Exercise of any kind has consistently been proven as one of the best ways to beat the blues, combat depression, and be in a generally happier, more positive frame of mind if you do it on a regular basis. That is one of the reasons that I started this blog on fitness, because I truly believe that fitness and exercise is one of the components that is lacking in lives of people who suffer depression and other mental illnesses, and that exercise can help anyone in this hard place immensely. I’m not saying it’s necessarily a cure, but it’s darn close, especially if you do it every day.
Research is showing that those that walk or jog of course get the benefit of a mood lift, but those that choose interesting “green” places to walk where they are out in nature and the fresh air come back with considerably better moods and more positive outlooks than those that, say, work out indoors on a treadmill and elliptical machines, or prefer the gym to the great outdoors for physical activity when it’s sunny and beautiful outside.
The fresh air can be invigorating and add so much energy to you body for the day to come. Not only that, many find exercising outdoors as their time to reflect on their life, and be truly at peace with subjects that may have been bothering them. They can think clearer, and of course the appreciation for the beautiful nature around you helps lift spirits naturally as well.
If you’re looking at getting your fitness activities in outdoors on a strictly utilitarian basis, then you can also count among its benefits the fact that you are jogging usually over uneven ground, and at varying levels, so the exercise you getting is more intense without you even realizing it. Plus, you don’t have to smell that sweaty locker room afterwards, and you have all the room you need to stretch. Just be sure to wear your sunscreen on sunny days, even if there’s snow on the ground, so that you can keep another precious asset safe and in good shape - your skin.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 at 8:40 pm and is filed under Fitness Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.