WEIGHT TRAINING AND MENTAL HEALTH

Randomised controlled trials by Harvard and Oxford university's have proven that strength training reduces anxiety, chronic pain, cognition, depression, fatigue symptoms, self-esteem, and sleep.

Strength training is not only good for our physical health, but it benefits our mental health and cognitive capabilities too. Physical exercise can affect how much of certain proteins are made in the brain. In particular, the levels of a protein called brain derived neurotrophic factor (or BDNF for short) increase after exercise. BDNF levels increase significantly after exercise and improve cognitive functioning (paying attention, processing information, memory, and executive functioning).

Strength training has been shown to improve mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood and by improving self-esteem and cognitive function and has also been shown to alleviate symptoms such as low self-esteem and social withdrawal.

Lifting weights reduces levels of the body's stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. It also stimulates the production of endorphins, chemicals in the brain that are the body's natural painkillers and mood elevators.

In a healthy strength program, training improves anabolic hormone release while teaching the body to release less stress hormones (cortisol) with each workout. When you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain. Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine.