Exercise for Mental Health - Reframing New Year Resolutions
One remarkable thing I have always noticed after a training session with clients (and myself) is how great you feel in terms of energy, mood and focus afterward and sometimes during. I see how even shorter duration exercise sessions can have this effect on someone, even if it’s their first-time exercising. I have further seen that those who regularly exercise and have been for the longer term have even more mental health benefits and resiliency. But why do we feel so great? What is so special about exercise and our brains?
Mental health has become an increasing focus and reason to exercise as of late with more and more scientific literature showing the many ways the brain/mind can benefit from a variety of types, durations, and intensities, and for different reasons. These days (and not just the holidays and transition to a new year), people deal with a considerable amount of stress from day to day and so I thought it might be nice to review just how incredible exercise can be from another perspective. Instead of “getting six pack abs”, “running a marathon”, or “shedding some holiday pounds” perspective we can all try shifting things a little for the new year. Not to say that these are not worthwhile pursuits for now or the new year; but how about all the amazing things exercise is doing for your brain which really is the master and controller of it all? What about shifting focus from a performance or body composition goal to one that equally contributes to you living out healthier years for longer?
Mounting scientific evidence now support the numerous mental health benefits you can gain from working out; and those still come along with the many other benefits we more commonly hear about as mentioned above. In other words, improved cognitive function, decreased anxiety and depression, improved mood (positive affect), improved emotional regulation, fighting off dementia or age-related memory issues, and more can all come along with (and may be due in part to) other health improvements. These include improved blood pressure, blood sugar regulation, increased lean tissue, decreased visceral (around organs) fat, decreased inflammation, improved blood lipids, increased VO2 max, increased strength, increased stamina, improved self-efficacy, improved self-esteem, and the list goes on. Nevertheless, for this new year we encourage you to change your framework (or at least tweak it a little) toward looking at the mental health GAINZ side and see how these are special and unique to exercise both with and without the added health benefits!
Lactate and the Brain?
Visual detailed aid of just how lactate in part is thought to enhance function both directly and indirectly: DOI: 10.1186/s12986-022-00687-z
There are a few distinct reasons as to why exercise may be so good for the brain from a deeper neuro-physiological standpoint. We will focus on a super cool and emerging focus on what is known as lactate. As we exercise and our muscles produce certain metabolic byproducts like lactate, and they can create a cascade of reactions in the rest of the body and brain that lead to numerous benefits from improved energy and function, cognitive improvements, and increased production of other beneficial factors for overall brain health like BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor). For instance, BDNF can help with neurogenesis (making more neurons/nerve cells, say what?!), memory and cognition. You can literally (re)build your brain and your muscles, at the same time. It is now thought that lactate itself (again, you may have heard of this as a byproduct of metabolism and exercise) is also a beneficial fuel source and TRIGGER for other changes in the brain for the better in addition to increased BDNF production. It is thought that lactate may not only improve energy metabolism in the brain during and after exercise, but it may also be a kind of hormone-like signaling molecule to spur many other positive changes in the brain (1). We won’t get too far into the weeds on this, but it’s fascinating to know that literally as we exercise we are making a fuel source and signaling molecule for our brain that can help with things like fighting Alzheimer’s Disease, protect against damaging end-products of metabolism, improve neuroplasticity, improve vasculature of the brain, improve memory and cognition, and so much more. AND these changes can happen quickly and be long lasting from a perspective of literally changing your brain structure (plasticity) and brain chemistry. You too may have noticed this before, after a workout or better yet after longer term dedication to exercise with clearer thinking and focus, improved mood, etc.; but these may be some of the actual mechanisms at play.
Other Psychological Reasons Why Exercise May Help Mental Health:
There are many other reasons why exercise may help with mental health both psychological and neurophysiological. Some interesting psychological ones may hold some weight though and you may have experienced some of this yourself when working out.
One viable way exercise may improve mental states is through self-efficacy. Exercise is an opportunity for challenge and mastery of that challenge leading to feeling of achievements and greater self-efficacy. This can lead to greater well-being and mood and may explain why the sweet spot of moderate intensity anaerobic exercise may improve mood or alleviate depression.
Self-esteem may also improve with exercise as achievements may lead to a change in how you value yourself (self-worth). The more self-worth and achievement you experience through exercise, the greater your self-esteem becomes. Self-esteem is also associated with brain structural changes so it may be hand in hand with some of the neurophysiological mechanisms mentioned.
Another interesting theory comes from the Distraction Hypothesis and I am a firm believer in this one. Essentially exercise can free us from unpleasant thoughts, moods, events, etc. we may be pre-occupied with and provide a break. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi talks about a flow state when getting into a repetitious exercise and the same can be attained through various meditative practices as well. We can essentially “zone out” or move in a new direction or headspace at least temporarily. After our session it can also allow us to come back to those things with a fresh eye or one less agitation than we had before exercising. That coupled with some of the “feel good” endocannabinoids from exercise may do the trick for a better mood and overall outlook.
There are likely more ways that we have yet to discover that influence mental states and our neurophysiology, but they are likely all intertwined.
Is there a best TYPE, DURATION, or INTENSITY?
As mentioned, it does appear that higher intensity aerobic training is best for improving anxiety and may also have quite a few other benefits. Ultimately, lactate production and other related pathways/mechanisms in the brain may be one of the important driving factors for a great deal of what you may see. However, not everyone can hang with high intensity aerobic training so it needs to be programmed wisely and you may find benefit from other types, durations, and intensities when it comes to mood.
A meta-analysis on this topic does tend to have some trends (3).
As far as intensity and mood, moderate anaerobic exercise intensity seems to be better than low or high. However, aerobic exercise a bit unclear though moderate to high intensity does seem to outshine low; BUT low has shown to have benefit so it may be that it is individual. With anaerobic exercise, moderate may be the sweet spot because there is enough intensity to spur changes in the nervous system while too high intensity can over-activate the stress system and lead to increased cortisol levels, stress and anxiety. Additionally, circulating endocannabinoids (cannabis-like lipid byproducts) are increased following moderate intensity exercise which may create some blissful feelings after.
As far as duration, 10-30 minutes seems to be enough to improve mood, where longer durations may have only slightly more benefit if at all. We have seen this be individual and based on how conditioned someone is to the type of exercise since longer durations that someone is not prepared for may just create more fatigue. If time is a limiting factor, getting some exercise (even 10-15 minutes) can be great for mood.
Type of exercise when comparing aerobic to anaerobic as most studies have can be conflicting when it comes to aerobic exercise, however this can be due to individual differences as well. Most studies on the topic show improved mood from anaerobic exercise like weightlifting across the board and this may be due to people seeing the changes occur more concretely in terms of pounds lifted. However, we believe that in light of changes we have seen in mood from clients doing aerobic exercise that it is a safe bet for mood improvement as well as long as you enjoy the type of aerobic exercise and don’t overdo it.
RB UPDATE: S & S FLOW CLASS
Resilient Body has a NEW class offering starting January 14th!
WHEN: every Saturday at 8am
WHERE: 320 Tesconi Circle Suite A
WHO: Open to all bodies and levels of athleticism. This class is perfect for those experiencing pain, decreased movement, decreased body awareness
RATE: drop in price $30 (discounted 4-class series pack available)-- email/text/call for series link
Description of class : STRENGTH & STABILITY FLOW (S&S Flow) is a small group stretch class devoted to exploring and improving your range of motion and structural balance. Each class will use movement strategies from Yoga, Zoga, Pilates and Functional Range Conditioning to free restricted patterns. This class will give you new breathing, strengthening, and postural techniques to promote better movement in all areas. We invite all movement enthusiasts to increase their mind-body connection to their sport, hobby, or day to day activities.
Sources:
1. 10.1186/s12986-022-00687-z
2. 10.1186/s12913-018-3313-5
3. 10.1080/00223980.2018.1470487
4. 10.3390/metabo11120813