20-30 minutes of sustained exercise has been shown to make you calmer for hours after
Physical activity during the day helps you get better sleep at night, which helps regulate your metabolism and boosts your brain's ability to store and process information
(Aerobic) exercise itself has been shown to improve brain plasticity, meaning it helps your brain make lasting connections faster and easier
This helps you learn new things and acquire new skills more quickly, and for longer
In fact, exercise has been shown to increase production of a protein the brain makes called BDNF, which helps with decision-making, higher thinking, and learning
Regular exercise improves your cardiac health, lowers your risk of diabetes and high blood pressure, and actually makes you live longer!
There are too many different kinds of exercise to list! We'll break it down into different kinds of exercise based on intensity:
Light exercise - doesn't make you sweat unless it's already hot and humid where you are. Your breathing pattern doesn't change noticeably, either. Very slow walking would fall into this category
Moderate exercise - will raise your heart rate, make you breathe faster, and have you sweating within about 10 minutes of starting it. You can carry on a conversation, but singing would be difficult. Bicycling, jogging, hiking, and some kinds of dancing would fall into this category.
Intense exercise - will raise your heart rate, speed up your breathing, and have you sweating within 3-5 minutes of starting it. You can say a few words at a time, but carrying on a conversation would take a lot of effort. Various kinds of aerobic exercise could fall into this category, including running, swimming, jump-roping, and HIIT.
Anything that speaks to you! It can be hard to get to the gym during a normal school year; it's certainly even harder now that we are in the midst of a global pandemic.
Find (or make up) an exercise routine that you can do every day in the space you have (or outside, if you're willing to bundle up and brace the elements! More on that below.)
Here are some links with suggestions and ideas for quick at-home workouts you can squeeze in throughout your day:
And that is just the tip of the iceberg! There are thousands and thousands of ways to exercise and motivate yourself to keep going. Some of the ones listed above may work for you, but some may not. It's okay to decide something is not for you; there will be something that you enjoy enough to want to do more days than not. Keep looking, keep thinking, keep trying!
There are other beneficial activities involving breathing, posture, and muscle control that have been shown to help reduce stress and boost endorphins.
Some of these include:
Progressive Muscle Relaxation - a great way to relieve tension and calm yourself down
Breathing Exercises - even more simple than PMR, and you can do them anywhere!
Yoga! The best part of yoga is you can modify any pose to account for what you are able to do.
A study by Science Direct has shown that spending time outdoors can improve mental health by lowering feelings of mental stress and pressure
Spending time outdoors can help with mindfulness, attention, and anxiety
Can also boost mood and immune system
Simply being outdoors can boost "happy" brain chemicals such as endorphins and serotonin
It has been shown that spending just 15 minutes outdoors can improve mental health and be restorative
5 good reasons to go outside even when it's gross out there
Just be sure to bundle up!