For this reason, today I am writing an article about the psychological benefits of doing sports regularly. Surely more than one of you will have experienced them!
What does sport give us?
Happiness!
Have you never just played sports and you don’t know if you are alive or dead but you are so happy?
Well, that is because during training there is a release of endorphins, serotonin (related to mood), dopamine (related to the pleasure system) and epinephrine or adrenaline.
With this you achieve that your anxiety and stress levels decrease and your feeling of pleasure increases. So we can say that even if you die trying, you “die”, but happy.
Therefore, as a psychologist, I recommend that for psychological and physical well-being , you practice at least 3 days a week and half an hour . And if you can and want more, even better!
Relieves anxiety
While you exercise and even some time after, we release neurotransmitters that help reduce high levels of anxiety, and therefore, helps us calm down.
That is why medium or high intensity aerobic exercises are recommended , such as walking, running, swimming, cycling, dancing, Zumba, etc. With this you will be able to significantly reduce the symptoms that anxiety causes you.
So we can say that sport, in addition to burning fat and leaving us with toned muscles , serves as a regulator of our anxiety levels . Who’d say!
Reduce stress
How many of you, after a hard day of work, stressful to the max, have gone to train at the gym or run and then felt liberated and relaxed?
Raise your hands! Surely many. Well yes… it also reduces stress!
This is because exercise increases the production of norepinephrine (norepinephrine), which is a neurotransmitter that significantly helps moderate the brain’s response to stress.
That is why I highly recommend that after a hard day of work, we at least go out for a walk or run for half an hour or go to the gym to train a little. Your brain and your body will thank you!
Improve your self-esteem
Not only will seeing yourself physically better make you feel good, but seeing that with consistency and perseverance you are capable of that and many more things that we never thought we could do, your self-esteem is improved!!
Why do I say that? Because each day of training is a new challenge, with different times, with alternating weights (if we go to the gym or the Crossfit box), which make you break and leave your comfort zone , accepting and overcoming new challenges after each training.
And with this what you achieve is to face your fears and overcome them.
I have another question for you girls:
How many of you believed the day you started playing sports that today you would do what you are able to do? Surely few or none.
We tend to undervalue them, but for that same reason, when you see that you can do that and much more, your self-esteem improves and you feel better about yourself.
Also, many of you who have already taken up the sports routine… have you ever had a difficult week and not being able to go do sports and feeling bad about yourself? Well there you have the answer!!
Improvements at the brain level
Does it improve my brain?! Yeah. It helps to work and improve memory, thus delaying aging or cognitive deterioration.
This is because it improves the stimulation of neurogenesis (the process by which new neurons are generated) in the hippocampus, which is a brain structure that plays an important role in memory.
And how do we do that? Does it sound familiar to you when, either in a guided class at the gym, or in the Crossfit Box, or even doing yoga, you pay attention to your posture, your leg, your arm, etc.?
What do you think we are doing there? Without realizing it, doing a simple posture, picking up a bar or dumbbell or in Zumba class following the steps of the choreography, your mind is multitasking with maximum concentration.
That is, in a matter of seconds you are doing a scan of your body, analyzing from your feet to your head whether you are in a good position and if you are not, you correct yourself.
Oh my goodness… you work your brain more by doing sports than by doing Sudoku!
Since, as I said, you have to observe your technique and analyze if it is good or what needs to be improved . But to make matters worse, each movement has its technique… and you have to learn them.
Improve your productivity
Have you ever gone to training and ended up on the floor? Me! And whoever says no… Lies! He he.
Well, even if you don’t believe it, during training, as I said in the previous section, you stimulate the brain, so it is more active, has more brain capacity and therefore your brain is at full capacity.
And what does it mean? Well, it means that after that devastating workout and the depression of: “I’m dying,” comes the shower and getting to do things, since your brain, although not your body, is in an optimal state of productivity and that means say that your performance is going to be much better.
Improve memory
Exercising regularly helps improve your memory and ability to learn new things.
This is because there is an increase in the production of hippocampal cells that are responsible for memory and learning.
Think that every time you go to Zumba, you have to learn new choreography, that every day you train at the gym or Crossfit, there are new exercises, riding a bike and different routes every day, etc. With all this you make your memory work daily.
Improve social skills
Your social relationships also improve since you begin to interact with people with the same tastes or at least, people with whom you can share a sport.
As I have been saying in the previous sections, there is an increase in self-esteem and self-confidence, and therefore, you are more receptive to interacting with the people around you , to participate more actively in classes directed or You start doing sports in a group.
And therefore, you start to meet new people with whom you share many hobbies. Has it happened to you? Me.
General conclusion
Summarizing. Doing regular physical exercise not only benefits us on a physical level, which is the most obvious and visual, but on a psychological level it gives us many benefits and , above all, it gives us quality of life .
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