How many times have you thought about having an active lifestyle? Is your gym membership expiring soon but your belly fat isn’t? With all the motivations that you could gather to get exercising, here’s another one that might bring down the ignition temperature of your drive to workout. Researchers from the Oxford and Yale universities have found out that exercise actually does wonders for your mental health! Even more wonders than money ever could.
The Study
Over 1.2 million Americans were part of the extensive research in which the participants were asked to pick any one of the 75 diverse kinds of physical activities like running, cycling, lawn mowing, weightlifting, childcare, and housework. They were then asked how many times in the past 30 days they felt mentally unwell. Also, they were quizzed about their income.
The Results
The results revealed that the physically active participants tended to feel mentally unwell around 35 days a year on an average while the non-active ones felt unhappy around 53 days a year. The study also revealed that the happiness levels of the participants who exercised and those who didn’t but earned $25,000 dollars more were the same. This suggests that you will have to make a lot more than money to attain the same happiness levels that exercise can give you. Also, it was found that team sports bring more happiness than solo ones.
The Caveat
This doesn’t mean that the more you exercise, the happier you will be. To put it diagrammatically, there is an inverse U-shaped relationship between exercise and happiness levels. So, what is the ideal exercising duration to reach the top of the curve? 30 to 60 minutes of exercise sessions three to five times a week is the answer.
Now, if this doesn’t motivate you to sweat it out, what will? Don’t wait, take on the weights!
