Exercise & your Mental Health

The latest twist in the mental health and exercise movement is to exercise while talking through problems.

Evidence supporting movement as a treatment for depression and other mood disorders is compelling. In fact, many psychiatrists and psychologists urge their patients to get more exercise and make other lifestyle changes.

Here’s how it works:

1) When people are put on a treadmill, they begin to see, via their physical accomplishments, that they are capable of “self-bettering behavior.”

2) People talk more freely when we’re moving. If we’re just sitting and talking, we’re not as stimulated as we would be when moving.

A chemical reaction inside our body:

There is an increase of dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine levels, neurotransmitters that affect mood. So, in a way it rewires the brain. These are the same brain chemicals whose levels are controlled by antidepressans like Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft.

Positive thoughts, including those derived from the “getting fit” experience, reinforce the positive neural connections.

We have to be careful because the converse is also true. Negativity fans the fire for more negativity.

This concept of exercising for positive mental health has been around since the early 1970’s.

Exercises to Rid yourself of love-handles.

The solution to men’s guts:

Let’s first state: Strengthening the abs alone with exercises, won’t get rid of the thing. For men’s gut elimination you’ll have to achieve all around good physical condition. We can’t neglect cardiovascular exercises, strengthening the spine (since we’re talking mid-section), nor can we ignore the nutrition factor. More on that in a second…

The Focus Exercises:

1. Hanging leg lift/the Captain’s Chair

Very basic exercise performed in a gym setting and is for the conditioned exerciser. This exercise first requires significant upper body strength to support the full weight of the body, and the ability to stabilize the shoulders neutral position while the lower body moves. Second, focus on muscle contraction rather than momentum. Resist the pull of gravity with control.The abs stabilize the pelvis and spine against both the lifting and lowering phase - and when you resist the pull of gravity, this is indeed an effective and challenging exercise.

2. Swiss Ball Crunches

Basic exericise performed by all condition levels anywhere there is a ball. Work the core by slowly lifting the shoulder blades up and down. Keep the elbows wide, chin about a fists distance from the chest.

3. Basic Abdominal Row

No equipment needed, but not for the beginner. Works the internal and external obliques. Breathe as you pull your knees to one shoulder, then alternate.

4. Spinal Work

Perform Full Locust. Here’s where well-rounded physical condition comes in. The deep abdominal muscle (the transversus abdominus) attaches to the spine. For an all around strong core, you must always work the abdominals opposing muscle.

Nutrition

Eat smaller and more frequently throughout the day combining your proteins (lean meats like chicken, tuna, turkey), starchy carbs (potatoes, brown rice, yams), and fibrous carbs (veggies such as broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, different kinds of lettuce) every meal.

Get Great Shoulders
for Tank Tops and Dresses

It’s so easy to get great shoulders! Think about it…we hardly have any fat there! The muscles pop through very easily.

To get great shoulders you gotta work a little bit. Work at toning them at least 3x a week for 3-4 weeks and you won’t be sorry.

Exercises:

You can do these at home, office, or gym. Grab anything weighted for resistance, water bottles, soup cans, etc.

SHOULDER:

Side raises
Raise arms out to the side up to shoulder height. Keep soft elbows, a tall spine, and keep your palms facing away from you.
Shoulder Press (w/squat)
Hands come to shoulders, palms facing away from you. Raise arms up to sky and back to shoulders. Add squat and raise arms while coming up from squat.
Front raises
Raise arms, with soft elbows, to the front of you up to shoulder height. Keep palms facing eachother. Perform to get great shoulders.

BACK:

Reverse flys
Keep a straight back, hinge at the hips forward to 45 degrees. Extend arms out from side to shoulder height, keeping eyes looking to floor about 5 feet in front of you.
Rows
Keep armpits closed and elbows into your side. Pull dumbbell or resistance tubing back squeezing shoulder blades together. Bring arms slowly forward back to starting position with palms facing one another.

Why is it so important to strengthen our back muscles?

Our backs, lower and upper, are so prone to pain these days and loss of range of motion due to the jobs we have and the lifestyles we live. We sit, watch TV, work/play on computer, etc. Before you know it, you’ve been sitting for 3 hours a day at the computer and a couple months of that will do nothing for your body’s health, specifically your back. We have to take responsibility and properly strengthen and stretch the back regularly to keep the vertebrae pliable and resistant from injury.