Everyone knows that, in general terms, exercise is good for our body and our health. Sure, it can lower blood pressure, help us to lose weight, and make us stronger — the list goes on. Most people also know that exercise is good for stress management. What many people may not realize, however, is that exercise also has many other benefits for the brain.

According to Dr. Kelley McGonigal, a health psychologist specializing in the mind-body connection, exercise can actually help us be happy, be hopeful, find connections, and even help us be more courageous. McGonigal has found that people who exercise regularly are more satisfied with life and experience more love, hope, and gratitude than those who don’t. They are also less likely to be depressed or feel lonely. The interesting thing is that these findings were consistent regardless of the activity. It didn’t matter if people were into sports, running, walking, swimming, biking, or lifting weights; they all benefitted.

Another unusual way exercise benefits your brain is the exercise high, more commonly known as the runner’s high. This is a feeling of euphoria that people sometimes experience with long or vigorous bouts of exercise. This “high” not only improves a person’s mood by releasing endorphins but also compounds known as endocannabinoids (chemicals mimicked by cannabis). Research has shown that these endocannabinoids help regulate the stress response, reduce stress, and improve a feeling of contentment. They also can increase dopamine which further increases a feeling of optimism. McGonigal also believes that these feelings prime us to connect with others by increasing the pleasure of being around other people, which in turn strengthens relationships. For couples, friends, or family, this can result in a closer, stronger bond.

Exercise can also make the brain more sensitive to joy. It can boost the brain’s reward centers which help us to recognize pleasure. Over time, regular exercise can change this reward system into circulating higher levels of dopamine and make more dopamine receptors available. These two factors help to reduce depression and increase our capacity to feel joy. They can also repair neurological damage caused by substance abuse, which lowers dopamine levels and decreases the number of available dopamine receptors. This is especially helpful to people struggling with addiction.

McGonigal found that exercise can also make you braver by increasing neural connections in the brain to enhance the brain’s reward system. Basically, this means that you remain calm when faced with new challenges and are more willing to try new things.

In addition, Heidi Godman, executive editor of the Harvard Health Letter, believes that regular exercise can improve the brain fog and memory loss that often comes with aging. She goes on to say that this finding is timely since one new case of dementia is detected every four seconds globally and that by the year 2050, 115 million people will have dementia worldwide. Researchers have also found that the areas of the brain that control thinking and memory (the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal cortex) are larger in people that exercise when compared to people who do not.

Most research and health organizations recommend approximately 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. The great thing is that the 150 minutes can be broken up into shorter bouts of exercise and spread out over the entire week. Research also suggests that the type of exercise doesn’t matter all that much either, so pretty much anything goes as long as it is challenging and gets your heart rate up. So whether you are into weights, hiking, yoga, or just like to walk in the woods, keep in mind (no pun intended) that exercise does as much for your brain as it does for the rest of your body.

For more information about fitness and wellness or if you would like to connect with Dave, find him online at bellomofitness.com or check out Bellomo Fitness on Facebook.