Our physical and mental health are tied in together. One without the other will likely mean that the other suffers as a result.
That’s why it’s important to try and incorporate fitness into your routine, whether or not you see yourself as someone who enjoys exercise. While twenty minutes of exercise per day seems like an easy goal to achieve, it’s not always the easiest to put into practice.
However, you might be motivated and inspired to try fitness activities due to their benefits on your mental health. Here are six fitness activities that are helpful in giving a positive boost to your mental health in 2023.
- Yoga
Yoga is one of the most relaxing and mentally stimulating workouts you can do. It’s also a low-level fitness activity that many people enjoy doing because it often doesn’t feel like you’re actually doing exercise.
It’s a form of fitness that dates back thousands of years and is still extremely popular today. There are variations of yoga from hot yoga to taking yoga on a paddleboard.
With yoga, is said to be extremely beneficial for your brain chemicals such as GABA and endorphins. These are feel-good chemicals that are useful for decreasing anxiety and helping boost your mood.
Not only that but you’ve got the physical impact of yoga which includes slowing down the natural aging process and giving you a renewed glow.
- Meditation
While it might not be the most intensive form of fitness, it’s a fitness exercise that’s driven towards improving the mind. Mental fitness is just as important as physical fitness remember!
It’s hard to slow down in life and often enough, we need to be forced to do so, which might come in the form of vacation for example. However, regular vacations might be in short supply, so it’s useful to try fitness activities that can help bring you to a slower pace. That way, you can concentrate a little bit more on your mental health as a result.
A few benefits that come with meditation include:
- Helps build skills to manage stress
- Increases self-awareness
- Reduces negative emotions
- Improves imagination and creativity
- Increases patience and tolerance
- Cycling
There are some fitness activities that will have you in a sweaty room with a severe lack of windows to look out to. Yes, the gym is a common place where this environment is typical. However, that’s not always the best environment to be in when it comes to giving your mental health a much-needed boost.
Cycling, however, is a great form of fitness while also being something you can enjoy outdoors. With cycling, it’s a great fitness type that works on all areas of the body. Not only is it great for cardiovascular strength but it’s great for building and toning muscle too.
With cycling, you can enjoy this type of fitness at any hour of the day. Whether that’s an early morning cycle alone or joining a cycling group.
- Running
Running is another type of fitness that can be great for your mental health. Sometimes, it’s important to switch off, and running is a great form of exercise that doesn’t require much thinking. All you have to do is start moving your legs and plan out a route ideally in advance.
The likelihood is that you’ve got plenty of running routes to enjoy nearby, so it’s good to scope these out ahead of time. With running, there are no hard rules on how fast or how slow you need to run. You can do it at your own pace, whether that’s alone or with a buddy.
- Boxing/Martial Arts
Like yoga and meditation, boxing and martial arts are two types of fitness activities that tap into the mind. These fitness activities are also two types that are fun to do and never get boring. Chances are, you’ll be doing boxing or martial arts with others and as a part of a club.
Some of the benefits of boxing and martial arts include strengthening cardiovascular endurance, lowering stress levels, improving cognitive function, and more.
- HIIT Training
HIIT training is a great way to boost your fitness levels and out of all the above, it’s often the most intensive. However, HIIT training is designed to be short and intense bursts of fitness, making this ideal for those who can only manage around 15-20 minutes of exercise per day.
With HIIT training, you’ve got the benefits of reducing depression and anxiety.
Fitness plays an important role in your mental health, so it’s certainly something you should be looking to embrace more of in 2023.
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