The REAL reason exercise is good for your mental health!

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Alongside psychotherapy, I teach Les Mills group fitness classes. I used to do this because I wanted to be skinny - all my focus was on aesthetic benefits of exercise. As I’ve gotten more mature (or so I like to think!), my reasoning has matured too - I want to be strong, powerful, and do things that feel impossible. It’s pretty easy to see how exercise achieves this physically, but can it also make you mentally stronger?

Yes. 

How?
  1. Exercise empowers you
  2. It builds your resilience 
  3. It strengthens your perseverance
(Realistically 2 & 3 are the same thing because resilience is perseverance through adversity, but 3 is a better list number) 

No matter who you are or what your fitness level, exercise is uncomfortable (to put it mildly). Whether you’re just starting out, maintaining your fitness, or extremely fit and trying a new type of exercise, it can always be challenging.

BUT if you keep going, you get better at it… “The only way is up, baby!”… it may not always be in a straight-line, or happen quickly, but the fact is that it happens. Although a trainer can help you set the right exercises, your friends can drag you to their latest fitness craze, or your running group can hold you accountable, you’re the only one who can ensure you get better at it. No one else can do the work for you.

Why is this important?

Knowing that YOU are the one who has achieved the changes is empowering. How many times have you been to the gym (or a class) and thought, “this is impossible”, but you’ve walked out of the class alive, having done everything (not necessarily perfectly)? Imagine if every time you thought, “THAT WAS SO HARD”, you also recognised that “IT WAS TOUGH, BUT I DID IT”. This helps you develop self-efficacy: your belief in your ability to do something. You start to perceive yourself as someone capable of coping with painful, uncomfortable, and seemingly-impossible situations. 

Willpower (‘mental strength’) is like a muscle; it can be strengthened with regular ‘exercise’. So, when you choose the gym on days you’re tired, or choose to finish RPM even though your legs are burning, you strengthen your willpower. That can generalise to choosing to stop procrastinating, making healthier choices, or doing things you've been putting off (going to the dentist anyone?!). These actions are self-reinforcing - they're rewards in themselves - so you're more likely to repeat them and make choices that align with them.Sort of like that friend who started going to one Body Attack class a week and is now a full-on meal-prepping, early-rising, health nut (we’ve all got one!). 

Now, resilient people aren't unicorns who face challenges with an ongoing smile and a spring in their step... Resilience doesn’t mean “persists with extreme positivity” and self-efficacy doesn’t mean “never has self-doubt”. 

 They mean, “believes in one’s ability to achieve the goal and keeps going despite obstacles and challenges and discomfort”. It’s as simple as keeping going, but keeping going is not always easy - simple and easy are not synonyms. Think about someone you admire who seems to be superhuman; you can be just like themt if you recognise that, when faced with challenges, you overcame them despite discomfort. Thinking, “that hurt so much, it was horrible” doesn't discount your achievement - the two thoughts can exist together.
So, exercise increases your self-efficacy, ability to persist through adversity (resilience), and willpower, which is self-reinforcing. This generalises to other areas of your life because you believe you can overcome uncomfortable and difficult situations, so you do. You start to achieve more and even reduce anxiety, depression, negative self-image, self-doubts, and other things that affect your mental health. 

BUT HOW?

How on earth are you supposed to fit exercise in with everything else you need to do?!
That's what the next post is all about...

Location: 471B Pacific Hwy, Crows Nest NSW 2065, Australia

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