Psychological Benefits of Exercise

Psychological benefits of
exercise
We often hear about the

physical benefits of exercise
(e.g., increasing heart health),
less often are the psychological
benefits promoted. Yet, engaging
in a moderate amount of physical
activity will result in improved
mood and emotional states.
Exercise can promote
psychological well- being as well
as improve quality of life.
 3. The following are common
psychological benefits gained
through exercise.
 • Improved mood
 • Reduced stress as well as an improved

ability to cope with stress
 • Improved self-esteem
 • Pride in physical accomplishments
 • Increased satisfaction with oneself
 • Improved body image
 • Increased feelings of energy

 • Improved in confidence in your physical
abilities
 • Decreased symptoms associated with

depression
 4. • The literature continues to
expand supporting major health
benefits of regular physical
activity and exercise including a
reduced risk of cardiovascular
disease, hypertension, and stroke
as well as protection against
some cancers and osteoporosis
 • However, there is also a
growing body of knowledge that
substantiates that physical
activity also improves
psychological well-being.
 • This will highlight a more
recent review article on the
effects of physical activity and
mental health variables such as
depression, anxiety, stress, mood
state, and self-esteem.


 5. Exercise and Depression • It
should be noted that individuals
with clinical depression tend to
be less active than healthy
average adults.
 • Therefore, from a general
health perspective, physical
activity should be encouraged for
this population. It is interesting to
note that aerobic and anaerobic
exercise seem to be equally
effective in producing
antidepressive effects.
 • It appears that acute exercise
bouts (single sessions) as well as
chronic exercise training
programs (over a period of time)
have a positive effect on those
with clinical depression.
 6. Exercise and Anxiety
• According to Webster’s
Unabridged Dictionary, anxiety
is "distress or uneasiness of mind
caused by fear of danger or
misfortune." It is a stage of
apprehension.
 • Most of the research on
exercise and anxiety has been of
an aerobic nature. The few
studies with resistance training
and flexibility have actually
shown a slight increase in
anxiety, but more research in this
area is warranted. In regards to
the actual aerobic exercise
prescription, there appears to be
much debate as to whether low-
intensity (40-50% maximum
heart rate [MHR]), moderate
intensity (50-60% MHR), or high
intensity (70-75% MHR) is most
beneficial.
 7. Exercise and Stress
• Published investigations
conclude that exercise can help
individuals manage stress much
more effectively.
 • It appears that the mode of
exercise that most effectuates
stress reduction is aerobic
exercise.
 8. Exercise and Mood State
 • It appears that aerobic and
anaerobic exercise can positively
help effect different mood states
including tension, fatigue, anger
and vigor in normal and clinical
populations.

 9. Exercise and Self Esteem
 • As with the other psychological
health variables, exercise has a
positive connection in improving
self esteem.
 • self esteem is quite complex
and studies suggest that certain
subcomponents exist such as
perceived sport competence,
physical condition, attractive
body, and strength, which may
differ within a person. In other
words, a person may highly value
their physical condition and yet
have a negative evaluation of
their body.
 10. Promotion of Psychological
 Benefits (as well as
Physiological)
 • From this brief review, it is
clear that personal trainers and
health/fitness professionals may
enthusiastically exclaim the
psychological benefits of
exercise in addition to the
physiological assets. For some
clients, these psychological
factors may indeed be more
relevant to their present life
situations

 11. Principles of exercise
Specificity • Specificity of
training is the principle that your
body will adapt to whatever
exercises you perform. This
means that if you only perform
bench presses, your body will not
adapt to sit-ups. It may,
therefore, be beneficial for you to
alter your training to prepare for
the Candidate Physical Ability
Test
 12. Progression • The
principle of progression states
that as the body adapts to the
exercise program you must
gradually increase the overload
to continue to adapt. It is critical
that all progressions are gradual
and small in nature to prevent
over loading the body's ability to
recover.
 13. Overload • Overload,
in exercise training programs,
means that a training program
causes the body to adapt only
when the demands are greater
than what the body is
accustomed to doing. This does
not mean that the overload is
greater than your maximum,
rather overload is generally
greater than 75% of your
maximal effort.
14. Thanks!

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Psychological benefits of

We often hear about the

 • Reduced stress as well as an improved

 • Pride in physical accomplishments

 • Increased satisfaction with oneself

 • Improved body image

 • Increased feelings of energy

 • Decreased symptoms associated with

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