Everyone knows that exercise is important and that we should do it often because it helps us in many ways. But exercise isn’t just repetitive set work that can only make you look like a bodybuilder you see on YouTube. There are many reasons to go to the gym, like improving your heart and bone health, lowering your risk of diabetes, and so on. But those can’t be the only ones, because exercise can also improve your mental health. For example, students who have trouble focusing on their studies could benefit from working out regularly. Let me show you how this is true.
Exercise’s Positive Effects on Academic Performance
1. Improved Memory
Research shows that when you work out, your brain releases proteins that can help improve your memory and make you smarter. This is because these proteins significantly affect the hippocampus, a part of the brain that helps us remember things. So, whether you’re studying for an exam or listening to a lecture, you’ll find it much easier to understand and remember what you learn if you work out regularly.
2. Increased Concentration
Blood flows to the brain when you do anything that makes you work out hard. This makes your neurons fire up and helps cells grow, especially in the hippocampus. This means that if you work out for just 20 minutes before your study, you can improve your ability to focus and pay attention.
3. A Better Mood
Doing some physical activity makes your brain and spinal cord more endorphins. Endorphins are the famous “feel good” chemical in the body. This chemical will also make you feel less stressed, which will improve the way your brain works in some ways. So, if you feel like you have too much on your plate, regular exercise will keep stress at bay and help you keep a positive attitude.
4. Higher Levels of Energy
Experts have found a link between being physically healthy and doing well in school. This is because low-intensity exercise can give us a much-needed boost of energy, which is excellent when you have to study for a long time. Studies also show that exercise makes people more creative and gives them more mental energy. So, if you need ideas, a walk or jog might be all it takes to develop something extraordinary.
Exercise can help Students’ Mental Health
Researchers have found that exercise can be the best way for students to deal with many common mental health problems.
a. Stress
Students have to deal with a lot of stress in and out of school, like peer pressure, too much work, and tests with a lot at stake. Exercise controls how you feel physically and emotionally when you’re stressed and works at the cellular level. Physical activity is a natural way to avoid the harmful effects of stress because it can stop and even reverse the bad effects of long-term stress. Studies have also shown that people who do more physical activity are more socially active, which boosts their confidence and helps them make and keep social connections.
b. Disorders of Anxiety and Panic
Scientists say that anxiety is a normal response to a threat. Still, an anxiety disorder is when someone worries so much when there’s no real threat that they can’t do everyday things. Panic is the most severe kind of anxiety, and it has been seen that children have panic episodes during assessments and cooperative learning circumstances, as well as from ordinary school demands.
But many studies have shown that aerobic exercise helps people with anxiety disorders feel much better. People learn to deal with anxiety and build up their confidence by working out. Exercise changes the brain’s circuits work, reduces muscle tension, and teaches a person a different way to deal with situations that make them anxious. This frees a person from their tendency to worry.
c. Depression
Aerobic workouts are known to help people with Depression feel better. Studies suggest that the endorphins made in the brain during exercise help you feel good. Exercise also increases dopamine, which makes you feel better and makes it easier to pay attention. Students with low moods can feel much better after 30 minutes of moderate exercise a few times a week.
d. ADHD
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) makes it hard for kids to sit still, face forward, and listen, so that school can be especially hard for them. Scientists say that structured exercise, like martial arts, ballet, skateboarding, gymnastics, or other similar activities, is one of the best ways to treat ADHD.
Exercise Makes you Smarter and Better Student
People are more likely to start working out if they feel better immediately, either during or after a workout. Physically challenging yourself through regular exercise also makes you a better person, which helps you in all parts of your life, including school. The most important thing is that exercise forces you to get used to being uncomfortable. I like that because it’s so intense. This is true for any sport or athletic activity that needs regular practice.
Many top athletes have said that pain is an inevitable part of competitive sports but that being able to accept uncomfortable situations is the key to success. This is true not just in sports but in all parts of life. For example, public speaking used to be one of my biggest fears, and I was not too fond of it when I had to get up in front of a crowd and speak. But by getting used to being uncomfortable and getting out of my comfort zone, I could fix this weakness and even learn to enjoy public speaking.
Another example: I’ve learned that when I feel the burn during exercise or pain or discomfort, I shouldn’t run away or try to escape it. Instead, I practice mindfulness. I look at it with interest, almost from a third-person point of view, rather than letting what I’m feeling take over my thoughts.
Doing something as simple as planks will show you how this works. So, I will give you a challenge:
- Try a regular plank and track how long it takes you.
- Repeat the process, but don’t let the burning take over your mind this time. Instead, look at it almost from a third-person point of view.
- Determine how long you can last.
Now, how does this benefit you as a student?
Research shows that regular aerobic exercise improves cognitive functions, mainly executive functions. Here is the study from the International Journal of Sports Medicine.
Another study, published in the Journal of Health Psychology in 2006, found that people who went from not exercising to even a small program of two or three times a week showed less stress, smoking, drinking, and caffeine use. In addition, students’ spending and studying habits improved, and they could regulate themselves better. This means that they could keep going even when their body and mind were telling them to stop and improve their ability to stay calm when things go wrong.
This has a lot to do with discipline, which I’m a big fan of. With discipline and self-control, you can do something you set out to do in the past even if you don’t want to do it later.
Now discipline is like a muscle that needs to be used often. If you’re disciplined, you go to the gym often and eat better. Eventually, sticking to a disciplined study schedule will be much easier. Your grades will improve a lot just because of that. Now, Charles Duhigg calls exercise a keystone habit in his book “The Power of Habit,” which I recommend for you. This change in one part of your life can positively affect many other parts of your life.
Conclusion
These Keystone habits are vital because they change how we see ourselves and what we think is possible. Many of you may have heard that you are the sum of your habits. Unfortunately, most of what we do every day is the same things we repeatedly do. So, one of the best ways to change or improve yourself is to change your habits. Now, you can learn from these studies that you don’t have to work out as hard as a pro or an Olympic athlete. As long as you keep pushing yourself, you’ll get a lot of good out of it.
Now challenging yourself is an integral part of growing and improving. Challenge your muscles and body by making your workouts harder and more demanding. This will also help your muscles grow and get stronger. In the same way, pushing yourself in other parts of your life and leaving your comfort zone will help you grow in many ways. If you find it hard to stick to a regular exercise schedule, consider the following. Studies have shown that people who want to lose weight and improve their health spend the least time exercising, which may seem strange.
In a study of 335 men and women between the ages of 60 and 95, immediate rewards that improved people’s daily lives, such as more energy, a better mood, and less stress, were much more likely to keep people going. I love to skip and lift weights, but I also run and swim occasionally. How will you work exercise into your life in the future if you don’t do it regularly now?
