Your life is an extraordinary adventure. Eating to be lean and lovely may be difficult to keep up with, but if you’re going to go through this amazing adventure called life, why not do so looking fab and with style? As for me, I try to do my bit, everyday I wake up. Don’t get me wrong, there are days when I don’t feel like much, but don’t we all have those days? However, a quick trip to the gym soon brightens me up, no really!
It’s not a coincidence that when you’re physically active, you feel less stressed out, less anxious, and generally happier than when you’re not.
For many years I thought I was imagining things after noticing the difference in my mood each time I exercised. Before looking into the scientific facts, I’d asked a few friends who agreed they got the same feeling after exercising, but is there real proof? Apparently, there is scientific proof. Read on for more.
Here are 6 reasons why exercise can make you a happy person:
1. It triggers happy chemicals into your brain
A chemical which plays a vital role in happiness, known as Dopamine, is a neurotransmitter. What this means is that the chemical is responsible for feelings of pleasure and happiness in the brain.
According to researchers, as we get older we lose stores of the dopamine chemical, hence we all need to constantly engage in activities or experiences that release this amazing chemical that makes us happy. So, go get active, play, exercise, run to get that dopamine chemical flowing an die happy!
2. You are less stressed out
Working out undoubtably eases your stress levels. Although it does this in the short term, it does so by helping you sweat out the day’s worries. On the other hand, regular exercise will help you become less stressed out in the long term.
So how does this work we ask? Researchers say you’re putting yourself through a low-level form of stress when you exercise, by raising your heart rate and triggering a burst of hormonal changes. When you do enough of this, your body will pick up the pace at some point and begin to get better at dealing the rest of life’s stressors. As a result, of being less stressed, you’re of course much happier.
3. It makes you have more energy
We all have those days when we either feel too tired to exercise, if we’re not low on energy, we’ll probably trying to find an excuse or two. However, strangely, you’ll find that when you eventually give in to doing that exercise, you’ll feel more energized than you did before it. It is really strange but true, I myself can testify that after I do a workout, my energy blows through the roof, completely the opposite of what I often felt before my workout. Once again, more energy equals more happiness. It’s another reason we should all be getting active.
4. It’s a confidence booster
Every now and then one’s self-esteem drops t the ground, whether for 1 minute or for several days or weeks. It could be as a result of something as simple as trying on those jeans you wore 2 years ago, and today it doesn’t fit like it used to. It could even be from just seeing a slimmer woman walk by, whilst you’re there wishing you looked even half the way she does. Sadly, most women are rarely satisfied with the way they look or what they have, and this can sometimes affect our relationships, career, and even our life goals. But alas! When you begin to exercise and see your body transform, that can quickly change.
How so? While low self esteem can be a bigger issue than just an exercise issue, exercise is known to improve this condition which is more rare than not and faced by almost every women. Because exercise transforms your appearance, make you feel stronger and become more independent and confident, you in turn become happy seeing and feeling these new improvements in yourself.
5. It can help combat insomnia
If you have trouble sleeping, exercising can help you skip the sleeping pill and enjoy a goodnight’s rest.
Research shows that being regularly active and exercising on a regular basis too can help combat sleeping problems suffered by insomniacs and other people with sleeping disorders. A goodnight’s sleep equals to a happier you when you wake up in the morning.
