Go Love Yourself – pt 3
This past Tuesday, some people cried (both in good and not-so-good ways), some people swiped right and got lucky, some people looked lovingly into the eyeballs of some other human and some people just plain protested the ‘Consumerist Hallmark Holiday’ and went about their day.
REGARDLESS, the spectrum of emotions was covered this past Valentine’s Day, and since we are all about apropos here at La Jolla Sports Club, we’re continuing our ‘Go Love Yourself’ series with Emotions. As you’ll recall (because your memory is so awesome from working out), we’ve covered how exercise benefits your body and your brain, so let’s just jump right in and see how exercise and La Jolla Sports Club can positively affect your emotions and mood.
Reduces Stress
When you exercise, your brain creates endorphins, dopamine and norepinephrine, all of which help lower stress and purge your body of stress-inducing chemicals, such as cortisol and adrenaline. While this is happening on a very base, neurochemical level, on a more topical level, your mind starts to drift from that lingering report at work, your sick kid(s) and the other 1,000 things that we tend to keep in the forefront of our days. Additionally, exercise can help ease tension in muscles, which is fantastic for those of us who carry our stress in our shoulders and experience frequent tension headaches.
Reduce Depression
Unchecked stress can lead into sleepless nights and /or build into depression. While any exercise is good for increasing immediate endorphins, studies have shown that exercise routines of as little as six weeks can promote neural growth and create a calming sense of well-being. And even better, it’s been shown that regular exercise can treat mild to moderate depression just as well as antidepressants. All the good, none of the bad. Take control, get started with one of our La Jolla Sports Club Personal Trainers today.
Get Some ZZZs
Can’t sleep? Not only will the physical act of exercise cause the body to long for the pillow, but exercise has been shown to reset our circadian rhythms (see: body clock), as well. Pop into one of our 85+ classes to burn some energy and calories (and even more in our HIIT classes).
Researchers took a look at how people deal with their bad moods. They identified a total of 32 different methods that people reported using. They then analyzed which methods were most effective at regulating their bad moods. After all the data was analyzed, exercise emerged as the most effective method at changing a bad mood. If you’re curious, the methods coming in second and third were music and social interaction. – brainflux.com
Improve Your Mood
From brainflux.com (a great read)
Increase Self-Confidence / Self-Image
All this sweating and moving around is not only boosting the ‘happy chemicals’ in your mind and body, but hot damn! your pants are fitting a lot better and did we just notice a bit of swagger in your walk? You look good. And when you look good, you feel good. And when you feel good, you want to show it off.
Improve Your Sex Life
Well, it was just Valentine’s and we’re all adults here… Did you really think we wouldn’t get to this? More self-confidence, feeling good physically and emotionally, having more energy, etc etc etc, you do the math. And, if for some reason you need a little extra convincing, Psychology Today has a great write-up about the topic.
How has exercise improved your mood / energy levels / motivation? What is your favorite class or workout to get you moving?
That’s it for this post, be sure to check back next week for our last ‘Go Love Yourself’ article. Have a great rest of the week / end!
// Your La Jolla Sports Club team
