a The paradox at the heart of current thinking about health is that we are, perhaps painfully, aware that exercise is good for our health, and especially for our mental health. The number of people seeing doctors with mood disorders continues to rise, and more general practitioners are encouraging people to exercise more. From 2019 it became available on the NHS as a treatment for minor mental health problems. However, for many people, getting more exercise remains a challenge.
we all know us should Exercise more and its benefits need not be repeated. These include improved blood pressure, improved sleep, strength, mobility, confidence, mood and posture, and even improved reflexes when looking in the mirror.
If you are considering how to exercise for psychological benefits, you should be honest. Even if you do it regularly, exercise can be painful. It’s boring, repetitive, and hard to stick with.
Images of sleek bodies sent to us by sportswear brands often instill an unrealistic image of what is achievable. On the other hand, a gym experience that involves too much reflection can be alienating and even cause anxiety.
So if you’re looking for the mental benefits of exercise, one of the first things you should switch up is your motivation to exercise. Why am I letting this happen to me? And what do you expect to get out of it? Then, hopefully, the exercise becomes internal and psychological rather than external and aesthetic.
The many benefits of exercise are clinically proven. There’s a release of endorphins (the famous “runner’s high”) and an increase in the circulation of good-feeling serotonin. You also get a dopamine reward when you complete one or 101 push-ups. Additionally, there are myokines, or “hope molecules,” which are proteins released into the bloodstream by muscle contractions that improve metabolism, reduce inflammation, and improve mood.
These may all relate to what “mental health” means to you, but humans are more than just biochemistry, so trainers can use these movements as an opportunity for reflection. It is important to provide psychological cues as well.
While fitness culture, the domain of physical health, tends to over-prioritize the body, talk therapy, the domain of mental health, can over-emphasize the mind. Further research is now showing that integrating these disciplines is more effective. This means programming specific exercises that build strength and encourage introspection and self-awareness.
After using these techniques, participants often report feeling more energized, surprised by their newfound abilities, anxiety melting into calm, specificity sharper, and more motivation.
These are powerful additions to the idea of mental health, which also includes social health, especially since friendships and training alliances are often formed. The mood improvements you get from 30 to 45 minutes of exercise are more achievable than the six packs and beach bodies promoted by many gym chains.
If you stick with it, you’re likely to see long-term changes in body composition as a byproduct, such as improved strength and mobility, muscle gain, and fat loss.
Developed in our studio The Soma Space, this program covers five basic exercises using what is known as ‘atomic movement’. In the context of strength training, these are small, consistent movements that lead to physical health over time. This movement also reflects some of the fundamental movements of the human body.
These can be done alone or in combination as part of a workout, without equipment or with some equipment. It also suggests ways to evolve them by “adding something else.”
As a basic ground rule, you should always stretch and warm up before you start exercising. And above all, you need to start where you are. Even if you can only do it once, that’s one iteration. Go slowly at first.
Use introspective cues to notice how you are reacting in the movement. What did you notice, a counselor might ask? Sure, there are struggles and frustrations, but what else? Try it for 10 minutes every day, preferably early in the day. Also, go with other people if possible.
Try these moves outright, and if your budget allows, consider investing in a basic setup like dumbbells, kettlebells, slam balls, and resistance bands.
Every gym has these workouts, and if you’re already doing strength training with a barbell or heavier loads, the volume and repetitions will give you a better understanding of your interoceptive experience, i.e. how you feel emotionally as well as physically. Try switching your focus to what you can do.
1 Squats: relieve discomfort
Bodyweight squat: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, hands clasped in front of you, knees bent, and push your hips back to sink down, keeping your feet flat on the floor. Avoid leaning forward. Press your heels down to return to the starting position.
goblet squat: As above, hold a kettlebell or dumbbell in both hands at chest height.
barbell back squat: Although it’s often perceived as an advanced move, most people can accomplish it with support at the gym.
reflect on: Relieving discomfort is the beginning of any exercise routine. Have you noticed a feeling of awkwardness (after all, when squatting you have to stick your butt out), tension, a change in balance, or a similar feeling of strength or lightness?
Explore the limits of your mobility as you sink and experience the sensation of overcoming them as you rise. After 10 repetitions, praise yourself for starting. New neural connections have been established.
Please proceed further: Practice squatting deeper by holding on to things such as door frames and pulling or applying pressure. Consider taking a martial arts class or yoga class, where movements are often performed in a semi-squatting position.
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2 Lunges: Overcoming movement stuckness and fear
From a standing position, step one foot straight in front of you and lower your back knee toward the floor, then return to a standing position. The return motion can be a pain, so try short distances first. Next, try a side lunge (think clock hands: 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock), then a reverse lunge (6 o’clock), or try a full circle around the clock face. Keep your torso elevated and advance the movement by adding dumbbells to each hand or by deepening your lunges.
reflect on: Getting out of the stuck state that anxiety and depression trap us in – literally and figuratively a lunge is a step forward, outward, and beyond. Additionally, observe your grounding (where your feet land), slow your movements, and reflect on your experience of control and balance. Start with 10 pieces on each side, alternating left and right.
Please proceed further: Walking and running are effectively controlled lunges, so consider a 5k challenge from the couch. 3 Twists: Find fluidity and flow
Learn the first four punches of boxing: jab, cross, hook, hook/1-2-3-4. The jab extends the lead arm forward toward the opponent, and the cross extends the rear arm forward as the attack rotates the torso and rotates the hips and hips to hit the hook. Shadowbox the combo at 1-2 minute intervals. Or try Tai Chi’s “arm swing” exercise. Spread your feet shoulder-width apart, rotate your arms 90 degrees from side to side at your hips, and without straining your arms, make them fluffy like noodles. Develop it by twisting to the right while lifting your left heel and vice versa, tapping your lower back with one hand and your front shoulder with the other for 3-5 minutes. Soften your knees and sink as you twist to further engage the movement.
Please reflect: Find fluidity and flow in your movements and adapt to changes in balance.
Please proceed further: Try a boxercise or tai chi class for dynamic twists, or yoga for static/held twists like triangle pose or trikonasana. Or ask, “When was the last time you went dancing?”
4 Hinge: Establishing your true self
Hinging your hips forward is the basis of the barbell deadlift, a core strength training exercise. Because it is a relatively rare movement in everyday life, it can be difficult to learn. Go from a gorilla-like position with hips thrust back, knees slightly bent, and shoulders back to a fully upright position.
When loaded, this movement strengthens both leg strength and the “posterior chain” (muscles at the back of the body). Try holding a loaded bag or a heavy book first, then hold dumbbells in each hand if you have them. barbell. Take the opportunity to stand up fully and pull your shoulders back against the weight of your pack.
reflect on: assertiveness, self-ownership, and relearning to stand up straight as a mountain, and vice versa: slouching, slouching, self-dwarfing, and other physical codes of low self-esteem. This is an exercise to counter. Or ask, “What do you want to stand against?”
Please proceed further: Learn the kettlebell swing or try a strength training gym session to get your bearings and improve your deadlift.
5 push and pull
Almost all strength training movements involve pushing or pulling against resistance, so consider doing one of the following:
push: A modest press-up on the floor, or if you have difficulty maintaining the position, or against a counter with your knees on the ground. The downward dog pose in yoga requires you to lift your hands and feet off the ground. The barbell bench press trains the entire musculature of the upper body. Then there’s the powerful slam ball. Hit it down to the ground from shoulder height or above your head. Let your frustration power your movement.
Pull: Try supine Superman. Lie on your back and stretch your arms out in front of you. Lift your chest slightly off the floor and draw your elbows to your sides to form a W shape. Or upright row: Stand tall and use a resistance band or dumbbells hooked under your feet to pull back up.
Please reflect: When things are forced upon you, what do you need to get rid of? And when something is missing or lacking, what do you want to bring closer?
Go further: Try going on a climbing wall (pulling your body towards the sky), swimming (pulling yourself through liquid), or even try rowing. At the gym, try the sled push, leg press, and chest press machines.
Soma Space offers a 12-session online course Introduction to exercise for mental health We cover basic exercises and ideas to help with your mental health.
