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During mental health month I want to touch on the mental health benefits of exercise. Women experience depression – and anxiety – 50% more than men at least up until the age of 65. Hormones play a part, so it’s only fair to fight fire with fire. This post is all about the mental health benefits that occur when you use exercise to positively influence hormones.

[And… if you want to jump down below after the post I share my own and Flipping 50 community members personal shares.]

Women and the Mental Health Benefits from Exercise

What’s gets you out of bed to exercise or motivates you to finally Google up an exercise video or call a health coach is most likely to be weight, energy, arms, or a mother-of-the-bride dress.

What’s gets you hooked so that you won’t give it up is most likely to be the mental health benefits.

The mental health benefits of exercise are numerous. For women in midlife that’s good news.

When hormone levels fluctuate during peri-menopause and menopause brain fog, memory loss, lack of creativity and productivity can plague even the highest functioning woman.

Anyone in today’s fast paced connected 24/7 lifestyle can experience those symptoms. It’s not just a midlife woman thing. But you are more susceptible if you’ve got a lot of external stressors and you’ve got hormone fluctuations happening.

Hormones that Help

Most people first relate exercise with endorphins. It’s true exercise creates endorphins. But that’s the tip of the iceberg. It’s temporary. You’ll need it again. And that’s okay since you need to repeat exercise for physical results. But for long-term mental health benefits other hormones are actually more important.

Serotonin has significant effects on mood and is key in decreasing effects of depression. The anti-depressant effects of exercise are also thanks to brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). In fact “SSRIs” are the most often prescribed meds for depression. Their role is to help balance serotonin levels.

Just what mental health benefits can you expect or thank your exercise for?

Decrease Depression & Anxiety

Studies have proven exerciser therapy to be more favorable than medication and cognitive therapy in treatment of depression and anxiety.

Some therapists have employed walking sessions with clients for decades. Women in particular experience a bump in serotonin from exercise, sunshine, and venting with friends.

Girls let girls talk about problems. They don’t have the need to solve them. Talking, or venting, does wonders for developing what women need most, a collaborative and supportive environment.

Exercise recommendations: aerobic, strength training, yoga

Enhance Memory

In You Still Got It, Girl!(available on Amazon) I shared how walking 40 minutes a day three times a week significantly increased hippocampus size. For you and I, that’s memory central. There’s no intensity imposed, you walk your self-selected pace 40 minutes three times a week. That’s it. Not only did the hippocampus of study subjects not shrink – typical atrophy that occurs with aging – it GREW!

Interested in reversing aging? Start with regular exercise. Low to moderate intensity will do if you’re getting start.

Exercise recommendations: walking, biking

Decrease Risk of Dementia and Alzheimer’s

If you just read about the ability of exercise to improve memory, it’s easy to understand the effects of exercise on reduction of both dementia and Alzheimer’s.

So, while there may be genetics working against you (me too says my DNA results), armed with that knowledge, exercise becomes medicineor at best, a vitamin.

Exercise recommendations: dancing, boxing, aerobic classes with choreography

Decrease Brain Fog

Countless studies have proven mental health benefits of increased focus and concentration in regular exercisers. Compared to sedentary individuals, active workers get more done in less time with fewer errors. Looking for the elusive 4-hour workweek? Start exercising!

Specifically, exercise during a workday results in greater problem solving skills, better relationships with co-workers, and greater job satisfaction at the end of the day.

Workouts can be “sweatless” and still provide these mental health benefits. Yoga and stretching were equally as beneficial as vigorous exercise.

Exercise recommendations: walking, running, biking, swimming

Improve Sleep

A National Foundation of Sleep survey found self-reports of sleep improved by 33% with 10 minutes of walking every day. There isn’t any intensity imposed. Just walk. In fact, you can likely insert your favorite activity for 10 minutes and reap similar sleep benefits.

Exercise recommendations: walking, biking, elliptical, aerobic classes

Increase Self-Esteem

Most people who exercise gain confidence and enjoy a healthy sense of self-esteem compared to non-exercisers. The reason for this occurs isn’t necessarily known.

It could be due to the sense of accomplishment. The satisfaction of setting a goal and following through could contribute. It may be a greater appreciation for the physical body provides a mental boost.

It’s probably due in part to all of those.

Exercise recommendations: weight training, walking, biking, swimming 

Decrease Stress

The underlying reason each of these occurs has to do with lowering your allostatic load. That is, your overall stress. Let’s face it, going for a power walk doesn’t make the project deadline go away, eliminate your need to give a speech, or magically change your financial situation.

But it does increase endorphins (short term fix) and serotonin (the real hormone good stuff) so that you offset the negative effect of cortisol.

Exercise recommendations: walking, running, swimming, aerobic fitness classes, strength training, yoga

Optimize Mental Health Benefits Outside

The mental health benefits of outdoor exercise surpass that done indoors. In fact, exercise in green environments (think Central Park vs. NY city streets) was best for promoting mental health benefits. While physical benefits may happen in a wide variety of environments, “forest bathing” is best for above the shoulders.

Comments from Flipping 50 Community members:

Lisa:

I have never been treated with medication for depression except briefly 30 years ago and the second time in early 90s was a physician’s off-label use to try to prevent frequent migraines (didn’t work). Five years ago, in my early-50s I began exercising more regularly than ever in my life in an effort to lose weight. I also changed my nutrition. It helped my moods tremendously. I have dealt with depression and sometimes anxiety since childhood. Working out (or hiking — doing about anything outdoors) definitely helps me deal with stress, and the stress of feeling depression trying to come on. Exercising makes me feel better about myself. It is something I can control.

Mary:

I started exercising to lose pounds and gain strength. I noticed right away that I felt better mentally as well as physically. Now, if I am not consistent on doing something active I can really feel it. I’ve had depression in the past and now I know that exercise is crucial for me!

M.L.:

I feel much better about myself when I exercise. I feel less anxious, more confident and patient. My doctor has prescribed exercise as an integral part of my treatment. Just like with my medicine, if I miss a “dose” of my exercise, I come to the edge of a slippery slope. It’s not optional if I am to maintain mental health.

Wanda:

I cannot stop exercise. If I do, I would be back on antidepressants. Some of us need the boost to our minds. Not optional for me.

What mental health benefits have you experienced from exercise? Comment below!

CCClick the book image for free support to help you dump stress from all sources. 

Resources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5430071/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5771022/

https://www.aafp.org/afp/2019/0515/p620.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28445707

https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Effects-of-yoga-and-depression-and-anxiety-in-women-2009.pdf

Note: very recently I included much of the content of this article in a post for Prime Women. Yoga is attracting so many older adults. I’ve included some additional notes and resources here for you today. Please add your comment to the bottom of the post and let me know what your yoga status is:

• Practicing at home
• Practicing at a studio
• Need to get back to it
• Want to start
• Limited by something so I haven’t started but want to

Yoga is certainly not new. At over 7000 years old, it has proven staying power. There are an increasing number of reasons why you may want to try it whether you’re 50, 60, 70, or beyond. You may have chosen it already for tone, stress reduction, or the promise of “yoga butt.” Your doctor may have recommended it for blood pressure and wellbeing. But more and more yoga is connected to brain health that may be the start of all benefits.

Older adults are increasingly the subjects of interest in studies about yoga’s brain boosting benefits. The news is uplifting. If you have concerns about Alzheimer’s Disease due to family history, or forgetfulness plagues you more than you lie, go dust off your mat.

It’s well known older adults are at greater risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. Lesser, but annoying concerns, like forgetting whether you locked the front door and forgetting where you put your cell phone, are likely a factor of our increasingly stressful lives.

It’s well known that brain exposure to high levels of cortisol is a contributing factor to cognitive deficits as we age. It’s a cumulative effect. If you’ve lived with perceived high stress for long periods of time you’re more susceptible to cognitive decline or dementia.

Yoga and Alzheimers

Would you practice yoga one hour a week and meditate 20 minutes a day to prevent Alzheimers? A study at UCLA proved that it might be time well spent. Subjects who did Kundalini yoga for an hour just once a week along with meditation 20 minutes a day minimized cognitive impairments that precede Alzheimers better than memory enhancement exercises.

If your time is limited you may want to turn off Luminosity brain games and find a mat if you want to reduce risk of brain decline.

Do you forget your children’s names? Do you catch yourself in the middle of telling a story and have to ask if you’ve told it before? Have you forgotten important things both present and past? Again, you might want to strike a yoga pose.

The results in another small study showed that your memory recall could be just as good following a once weekly yoga class and a few minutes a day of meditation as if you performed weekly memory enhancement training. So if you’re looking to keep your body and your brain nimble, yoga may be the prescription you get.

Yoga is unique

In case you’re wondering if another activity would do, the answer so far is, no. Even considering the most closely related activity, stretching, yoga emerges as the winner.

Yoga has an effect that other traditional exercise may not in terms of cognitive health. At least one study proved this. The study explored the benefits of yoga by comparing subjects practicing yoga to subjects stretching for the same amount of time weekly for 8 weeks.

Subjects assigned to the yoga group improved in their cognitive function and decreased cortisol while the stretching group declined in cognitive function and increased in cortisol. Hands down (on a mat) yoga wins that one.

Yet another study showed yoga caused improvements in attention and processing speed. Say you’re having trouble staying focused at work or finishing a book. You can’t remember what you read. You can condition your brain through yoga just like you would your body through weight training. Yoga that includes poses, or asanas, as well as movement, and meditation seems to offer the most brain benefits.

Tip: If you’re new to yoga, look for a Hatha yoga class. That would include all the components of brain enhancing yoga used in the studies. You should be able to find a beginner class or one that is done using props or even in chairs if you need accommodations for joints or other conditions. There are a wide variety of dvds and live streaming video programs available online as well as your local fitness studios. If you need special assistance you can find a yoga therapist who similar to a personal trainer used to working with specific medical conditions, can focus on your specific needs.

For some simple flowing series, broken down into short segments, watch this free YouTube video playlist. These do involved weight on the wrists and shoulders and inversions (head below the heart) in some poses. Check with a doctor first, before starting any new activity.

Now it’s time for your flip. I love hearing from you. Let me know if you’ve got a special condition, be it balance, joint or muscular complications, that make exercise a challenge.

Then watch for future posts specific to your condition.