When most people exercise at the gym, they do so to improve their physical health. A planned, structured, and repetitive exercise program is designed to achieve a variety of physical fitness goals like a stronger heart and lungs, more toned and sculpted muscles, a better physique, improved balance and range of motion, and enhanced flexibility.

But did you know that exercising at AFAC gym can benefit your brain just as much as your body? Read on to learn more about the connection between exercise and a healthy mind, and some of the workouts you can join at our Thornton gym to support your physical and mental health.

Reduce Stress and Anxiety During Yoga and Meditation at AFAC Gym

Every Saturday, Dylan leads a Yoga class at AFAC gym, followed by his 30-minute Meditation class. This combination of Yoga plus Meditation is extremely beneficial for the body and mind.

Yoga – Every Saturday at 11:00 a.m.

Mediation – Every Saturday at 12:00 noon

Open to all levels!

Members can sign up for these classes on our class schedule page or through MINDBODY.

Yoga and Mental Health

Practicing yoga is said to come with many physical benefits including increased muscle strength, muscle tone, flexibility, balance, cardiovascular health, injury prevention, and athletic performance.

On top of these physical benefits, yoga is also credited with a long list of mental health benefits. According to evidence-based research, yoga can help with:

• Reducing stress — Multiple studies have shown that yoga can decrease the production of cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone. In one study, 24 women who followed a three-month yoga program had significantly lower cortisol levels. They also felt lower levels of anxiety, stress, depression, and fatigue. A separate study following 131 people showed that after 10 weeks of yoga, participants were less stressed and anxious.
• Relieving anxiety — Quite a bit of research also shows that yoga can help relieve anxiety. One study monitored 34 women with anxiety disorder who went to yoga classes twice per week for two months. At the end of the study, women who participated in yoga had significantly lower levels of anxiety compared to the non-yoga group.
• Fighting depression — Some studies have suggested that yoga can act as an anti-depressant. Based on these studies, many doctors agree that yoga may help fight depression, whether it’s used alone or in combination with traditional depression treatments.
• Improving brain function — When you participate in yoga, you help your brain cells develop new connections, which in turn can improve your learning and memory skills. MRI scans and other brain imaging tools have shown that people who regularly did yoga have a thicker cerebral cortex and hippocampus, compared to those who didn’t practice yoga. These areas of the brain are responsible for learning, memory, and information processing.
• Boosting mood — While all exercise can boost mood by lowering levels of stress hormones and increasing levels of feel-good endorphins, yoga may provide additional benefits by elevating levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a brain chemical that’s associated with decreased anxiety and a better mood.

Meditation and Mental Health

AFAC is one of the few gyms near you that offers a weekly combination of yoga and meditation on Saturdays. After you reap the mental health benefits of our Saturday yoga class at 11:00, you can stick around and discover how meditation promotes your mental health. Spending just a few minutes meditating can:

• Restore your inner peace and calm
• Produce a state of relaxation and tranquil mood
• Reduce the activity in your limbic system, the part of your brain that’s dedicated to emotions, which can help decrease any negative emotions you’re feeling
• Help you have a more tempered response when faced with stressful situations
• Increase your patience and tolerance
• Clear away the information overload that builds up in your brain and contributes to your stress
• Give you a new perspective on stressful situations
• Help you focus on the present
• Help you build skills to manage stress
• Increase your creativity and imagination
• Increase your self-awareness

Even better, these advantages don’t end right after your meditation session is over. You will carry your improved mental state with you for hours or even days after you meditate, and you can always meditate for a few minutes anytime you feel negative emotions creeping back into your mind.

Other Mental Health Benefits That Gym Workouts Will Give You

In addition to the ways that yoga and meditation can improve your mood and brain function, virtually every other exercise you do at the gym can also provide you with an abundance of mental health gains. As a matter of fact, whether you’re aware of it or not, studies have shown that people who exercise at the gym regularly tend to do so because it gives them a tremendous sense of mental wellbeing.

It doesn’t matter if you sweat on a treadmill or elliptical, lift weights, stick to low-impact options, or attend group classes at the gym. Whatever exercise you prefer, it can have the following seemingly magical effects on your brain and your mental health.

Things That Increase With Exercise

• Memory and thinking — Exercise improves blood flow and oxygen to the brain, which leads to the production of more neurons. This grows the areas of the brain that are important for memory and learning. Exercise has also been shown to lower the risk of developing cognitive impairment like dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. Similar improvements have also been seen in people with normal brain function, as well as those with ADHD, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and schizophrenia.
• Happy brain chemicals — Exercise is believed to boost the secretion of major neurotransmitters like dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin, known as the naturally occurring “happy” brain chemicals that help improve the symptoms of depression.
• Good mood and sleep — Exercise will improve your mood, help you sleep better, and reduce your stress and anxiety.
• Self-esteem — Exercising regularly takes a great deal of discipline, and when you master this habit, it can foster a sense of achievement and self-worth. You feel powerful, more attractive, and more accomplished.
• Resilience — Exercise is a healthy coping mechanism for the challenges of life. Instead of turning to negative behaviors like consuming alcohol and drugs, exercising can give you the mental toughness you need to get through difficult times and come out a better person.
• Energy — While it would seem like exercise would tire you out, the opposite is actually true. Working out will make you feel more energetic for several hours after your session.

Things That Decrease With Exercise

• Depression— Studies have shown that exercise can treat mild to moderate depression as well as medication (but without any side effects!) One Harvard study found that people who run 15 minutes per day or walk for an hour reduced their risk of major depression by 26%. In addition to the neural growth, reduced inflammation, and release of endorphins that exercise provides to make you feel good, it also serves as a distraction from the negative thoughts and feelings of depression.
• Anxiety and stress — Exercise also acts as a natural and effective treatment for anxiety and stress. One of the main ways that exercise helps reduce these feelings is by interrupting the flow of constant worries that race through your brain. Exercise also helps to release tension in your body. By making your body feel better, exercise also helps your mind feel better, too.
• The symptoms of ADHD — Regular exercise is one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve concentration, memory, mood, and motivation. The boost in the brain’s dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine levels increases your focus and attention in the same way that ADHD medications do.
• The symptoms of trauma and PTSD — Focusing on how your body moves and feels during exercise can help you to “snap out of” the stress response that’s common in people who suffer from emotional trauma and PTSD. Full-body activities like biking, rock climbing, hiking, walking, running, weight training, and dancing are some of the best choices for people with these conditions.

Make Your Days Happier and Healthier at AFAC Gym

While any amount of exercise will benefit your body mind, it is recommended that adults aged 18-64 get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise — or at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity — each week. Strength training activities should also be completed on 2 or more days per week. People who are 65 and above and generally fit with no limiting health conditions can follow the same guidelines.

To learn more about how workouts at AFAC gym can improve your physical and mental health, please visit our gym to speak with a member of our staff. We’ll be happy to give you a tour of our facility and show you why we’re the best gym in Thornton, Colorado. You can also contact our gym owner, Susan, at 720-849-0245 or susan@adventurefitness.club for assistance.

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