Find your energy with exercise - and strengthen your mental health!

Find your energy through exercise and strengthen your mental health!

Are you, like many others at this time of year, eager to get back to exercising after the holidays? Rest and leisure are all well and good, but it's also easy to lose energy and feel tired and sluggish when you've fallen out of your good habits and routines. The fact is that exercise also has good effects on our mental health; more and more people are prescribing exercise as medicine, as it has been proven that the right kind of physical activity can help you overcome depression and low spirits.

5 reasons why exercise and physical activity are so good for you:

1. You become happier! When you exercise, your body releases endorphins that make you feel euphoric and happy. That's why physical exercise is strongly recommended for people suffering from depression. You might not feel depressed at all, but if you're feeling sluggish and tired, you can easily cure it with a little more endorphin boost.

2. You become less stressed. For the same reason you become happier, it is the endorphins that help lower the stress hormone cortisol, which balances your mind and reduces anxiety and worry.

3. You gain better self-esteem. If you have trouble accepting yourself, exercise! It helps you see yourself in a better light, and you will feel better. You will also project the best version of yourself to others.

4. You get a better memory. Exercise and movement increase the production of cells in the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory and learning. You will remember things more effectively and find it much easier to learn different things.

5. You become much more productive. One might think that exercise would make you more tired, and that you would perform worse at work or in other activities, but it's actually the complete opposite! Exercise helps you gain more energy and makes you more focused and active throughout the day.5

Tips for getting started with exercise:

1. Do what you enjoy! It's much easier to create good habits with something you find fun; dragging yourself to something you don't really want to do won't work in the long run. So what do you enjoy? Dancing, cycling, running, or the gym? Maybe join a recreational league and play soccer, floorball, or are long forest walks your thing?

2. Bring a friend. Having someone to exercise with makes it so much more fun and also harder to back out when you have a scheduled time with someone. With an exercise buddy, you motivate each other and get quality time together!

3. Set goals. Even if you don't want to do an Iron Man within a year but "just" want to move more to feel better, it's always beneficial to set goals, big or small. Write down exactly how you want to feel when you are harmonious and balanced.

4. Challenge yourself. You are much stronger than you think – both mentally and physically! So dare to challenge yourself and grow as a person. Maybe you can run a little during your walks, or dare to attend that class that seems impossible. The benefits are numerous for both body and soul!

5. Why? Last but certainly not least, you need to find out why you want to start/exercise more. Is it because everyone else is doing it and you feel you have to? Or because you really want to be more energetic, lower stress hormones in your body, or improve your fitness and help your heart stay healthy for a long time? Write down your "why" and use it when setting your goals; it doesn't have to be complicated at all, keep it simple!