The Body-Mind Connection: How Exercise Boosts Mental Health

Regular exercise significantly boosts mental health by regulating key neurotransmitters like serotonin and endorphins, reducing the body's stress response, and improving sleep quality, with research demonstrating particular effectiveness for anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms when combined with professional therapy.

Ever notice how a good workout can completely shift your mood? Exercise isn't just about building physical strength—it's one of the most powerful tools for boosting mental health, regulating stress hormones, and complementing your therapeutic journey toward wellness.

The Links Between Your Body And Brain: How Physical Strength Affects Mental Health

Physical activity and mental health

Physical health conditions and symptoms like chronic pain or cancer can heighten a person’s risk of developing mental health conditions. Similarly, mental health conditions like anxiety and depression can make it challenging for people to maintain their physical health, as these disorders can impact energy levels and motivation and may produce physical effects like aches and pains in the body.

Because of the link between physical wellness and mental wellness, physical activity is considered crucial not only for maintaining bodily functioning but emotional functioning as well. The US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion has released guidelines addressing how much physical activity adults need to reap physical and mental health benefits. Adults are recommended to participate in two-and-a-half to five hours of moderate physical activity (like walking quickly) per week. In addition, adults can engage in muscle-strengthening activities, like lifting weights, at least two times a week.

At least two-and-a-half hours of physical activity may seem challenging, even if you are motivated by the drive to become physically and mentally strong. Experts indicate that physical activity can have health benefits even in smaller amounts, so try to reduce perfectionism and be open to modifying your routine if needed.

While developing physical strength can alleviate some mental health symptoms, it is not a substitute for formal mental health-focused treatment like therapy with a licensed clinical social worker. Physical activity may also provide more benefits for some mental health conditions than others–reinforcing the concept that there is no one-size-fits-all answer for mental health challenges.

The benefits of exercise on mental health

Many people tend to think of their brains and bodies as separate things, even though the brain is part of the body. When we exercise for physical benefits, this can also benefit our brains. Below, we’ll explore ways that exercise can positively affect both the body and the brain.

Regulating levels of neurotransmitters and increasing endorphin levels

Exercise impacts certain neurotransmitters and hormones, including serotonin (the happiness hormone), cortisol (the stress hormone), and endorphins, which can cause a sense of energy and satisfaction. Exercise is specifically linked to the production of endorphins, which may boost energy levels and improve your mood significantly.

Improving sleep quality

Exercise can help you sleep better the night after you exercise and on a more consistent basis. More continuous and less interrupted sleep can increase your ability to manage your mood. Exercise in the daytime may also be a remedy for insomnia, which can be a challenge for mental wellness. However, do not partake in vigorous physical activity an hour before you sleep, as it may increase endorphins, increasing your energy instead of making you tired.

Facilitating positive physical changes

Below are some positive physical changes you might notice when exercising:

• Reduced inflammation caused by stress
• The growth of new neurons in the brain
• Lowered levels of skeletal muscle tension
• Improved overall cognition and brain functioning

Reducing the body’s stress response

Exercise can prompt interactions in some brain regions, including the amygdala, which helps mediate your body’s response to fear and stress. It may also impact the limbic system, associated with emotion regulation and motivation, and the hippocampus, linked to memory development. Exercise can create a beneficial feedback loop in which a bodily action prompts a brain response that positively impacts a bodily response.

Other benefits of exercise

Staying physically active, whether that involves a workout routine or another aspect of exercise, may also provide the following indirect benefits that can help you improve mental strength and resilience:

• A healthy means of processing frustration, sadness, and other complicated and potentially unpleasant emotions
• An improvement in your social support system (if you exercise with other people or your preferred form of exercise is a team sport)
• An opportunity to try new experiences, push the boundaries of your comfort zone, and take healthy risks
• An improved sense of agency and control over your own life
• A healthy emotional management mechanism for life stressors and adverse life events
• Assistance in building physical and mental endurance, which may contribute to higher confidence levels
• A boost in self-esteem

Although exercise is beneficial, note that too much physical activity can be unhealthy if it begins to rise to the level of exercise addiction. Often, the first warning sign of an addiction to any activity or behavior is if the activity is beginning to negatively impact other areas of your life, such as your relationships or your ability to work. In these cases, you may benefit from speaking to a professional.

Mental health issues impacted by regular exercise

Research indicates that developing physical strength might have a more noticeable effect on some mental health conditions than others. Because exercise can be a healthy distraction from cycles of negative thinking, it can assist in alleviating the symptoms of mental health disorders associated with unhealthy feedback loops in the brain, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Exercise has been linked to an almost immediate reduction in anxiety symptoms, so if your brain is going into an anxiety spiral, taking a break to take a ten-minute walk around the block might be enough to readjust your thinking or start to regulate your nervous system.

Professional support through telehealth

Developing physical strength can be a method of prioritizing holistic wellness, which is the practice of focusing on multiple aspects of your well-being. Holistic wellness often includes physical and mental health and can branch into financial or social wellness.

If you have been implementing an exercise routine into your daily life and noticing positive impacts on your body and brain, you may be interested in building on those effects further. Therapy with a licensed clinical social worker can be a way to process emotions and understand yourself better–and some therapists may incorporate physical wellness discussions into their sessions to complement your exercise routine.

For many individuals, scheduling traditional in-person therapy visits can be complex, especially when factoring in commute times. With online therapy through a platform like ReachLink, you can attend sessions from the comfort of your home. Telehealth services eliminate geographical barriers and provide greater scheduling flexibility compared to traditional therapy models.

Research indicates that online therapy sessions may be as effective as in-person sessions. An analysis of nine meta analyses of 166 studies shows that internet-based therapy was able to make a significant difference in alleviating symptoms of mental illness, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD, and that it can be as effective as in-person therapy.

Takeaway

Physical and mental health are often closely related. For this reason, increasing your physical strength through regular exercise may boost your mental strength and resilience. Talking to a licensed clinical social worker through telehealth might also help you build on the mental health benefits you may already be reaping through an exercise regimen. Consider reaching out to ReachLink to connect with a qualified therapist who can support your holistic approach to wellness through secure video sessions from wherever you are.