TEN YEARS AGO, if you asked someone why they trained, they might have given you a range of answers. Some would have told you about their aesthetic goals; others would have been focused on improving their performance, or spoken of more holistic ambitions, such as longevity. But mental health? Less likely. We've always been aware that exercise makes us feel good, but a tendency to see the mind and body as separate meant that it was considered the domain of body transformations, not psychological boosts.
Today, most of us know that, just as your heart, lungs, muscles and bones can be strengthened by exercise, so, too, can your brain. Regular exercise is a proven strategy for enhancing your overall mental wellbeing.
In one analysis, published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, those who trained for just two and a half hours each week had a risk of depression 31 per cent lower than those who didn't. It has been shown to rival antidepressant medications in its efficacy. And, according to one Bristol University study, people score higher for both focus and motivation on days when they exercise.
“Exercise is overlooked as a medicine for mental health, largely because we put so much focus on its aesthetic effects,” says Hendrick Famutimi (@ supermanhf), a British powerlifting champion and instructor at Equinox. “If more of us promoted the mental health benefits of exercise, more people would place it higher on their list of priorities.”
Trainer Dan Hancock is based in Stirling, Scotland and runs the Mental Health and Exercise Coaching Gym. “I realised that many of the clients who came to me to change their bodies were, deep down, struggling
