The Mayo Clinic has released a study on fitness and health. The paper was designed to explore how working out and alternative exercises at home helped patients deal with both physical and mental health effects. The paper included two different studies, one of the children and the other of adults. The study found that the adults who participated in exercise and fitness routines at least three times a week had a significantly lower risk of depression, stress, and anxiety. Those who participated in fitness and health programs at least two times a week were also at a much lower risk for depression.
The study looked at how well those who were more physically active were with their mental health as well. Those who were physically active were more likely to be balanced, healthy, and had higher self-esteem and higher social support among adults. And the children in the study had similar levels of physical well-being as the adults. They had higher self-esteem, as well as a lower level of social stress and a greater sense of social connectedness. Overall, fitness and health benefits seemed to hold true for all groups of people.
There are some things that participants did not do, or that would have a negative impact on their well-being. For instance, participants who participated in fitness and health programs did not do anything to decrease their consumption of sugary drinks, did not smoke, did not drink alcohol, and did not use social media. A participant who participates in social media use might think that he or she is healthier than they really are, by regularly posting positive messages about themselves on social media sites. While it might seem like a great idea, in reality, those messages do not reflect the person's true mental and emotional well-being and can even have an opposite effect.
The second study, which looked at adults over a course of time, also found that fitness and healthy participants were at no greater risk for heart disease or stroke. There was no significant increase in heart rate or blood pressure among the adults. This study was performed at random, so there is no evidence that those who exercise or work out are more prone to have heart problems. What it does indicate is that they are at no greater risk of developing osteoporosis or becoming obese.
In the third study, participants experience the onset of a new type of social isolation or social phobia. Those who participate in fitness exercise and health programs report feeling more socially isolated, while not changing their behaviors. Those who don't participate in fitness exercise or health programs are found to be the ones who develop this new social phobia. These results show that those who participate in fitness exercise are not at a greater risk for developing phobias; however, they are more likely to develop this new social disorder.
One of the most common reasons for participants to leave gyms or fitness programs is exhaustion. When participating in physical exercise, a participant's body needs time to recuperate from the rigorous activity. When leaving the gym environment, some participants experience a sense of failure because they are unable to continue after only a few minutes. This sense of failure leads to feelings of anxiety and frustration, which, in turn, causes them to leave the gym. Unfortunately, when leaving the gym environment, these participants do not receive any form of motivation for continuing with their fitness program.
The researchers surveyed college students about what motivates them to stay in gyms long enough to "burn off" their entire workout schedule. Surprisingly, those participants who experienced psychological fatigue had the greatest motivation to keep going. Psychological fatigue was defined as feeling mentally exhausted from participating in fitness or health programs. Those who were tired but had no other form of motivation experienced a significantly lower level of motivation than those with other forms of motivation.
In conclusion, fitness and health experts need to examine why participants leave gyms or other fitness programs at shorter intervals than desired. Although health and fitness experts have encouraged participants for decades to set short-term goals and meet those goals, it is unclear why motivation is diminished when leaving the gym environment. The lack of motivation may be as simple as mental exhaustion from completing too many workouts or it could be caused by a lack of comfort in remaining in gyms for extended periods of time.
