If it weren’t for exercise i don’t think i’d be where i am today. The sheer brain benefits and confidence boost exercise can give is immeasurable. Once exercise becomes a part of your daily routine you’ll truly see the difference once you stop. Thoughts become harder to control, life starts to lose its zest and things just don’t look as doable as they once did. The neurochemical difference between an active person and an inactive person can literally be seen on scans. Your hippocamus (memory, learning etc. part of the brain) literally increases by 2% per year if you’re an active person and exercise on a weekly basis consistently. If you’re trying to ace an exam or be more present in conversations or just want to feel like life itself has more meaning – exercise is a great tool for giving you all that. Everytime i’ve been having a hard time in life when i look back i wasn’t exercising regularly. Now, that doesn’t mean life becomes easy after you start but it becomes way more managable and way more enjoyable. And you don’t have to start a 6 day per week 2 hour a day regime either. Studies show it can be as little as 60-150 minutes per week to see benefits right away and for the long term.
If there was a pill that could give what exercise gives for the body it would cost millions. Longer life span, Longer HEALTH span, clearer thinking, less depression, less anxiety and probably much more that i’m not including. Knowing all this exercise becomes a no-brainer. But you have to start small if you’re going to start with the goal of slowly incrementally increasing your exercise duration and intensity as you see fit. Ofcourse you can’t do that indefinitely but you can do it until you feel you’re satisfied with the amount of exercise you’re getting and you’re recovering nicely from it. Do this for a few weeks and you’ll see the difference in your thinking and stamina for life begin to go back to how it used to be, or if you’re already at your peak you’ll reach new peaks if you haven’t been exercising yet.
Give it a try, what do you have to lose? Give it 4 weeks – start small, really small, like a 5 minute walk around the neighbourhood, then 10, then 20, then try giving a jog a try, then a slightly longer jog. Before you know it you’ll have developed a habit that will last a lifetime and keep you from getting depressed as easily and you’ll be a much more resilient version of yourself. You’ll look back and thank yourself for keeping up such an all encompassing healthy habit. For both brain and body.