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When I was dealing with depression, I would regularly avoid exercise.
It was too painful, and I was already mentally in pain.
Little did I know how introducing consistent exercise to my lifestyle improved my mental health for the better.
The most important suggestion I make on everyone's journey to improve mental health is being more active.
In this post, we are going to discuss why a sedentary lifestyle can negatively impact our mental health.
Let's dive in!
Sedentary lifestyles can have negative impacts on our physical and mental health, leading to depression, anxiety, and even chronic stress.
This has been most notable with recent studies done as a result of the COVID-19 Lockdowns. These lockdowns helped us realize the importance of physical activity on our overall wellbeing.
According to one of the more recent studies done, those who spent 8 hours per day sitting, along with less than ~2.5-3 hours of weekly exercise reported depression symptoms or distress.
Even those with intense workouts who exercise under the 2.5 hour threshold reported the same issues.
This means that a combination of quality and quantity of exercise need to be considered for a more active lifestyle.
Now that we have a reference point based on this study, we can make adjustments to our lifestyle to be more active.
More hours of weekly physical activity.
Less sitting.
Start small. Be consistent.
Slowly work to build up minutes to your physical activity.
This means that the time you spend working out at the beginning may be under the reference point.
That's ok for now, you will still feel some benefits immediately after your workout.
When you build that consistency, then you can add more minutes of physical activity.
This will probably be the most optimal way to build adherence to a more active lifestyle.
Craft an active lifestyle that works best for you.
Some of us might tell ourselves that we don't have time to work out.
While you might be incredibly busy, your mental health and your life may depend on physical activity.
If you prefer 30 minutes of some physical exercise daily, work towards that.
If you prefer to work out less days weekly, increase the hours of exercise to 60-90 minutes per session. This will equate to 3-4 days of workout sessions per week.
The days out of the week don't matter either. You can train 2 weekdays and 2 weekends.
Ironically, as an advocate of an active lifestyle: I work a lot at a desk, creating content and developing our brand.
This has a large impact on my overall wellbeing because working from home can be a lonely thing. It also can make us feel extremely lazy.
Being cognizant of this allows me to make adjustments.
One recommendation I do is set up time blocks of getting off of my seat and moving. Whether it is for an actual workout session or just standing, I make sure I get it done.
Another personal recommendations is to get something like an Apple Watch that tracks your standing minutes. This will notify you when you're sitting and it's time to get up.
These small adjustments can have a large impact on not only our mental health, but our bodies as well.
Tight muscles can cause discomfort for both the body and mind. Prolonged sitting can impact our neck, trapezius and back muscles negatively.
No matter what part of your journey you're in, no matter if you're just getting started or wanting to add more to exercise, the goal is consistency.
When you build that up, you can add more minutes of physical activity.
If you get bored of said physical activity, try something new.
Try to find something that you can adhere to best.
With that being said, we want to thank you for reading.
Any questions or comments? Feel free to email us at support@reforgedperformance.com, or direct message us on Instagram.
Until next time, Reforged Warrior!
Exercise can feel like a chore, and even if you know it’s good for your health, the motivation to get moving sometimes just isn’t there.
But it doesn’t have to be a burden - by making exercise meaningful to you, it can become something fun and rewarding!
Here are five ways to make exercise more meaningful!
Men, I know what it is like to be overweight and depressed.
Not having the energy to do anything but relax and sleep.
While relaxation and sleep are incredibly important, they can make us feel like we are not making progress in our lives.
And when depression hits, it’s very difficult to push through with exercise and weight loss.
But did you know that even though it takes time and some effort, you don’t need to get obsessively crazy over it?
In fact, with just a few small adjustments, you can lose weight, fight back against depression, and take your life back.
If you're serious about shedding pounds and pushing away those depression demons, here are five tips that can help get you started.
A few weeks ago, my buddy Grant and I talked about nutrition.
We talked about how he's lost over 120 pounds so far with the weight loss progress he's been making.
This is all because he has been making healthier decisions over time.
One of the newest challenges he's facing right now is he's got a new job. He's working 10 to 12 hour days with physical demanding labor.
And what's been happening for him is that he's been super exhausted, he's not motivated to meal prep, he's having trouble trying to sit down and cook foods doesn't have the energy doesn't have the time.
So what I propose is five tips that you can use to live a more on the go fast food healthy eating lifestyle.