Fitness For Mental Health
Fitness is one of the most powerful tools in your toolkit for managing mental health - when used properly. Here, I examine some of the science behind the use of fitness for managing mental health, as well as some of the under-discussed benefits.
Fitness Isn't A Hobby For Me Anymore
As a beginner, fitness was a hobby for me - as an expert with 17 years of experience, it’s something I’ve actively lost interest in thinking too much about. To a certain extent, the same thing has happened to my career in fitness, now reaching 11 years of experience. With enough experience, any hobby or career just becomes an automatic practice, and it becomes more and more natural to follow through.
There's No Magic Bullet: The Truth About Getting in Shape
There are no magic bullets to success in getting in shape. Crash diets, 30 day fitness challenges, and new supplements generally make strong promises and completely fail to deliver. If there’s anything close to a magic bullet, it’s seeking out a support system and learning to think long term, buckling down for the sustainable process of habit change.
Why 30 Day Challenges Aren't All Bad
30 day challenges are commonly mocked in the fitness industry for being a bad tool for developing sustainable, long-term fitness habits. 30 day challenges encourage short-term thinking, which is unlikely to help with long-term development. However, it’s important to remember that long-term thinking is just a combination of all your periods of short-term thinking - and thus, sometimes, short-term thinking can set the right standard for your future behavior.