How Exercise Can Shape Your Life

Exercise has been shown to promote a healthier metabolic state (Sharma et al., 2006) Helps you lose weight without calorie restriction (Donnelly et al., 2013). Additionally, exercise has been shown to reduce cortisol. This hormone increases in response to short-term stress and suppresses the immune response to toxins and illnesses such as cold and influenza viruses. (Nys et al., 2022).

Exercise helps people live happier and calmer lives (Dinas et al., 2010; Aylet et al., 2018). This is due in part to the release of beta-endorphins, which are naturally produced in the body and bind to the same receptors as synthetic receptors. Opioids. This chemical messenger has analgesic effects and interacts with the dopamine system, which is linked to feelings of reward. (Sprouse-Blum et al., 2010).

How exercise can help

My patient “Aaron” (pseudonym), a 16-year-old high school student, said that his exercise regimen during varsity water polo season and swimming season includes about 2 to 3 hours of weight training a day throughout the year. . 5-6 days a week. He said he did it for the love of competition and the immense opportunity for personal growth.

He explained that because he had incorporated exercise into his habitual routine, it felt natural and easy. In the off-season, his morning workouts included yoga and push-ups to help him wake up and go to school with a positive attitude. He said he believes exercise is one of the most important tools in life for maintaining mental health.

Aaron told me that he made most of his friends in high school through exercise through sports. He said they bonded over their love of exercise during various difficult workouts given by their coach.

In fact, a study of urban marathon runners showed that intense group exercise, like my patient's training with friends, can increase group cohesion and form a community. I did. (Yang et al., 2022).

Effects of lack of exercise

Last year, Aaron was ill for three weeks with a series of respiratory illnesses. As a result, he was unable to exercise for several weeks. He told me that even though he was usually a cheerful person, he was surprised by the grumpiness that seemed to start creeping into his personality out of nowhere. He has become less sociable and his homework, which used to be easy, has become more difficult and frustrating.

We discussed how this could be due to poor sleep due to illness and the lack of endorphins associated with exercise. It seemed like he was experiencing withdrawal-like symptoms after he stopped exercising.

Aaron's experience is similar to the results reported in a six-week study of 40 male runners, in which half of the group stopped running during the middle two weeks of the study. It has been recorded that runners who stopped running had more symptoms of depression at the end of their second week after stopping running. (Morris et al., 1990).

Hypnosis and lack of exercise

I was teaching Aaron how to use hypnosis to calm his mind and maintain a positive state of mind. Although he was unable to exercise, he continued to use hypnosis every night to help him sleep. However, he reported that his general fatigue, stress, and irritability did not seem to diminish.

Aaron explained that he used hypnosis to visualize a calming environment and relax. I suggested that it might have been more effective if he had used hypnosis to imagine himself exercising.

For example, mental imagery of weightlifting has been shown to improve strength performance in athletes who have been inactive due to injury. (Slimani et al., 2016). Therefore, imagining him physically exercising may have helped improve his mental state by tapping into brain pathways similar to those activated during exercise. There is.

After weeks of inactivity, Aaron resumed his exercise routine once most of his respiratory symptoms subsided. He reported that his mood improved, his irritability and stress decreased, and he returned to his cheerful self.

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As the medical literature and my patients' experiences show, exercise is essential for physical and mental health.