Recognizing Unhealthy Habits
As a chubby girl growing up in an Asian household, it’s needless to say that my relationship with my body and food was not healthy at all. This was thanks to the environment I grew up in and the standards society continues to hold.
Like many others, I struggled with healthy and balanced eating habits and viewed exercise as a punishment. This negative cycle sent me spiraling into disordered eating and I could no longer recognize myself.
Not only did this negatively impact my physical health, but my mental health and self confidence deteriorated.
Discovering Powerlifting
Somehow, I came across powerlifting content on social media, which intrigued me. Powerlifting is a strength sport where athletes compete to lift the most weight possible within their weight class in the squat, bench press, and deadlift.
Instead of seeing that form of exercise as a punishing, dreadful experience, I felt empowered and encouraged to nourish and build my body. Instead of feeling guilty for fueling myself properly, I could finally view food as something that would make me a stronger and healthier person rather than something that needed to be restricted.
Exercise became an outlet for me, not just to progress in my sport, but also because it positively impacted my mental health and outlook on life. Maybe I am just someone who loves to lift heavy weights and that’s why it so greatly improves my mindset—but all kinds of movement have been shown to have this effect on all types of people.
Breaking Down the Power of Exercise
In 1984, a study on college aged males examined the relationship between musculature and relative strength, and mental health qualities such as confidence and sociability. The study found that the two were strongly associated (Tucker 1983).
While this study may be outdated and not reflective of the entire human population, the general relationship between improving one’s physical capabilities and their perception of themselves and others can be seen among many individuals, like myself.
However, not everyone finds joy and confidence in weight lifting. Luckily, prior research does support various methods of exercise to be beneficial for one’s mental health.
Running has often been promoted as a form of exercise that has not only physical, but also psychological benefits. It is also a common higher intensity exercise taken up by people who do not necessarily enjoy weight lifting, so it could serve as an alternative to lifting for the psychological benefits.
One study comparing mental and physical effects of “running therapy” to those of antidepressants showed that both methods of treatment did improve mental health to the same degree, despite the compliance rates being very different, with a 82% adherence rate for antidepressants and 52% for running therapy (Verhoeven et al. 2023).
Understandably, taking on more intense exercise like running and lifting can be daunting and unrealistic for some people, which is also okay! Addition of light exercise, for even as little as three minutes, has been shown to “ trigger subjective [experiences] of increased well-being” (Szabo et al. 2013).
The versatility of short and light forms of exercise make it a more accessible way to improve mental health that fits in any routine or schedule. Prioritizing just a few minutes each day to move your body could lead to positive effects that way outlast those moments!
References
Tucker, L. A. (1983). Muscular strength and mental health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45(6), 1355–1360. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.45.6.1355
Verhoeven, J. E., Han, L. K. M., Lever-van Milligen, B. A., Hu, M. X., Révész, D., Hoogendoorn, A. W., Batelaan, N. M., van Schaik, D. J. F., van Balkom, A. J. L. M., van Oppen, P., & Penninx, B. W. J. H. (2023). Antidepressants or running therapy: Comparing effects on mental and physical health in patients with depression and anxiety disorders. Journal of affective disorders, 329, 19–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.02.064
Szabo A, Gaspar Z, Abraham J. Acute effects of light exercise on subjectively experienced well-being: Benefits in only three minutes. Balt J Health Phys Act. 2013; 5(4):261-266. doi: 10.2478/bjha-2013-0024
