I have some major news.
The Johnson family has officially grown to a party of 6! We had a beautiful baby a few days ago and we could not be more over the moon.
Now, I know you can’t wait to hear who won – boys or girls (if you haven’t followed my family, we had 2 girls and 2 boys before our 5th baby arrived and we let our 5th baby be a tie breaker). Drumroll please…the winner is…
BOYS! We have added a perfect baby boy, Eden Johnson, to our family. Amidst all the craziness of the year, his arrival has been such a peace in the storm. We are so grateful for God’s grace through this season of our lives.
Now onto this week’s topic, Mental Health
Let me preface, none of what I am saying is medical advice. Do not quit taking your anxiety/depression/mental illness medication because of the things I say. I am just giving you some insight to the things I have researched and seen with my own eyes over the years of strength training and schooling.
This is just to encourage you to exercise because it is overall better for you – of course I lean more towards Strength Training ;).
Exercise has been shown to be more effective than any treatment for anxiety, depression, or the multitude of other mental health issues.
There are tons of benefits to exercising and I feel like there are a bunch of reasons we don’t understand fully. A few benefits to exercising include:
- Reducing Stress – Exercise physiologically reduces stress which is one of the first things our clients notice when they start Strength Trainng.
- Better Quality of Sleep
- More Energy & Productivity – More feel-good hormones (endorphins)
- Healthier Living – Lean, Strong, and Healthy!
Our physical health affects our mental health, and our mental health affects our physical health.
You can’t separate the two. You can’t separate the body from the mind from the spirit. Each layer impacts each other.
When your physical health starts improving, your mental health will start improving. When you start to feel better, you become more productive and are able to do more which in turn makes you feel more confident, calm, and encouraged.
I understand mental health is complex, but I am just here to tell you that we have multiple clients that do not strength train to get physically stronger, lose weight, or feel better. They do it because it is so good for their mental health.
We have other clients that want to lose weight, become leaner, be stronger, and they have noticed that along with those things, their mental health has improved greatly.
This is my encouragement to you. A PSA if you will.
Exercise is the most effective drug on the market for your mental health.
So, unless there is some outrageous reason you aren’t working out, exercising should be part of your mental health routine.
