Exercise to improve your mood

Exercise can give a massive boost to your mood, making you feel refreshed and help to relieve stress.

In almost any form, exercise will produce endorphins – hormones that produce a feel-good, positive feeling within the brain. Regular exercise can provide stress relief and to help with depression.

How does exercise help?

• Stress reduction
  Stress releases certain chemicals such as cortisol, regular exercise can helps manage the release of these chemicals, and in turn manage stress.
• Increase in confidence
  As you complete increasingly more difficult physical activities, such as distance running or lifting heavier weights your confidence will rise and you will become more confident in your physical ability.
• Improvement to breathing
  Aerobic exercises work both heart and lungs, building endurance in them and, over time can help your body to use oxygen more effectively and help to improve breathing.
• Help to sleep
  That is much evidence that shows exercise can improve sleep patterns, boosting daytime alertness and helping to bring on sleepiness at night.

What should I do?

• Build up slowly
  You cannot expect to be running a marathon immediately, start out with small and manageable exercises, building up gradually over time.
• Do what you enjoy
  Nothing is worse than working out doing exercises you hate, so to ensure you will continue long term choose the exercises you actually enjoy doing.
• Plan it
  By creating a fitness plan you are much more likely to succeed and keep up with your exercising.
• Check with your doctor
  Always check with your doctor before starting any exercise plan.

How can I keep with it?

• Set goals
  By setting goals you are encouraging yourself to meet these targets and to constantly improve. Setting goals gives you something to work for and you will get a massive sense of achievement when they are met.
• Join in with others
  Exercise can be much easier and more fun with friends as you can motivate each other, both of you will be more likely to do another rep or add another kilometre when encouraging each other.
• Vary your routine
  Your body will get used to the same exercise so make sure your bring in some variety. Changing up your routines will also help to prevent you getting bored with the same old exercises.
• Break it down
  Sometimes you can’t always fit in a long session of exercise, so break it down. If you can’t manage a 30 minute walk then try three 10 minute walks instead and fit them in with your day-to-day activities.