When the TB12 Method comes to mind, most people often think about pliability (understandably), nutrition, and hydration.
And with good reason — those pillars are critical to achieving peak performance for long periods of time.
But movement and mental fitness are just as integral to your total, holistic well-being, and they’re very much interconnected. How you move, and how often you move, has a direct correlation to mental state and mindset.
Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady regards the brain as the most powerful muscle in the body, and it’s imperative that you keep it fit. The key to doing so is prioritizing cognitive health and recovery, and maintaining a positive and optimistic mindset. Brady is famously positive and optimistic, and that’s helped him achieve lifelong success and optimization across all areas of life.
Movement helps brighten your mood and stave off troubling, negative thoughts.
How Much Do You Need to Move for Your Mental Health?
This, of course, depends on many factors — your age, your fitness level, your sport or hobby, what you’re trying to achieve, etc. Every body is different, and everyone’s goals are different.
But it’s clear that any movement is better than no movement, and even a little bit can have a significant effect on your mental health.
According to a study published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open, higher step counts can reduce the risk of depression.
The study, which assessed and analyzed 96,000 adults over the course of 33 previous studies, found that even small increases in step count can help prevent depression.
“Our study provides further evidence that encouraging people to be active, regardless of the type or intensity of the activity, is an effective strategy for preventing depression,” said postdoctoral researcher Dr. Bruno Bizzozero-Peroni, the lead author of the story, according to CNN.
Dr. Brendon Stubbs, a senior researcher at King’s College London who focuses on physical activity and its connection to mental health and illness, said that adding a mere 1,000 steps to your daily count can potentially reduce your chances of becoming depressed by 9%.
As CNN points out, more research is needed. The 33 previous analyses were observational, the news outlet reports, and the subjects were members of the general population, as opposed to those who were clinically diagnosed with depression.
More research also needs to be done on how other physical activity affects mental health. Right now, in addition to step count, the popular metric is time. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services encourages people to either get 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week or at least 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week.
But how does weight training affect mental health, compared to yoga or playing tennis or runing? We know it all helps, but not to what degree.
The Benefits of Being Outdoors
Walking also has the added benefit of forcing you to get outside. With remote and hybrid work still at the forefront, and with technology addiction worsening year after year, we’re getting outside less and less — and that’s a real problem.
Getting outside is critical not just for your mental health and overall mood — another study found that those who exercise outdoors regularly have higher levels of serotonin — but for your physical health, too.
It provides much-needed Vitamin D, which is great for your bones, teeth, and cell growth. Vitamin D deficiency can cause a host of issues, including a greater risk of muscle injuries and stress fractures, and it can negatively affect your post-workout recovery.
Getting outside can also reduce inflammation, which puts significant stress on your body over time, and it’s great for your immune system (especially if you live in cold-weather climates).
So wake up early, get outside, move briskly, breathe in the fresh air, and absorb the Vitamin D. Your mind (and your body) will thank you.
