Physical activity has been proven to be among the best options a person can achieve in order to be healthy and have a well-functioning body. In fact, physical activity is not only crucial for the body, but also for the brain and the mind. There are many ways in which your workout routine can make changes in your brain. Do you want to know some of them? Here are 5 ways your brain is affected by physical activity.
1- YOUR BRAIN CAN BECOME MORE SENSITIVE TO HAPPINESS
When you exercise, the reward center in your brain that helps you feel hope, motivation, and pleasure, gets a boost. With time, this part of your brain gets affected easier, allowing the circulation of more dopamine. This process is what makes you feel happy and energized after your workouts, and the feeling will increase with time. Furthermore, the changes that happen in your brain due to physical activity, has the ability to repair the damages due to substance abuse.
2- YOU WILL BE STRONGER AT FIGHTING MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
Since exercise is known to boost mood, it has also been closely linked to keeping anxiety and depression away. This is due to the levels of endorphins that increase after working out. This chemical that the brain produces makes you feel happy and euphoric. You don’t need to do special efforts in order to reach that feeling. Moderate exercise has the ability to improve your anxiety and depression.
3- IMPROVES NEUROGENESIS AND MEMORY
We’ve already mentioned that physical activity has numerous positive effects on boosting brainpower. In fact, studies on mice and humans have proven that exercises create new brain cells which improves the overall performance of the brain. This process is known as neurogenesis. Furthermore, being active can strengthen the hippocampus (a part of the brain that affects learning and memory) which prevents memory loss and cognitive declines. Finally, many studies have shown that creativity and mental energy can experience a significant boost after doing sports.
4- DECREASES STRESS LEVELS
Nowadays, everyone is stressed and could benefit from some relief. In fact, one of the easy methods to adopt is physical activity. Physical activity, increases your heart rate, stimulating the production of neurohormones like norepinephrine (can improve mood, cognition and thinking abilities) to reverse the damage done by stress. Furthermore, exercising forces the central and sympathetic nervous systems of your body to communicate together, which improves your body’s ability to respond to stress.
5- CAN BOOST YOUR SELF-ESTEEM AND SELF-CONFIDENCE
It is true that your body is the first to be affected by physical activity. You will gain muscles and good shape which you will see as a beautiful achievement giving you some self-confidence and esteem. You will want to make healthier and better choices regarding your lifestyle, which will further increase your self-esteem. This will make your brain flow with hormones of positivity, and the more you stay active the more you are able to keep your self-esteem and self-confidence at high levels.
