Growing up, like most kids, I was always playing sports. From AYSO soccer days and killing my feet in Pointe shoes to playing doubles matches on my high school tennis team, I was kept very active for the majority of my life. Even during off-season, I still kept active with tennis camp or summer dance intensives.
Now being in college, like most students, I don’t have a consistent schedule that allows me to join intramural tennis; but, I did realize that I have a few free hours throughout my weekdays to work on and maintain my fitness. Before I found the gym to occupy my boring weekday free time, I typically wasted time in my dorm feeling homesick and sad. An idle mind is the devil’s workshop and my idle mind only enhanced my homesickness. But as the wise Elle Woods once said, “Exercise gives you endorphins; endorphins make you happy, happy people just don’t shoot their husbands!”
I decided to get my sad little booty out of my dorm-room and into Jacobs Fitness Center. And about an hour and a half later, I walked out a happier and more motivated person. It was like magic! I cringe at myself because I sound like going to the gym is the easiest and most fun thing to do but I honestly began to look forward to sweating out my sadness. I then found a fitness guru whose videos became my own virtual personal trainer for the areas I wanted to work on. Through following her videos, I actually saw results.
Not only does exercise bring you endorphins and tone your body, but it’s good for your mind. By clearing out your difficult emotions, exercise allows you to better experience the other mind-clearing benefits like enhancing your decisiveness and organizing skills, which is something everyone could use. These functions take place in the frontal cortex of the brain, a region associated with thinking processes like setting goals, solving problems, and effectively planning. A 2014 Chinese study of 19-22 year-old female college students measured that even with as little as 20 minutes of aerobic activity, blood flow is increased to the frontal cortex, which creates a clear increase in the neural activity that is associated with mind-clearing functions like the ones I previously mentioned.
Here are some more benefits to lifting those weights and hitting that Stairmaster:
- Exercise strengthens your bones and your heart in addition to your muscles. Your old, but strong, bones will thank your young, exercising self!
- It helps your sleep. Exercising tires the body naturally, which results in a deeper and more effective sleep.
- Exercise boosts your memory, helping you learn better, because your frontal cortex is getting more blood flow and oxygen.
So if you’re sad, sweat it out!
Got a tough situation you need to think through? Sweat it out!
Want a stronger core? Sweat it out!