Exercise for Depression – What I Found
Exercise For Depression
It’s been a long time coming, but I’m back! I’ve had a crazy couple of months and plenty of stories to tell, but I’m focusing today on exercise for depression.
My depression is almost completely abolished. After a long time meditating, taking supplements, and trying virtually everything I could think of I finally found the missing link-EXERCISE! It’s so obvious now, but it can be hard to make yourself exercise consistently when you don’t want to do much of anything at all.
First, I’ll paraphrase what WebMD has to say on the subject of what is happening in your body:
When you workout, endorphins are released. These are all of the “feel good” chemicals that give you a “runner’s high.” These chemicals act in a similar way to morphine by relaxing you, making you feel better, and more. All without the unwanted side effects that illicit drugs pose. They list the benefits of exercise as being: reduced stress, less anxiety and depression, better sleep, and an improved self esteem. Sounds like all of the things you would love to have when you’re depressed, right?
What does this mean for you? Well, it means that everything that drugs do to you to give you a sense of satisfaction and achievement (without actually doing anything) is also used when you are exercising. I started doing the Insanity program by BeachBody and have had amazing results. The same kind of result can be had from any type of workout, though.
The key to using exercise for depression, though, is consistency. Doing a workout once and not feeling like you have made any progress just isn’t going to do the job. Just like doing it for huge muscles exercise for depression takes time. You might not feel better after the next day after your first or second workout, but it comes!
Do some simple cardio work three or four times a week if you don’t want to jump into the deep end with an intense workout program. Go for a run, ride your bike, do anything outside! While you’re at it, try to stay in the moment and experience everything around you. Now you’re getting in some meditation at the same time!
Now, my experience with exercise for depression:
You probably already know that I struggled with deep depression for a long time. I tried Zoloft, I tried natural supplements, and while many of them helped I still thought I was missing something. My body image was still in the toilet and exercise would seem like a natural thing to fix that, but anyone who has been severely depressed will tell you that it’s not always that easy.
I finally started getting into a workout routine a couple of months ago and have had simply amazing results. I’m in better shape, my blood pressure is finally ok again, and I’m HAPPY! The first couple of times I worked out were rough I’ll be honest. Since then, however, everything has been so much better. Each day when I workout I feel the high afterwards, but it goes away at first. The longer I continue to workout, though, the longer it stays with me. I am more focused, more energetic, and happier than ever since I started using exercise for depression.
My advice to you, then, is to start slow. Don’t hurt yourself! Try to take more walks and be more active in general and work your way up to anything more intense! Be safe and hang in there, you won’t regret it!