How Working Out Can Improve Your Mood

Workout
Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash

Working out is about more than just building muscles and making yourself look good. A great deal of it is also about making yourself feel good, and this is true from the psychological standpoint as well as the scientific one as well. If you’re wondering whether or not you should start working out, here’s how working out can actually make you feel better.

Self-Esteem

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. It goes without saying that when you work out, your body starts to change—which, in turn, can certainly make you feel better about yourself. This is the stereotypical reason people like to work out, but it goes deeper than that.

Endorphin Release

The truth is that there are such things called endorphins, which are also known as “feel-good hormones”. When you work out, your body releases these endorphins, promoting a feeling of happiness and reducing feelings of pain perception.

Stress Reduction

There’s also a little something called cortisol, which is known to be a stress hormone. When you exercise, your body’s cortisol levels are reduced, getting rid of loads of unwanted stress. So when you work out, your body isn’t just releasing feel-good hormones—it’s also reducing the stressful ones too!