Mental Health and Fitness: A Formerly Overweight Trainer’s #1 Non-Weight-Loss Reason to Exercise

If you’ve ever gotten into a fitness routine, you’ve probably experienced that exercise is good for your mental health. There’s plenty of research to support your observation: “Virtually any form of exercise, from aerobics to yoga, can act as a stress reliever,” says the Mayo Clinic‘s blog. But when you’re feeling down or stressed from being too busy—the times when we need that energetic uplift the most!—exercise can tumble to the bottom of the priority list.

Michael McNeil, associate vice president, administration & chief of staff at Columbia Health cites evidence: “In one Columbia University pilot study, regardless of academic area or even level of enrollment [undergraduate or graduate], students in the pilot study identified physical activity as one of the top two sources of coping.”

Errick McAdams, CPT, a Washington D.C.-based personal trainer, says the emotional benefits of exercise take just moments to arrive.

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