physical activity or the gym a part of my routine two times out of the week.

On the days I was unable to attend the gym or get active, the duration of my day I just felt sluggish and spent most of the day laying around with zero motivation to do anything more productive.

Then when it came time to lay down and go to sleep I was wide awake and the bit of sleep I was able to get was very restless because I had not actively done anything that would cause me to be tired.
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I will admit that the first week did not go as well as I had originally hoped. Changing my routine to fit the gym into my already busy schedule was not an easy task to accomplish but on the few days that I did incorporate extra activity I did my best to make up for the days I could not.

On my second week things began to get smoother and I was actually able to accomplish my goal. With this accomplishment I noticed a change in my energy, mood, and sleep which is exactly what I was hoping for!

The positive change in mood and energy are because the brain releases adrenaline which is what caused the energy boost and also dopamine which is associated with feelings of happiness and overall wellbeing. As said by Dr. Michael Otto, PhD,“Usually within five minutes after moderate exercise you get a mood-enhancement effect”.

Research has also shown that physical activity affects not only immediate mood elevation, but can in some cases help alleviate long term depression. Sadly most counseling psychologists do not suggest this method of treatment but Jennifer Carter has said, “I often recommend exercise for my psychotherapy clients, particularly for those who are anxious or depressed,” because of the benefits it can have on these conditions.

In my third week I got very busy between school and work and ended up slacking. I could absolutely tell there was a difference in my behavior! I could tell when I was skipping the gym by my lack of sleep which then affected my mood and energy level the next day.

Now lets get to the part that you all want to hear. Did I lose weight? I absolutely did! In the three weeks of modification I lost a total of 6lbs which is approximately 2lbs per week!
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As I found out physical activity is the best preventative action you can take and as mentioned on one medical site titled Circulation “As many as 250,000 deaths per year in the United States are attributable to a lack of regular physical activity” and many of these could be avoided with just 30 minutes a day.

There are a lot of health related issues that can be bettered by engaging in any form of physical activity.

In Obesity A Research Journal it’s stated that, “There is evidence to support that low fitness and physical activity, excess body weight, and excess abdominal fatness are associated with increased health risk. Moreover, evidence exists to support that sufficient levels of physical activity can significantly improve body weight, fatness, and health risk”. That being said, weight loss is not the only physical health benefit to be gained from staying active, it can also be used as preventative action against cardiovascular and respiratory issues.

There have been many studies done on the relationship between physical activity, sleep, and overall wellbeing. Through my research I have found that the relationship is actually very simple, more activity equals better sleep and in true leads to a better wellbeing overall.

By personal accounts and research, the effects of physical activity are very
beneficial to both your physical and mental health in the fact that it improves overall mood and daily energy, helps with length and quality of sleep, and can better your physical appearance as well as be used to prevent and remedy cardiovascular and respiratory problems.

References

Weir, K, (2011, Dec.). The Exercise Effect. http://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/12/exercise.aspx.

Study: Physical Activity Impacts Overall Quality of Sleep. http://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/study-physical-activity-impacts-overall-
quality-sleep.

Jakicic, J, M. (2012, Sept. 12), The Effect of Physical Activity on Body Weight. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1038/oby.2009.38

Myers, J. (2003, Jan. 7), Exercise and Cardiovascular Health. circ.ahajournals.org/content/107/1/e2.