For many people, there are few better feelings than the one after you finish exercising. And the appeal of cardio for boosting your mood, hitting the open road, and feeling the fresh air in your lungs, is a huge draw.
It turns out, though, that it’s not just the scenic vistas that you encounter while doing cardio that help to improve mood, but the physiological effects it has on your mental health, too. According to WebMD, there’s a strong link between exercise and improved mental health, with exercise releasing endorphins that help to reduce our perception of pain and to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.
The benefits of cardio, in particular, for mental health have been shown in an article published in The Primary Care Companion To The Journal Of Clinical Psychiatry, with the authors stating that: “Aerobic exercises, including jogging, swimming, cycling, walking, gardening, and dancing, have been proved to reduce anxiety and depression.” While mental health is often complex and affected by many factors, it’s clear that exercise, and cardio, in particular, could have a strong effect.