Good morning and welcome back, everybody. We have an interesting episode today.
This past weekend, the Washington Post actually came out with an article demonstrating the value of exercise in regard to mental health. I think it’s a lot of what we already knew. Yeah, we knew, but researchers are now connecting science with the results. I don’t know the analogy or whatever, but it’s like those t-shirts, I exercise to burn off the crazy. Do we really need these clinical trials in order to prove this type of stuff? Exercise helps a lot of different areas. It helps with depression for one, right? Yes. The article mentioned depression, mentioned PTSD, ADHD, ADHD, anxiety, and well, I was gonna say stress, but I guess that is a form of anxiety. It helps in all these different areas. Okay, but what’s driving it? Why is it? Do you want me to tell you what the article said?
Yes. The article references a chemical change. The endorphins, right? Is it endorphins that help that? I don’t know if it’s a type of endorphin or not, I wouldn’t be able to answer that. But it was a chemical change. One of the studies they did was with 40-something females who were dealing with PTSD. And long story short, they show them assemble and then gave them a mild shock. And then they sent them away. Half of them had exercise, and the other half did not have to exercise. They brought them back and the two groups responded completely differently to the stimulus.
What I took away from this was that we always knew exercise was supposed to be good for us. We were told this even back in my elementary days from the PE coach. But science is connecting those dots. And that’s huge. Yeah, you know, and you have to wonder, is this again, that we knew this, we knew this all along? I don’t know why we need science in order to prove how we feel.
To your point about depression, I think there was another study that was done. That was 26% of people who exercise, there is a 20% reduction in major depression after people exercise versus the control group. So there are these studies, but we don’t need it. Let’s talk about doubling down and tripling down. So exercise. What about exercising outdoors? Oh, yeah. Back to Mother Nature, double Amish air, sunshine, vitamin D, we’ve said this over and over and over again. Helps you feel unstuck, helps you get back to creation and go, I can do anything.
That’s actually bringing up something else in the benefit of being outdoors. There was a guy who was a geo catastrophe guy, he was on Rogan. And he referenced data, I’d have to go back and find it. But kids that grew up basically outdoors in a farm setting, camping, hiking, kayaking, that type of stuff, as adults experience success. Pretty much every success factor you can look at they outperform. Wow, that makes a ton of sense. So again, being outside, combine that with some exercise, and you get the feeling of accomplishment. You could triple down, quadruple down, you can meditate. It’s cheap. Yes. And free. And arguably less disturbing. You know, clinically speaking, antidepressants can often cause weight gain and mood shifts. You know, it’s not all free, cheap, or easy.
So real quick, the article, did it talk about the kind of exercise? It went into that it doesn’t have to be stringent. That placebo exercise I think they called them was basically stretching. Stretching has no physiological improvement other than I guess you’re more flighted but it contributed to improving results so you don’t have to run or lift heavy. I thought there was another study that said 20 minutes a day was enough to get it done. Possibly. Just stay moving. Science is starting to connect the dots it’s really cool stuff.
If you have any ideas hit us up at snackcast@yes.fit or in our Facebook group. Stay moving.
