While I may not have the body to show for it, I'm one of those fitness freaks out at insane hours in the morning dosing up on exercise. I notice even just a couple of days of not getting out due to rain can send me on a rapid decline mentally and cognitively.
This morning, it was nice to get back into the 4.30am exercise (I do it then partly as it lets me avoid the world) and it was good stepping it up for a bit of a run. I will make that a bit of a goal this week, to include some running.
I've wondered how much difference there is in walking vs more vigorous exercise for mental health?
Vigorous physical activity rather than low-intensity eg walking (considered low to moderate intensity) causes extensive, powerful, and long-lasting changes and is associated with better cognitive and mental health measures [1].
Some highlights:
A single bout of aerobic exercise enhances working memory, inhibitory control capacity, attentional orienting, creativity, and positive moods and higher-intensity physical activity causes greater more powerful and extensive benefits that are longer lasting
A higher frequency (i.e., more days per week) of vigorous-intensity predicts more active coping, less behavioural disengagement, greater autonomy, and increased personal growth.
A greater amount of physical activity is associated with more matured psychological coping strategies in the face of negative situations, enhanced appetitive motivation, which is often compromised in psychiatric disorders, and superior psychological development and wellbeing.
Greater cardiovascular fitness can contribute to many improvements in cognition via multiple mechanisms that share in common upregulation of neurotrophins including BDNF, made more available by long-term improvements of cerebral circulation, yielding greater neurogenesis and improved capacity for adaptive brain plasticity [2].
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