According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are many significant exercise benefits teens and adults can reap from engaging in regular physical activity. Some benefits include building healthy bones and muscles, improving strength, and endurance, and increasing self-esteem. Exercise not only brings physical improvements but also strengthens teens’ mental health.
Does Exercise benefits teens’ academic performance?
1 – Combats health conditions and diseases
Regular exercise improves muscles’ ability to pull oxygen out of the blood. In other words, it is reducing the need for the heart to pump more blood to the muscles. This makes your heart and blood circulatory system more efficient. It also lowers your cholesterol level, keeping your blood pressure at a healthy level.
Above up, regular exercise improves our immune system. This will help teens combat any health illness that will hinder their studies and learning in school. Being healthy is one way that exercises benefits teens.
2 – Improves mood
Exercising can increase the production of endorphins, which are chemicals that are known to help produce positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain. Exercising makes one feel a whole lot better after the workout is done. Moreover, having a good mood sets the tone for how your day will go, it helps teens to stay motivated and cheerful during school, which will also help increase their productivity levels.
3 – Boosts energy
When we exercise, our heart pumps more blood, delivering more oxygen to our working muscles. It helps to boost oxygen circulation in our bodies and train our hearts to become more efficient at supporting energy production. Overall, it will allow our body to function better and use its energy more efficiently.
With higher energy levels, teens are able to concentrate better in classrooms and make the most out of their classes and lessons.
4 – Improves sleep quality
The energy that we lose during exercise stimulates restorative processes during sleep. This allows us to relax and sleep better.
Exercise benefits teens’ academic behavior by providing quality sleep. Quality sleep is vital for a student’s learning process, as good sleep helps with retaining information learned during the day and increases concentration levels during the day.
5 – Reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression
Exercising increases our brain’s awareness and sensitivity, it increases serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain which helps with decreasing anxiety and depression.
This can be extremely helpful for students who are stressed out by the school. Exercising helps to control these stress hormones and releases happy hormones to help regulate your mood and stress levels.
6 – Help with brain health and memory
Exercise not only helps to improve blood flow to working muscles but also our brains. This helps with brain health and memory. Both of which are important for students as they are constantly absorbing study materials and information in school.
Having a clear mind in school helps students to be more productive and learn more effectively during the day.
7 – Increase productivity levels
With all the mentioned points above, they all contribute to the increase in productivity levels. It helps to promote sharper memory and thinking which overall helps with productivity levels. Having a higher level of productivity improves students’ grades and cognitive performance in classrooms. All in all, exercise benefits teens’ academic performance through all these positive ripples that exercise offers.
How do incorporate exercise into busy student life?
Students are always on the grind with their academics or co-curricular activities. Sometimes, it is simply too difficult to schedule time for a full 1-hour workout in the gym. Hence, here are some tips to help our busy students incorporate exercise into their daily routine without stretching thin.
Before we jump into the different lifestyle changes teens can make to be more active, here are the guidelines that teens can follow to be active.
It is recommended that we incorporate 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity and two days of muscle-strengthening activity. Of course, 150 minutes can be spread out and done on different days and muscle strengthening is optional.
Here are some tips on how you can incorporate more physical activity into your daily routine to stay active.
1 – Choose walking over taking public transport
Teens can always choose to walk to their nearest train station instead of taking the bus. If waking up earlier is not your cup of tea, choose to walk back home from the train station instead. It does not matter what time in the day you clock these minutes, as long as you make the effort to walk a little longer, and a little bit more can go a long way.
2 – Climb the stairs instead of taking the lifts
Another no-brainer for increasing your physical activity is taking the stairs instead of taking the lifts. Making these small but mindful changes to your life offers physical and mental benefits.
3 – Find an exercise buddy or friends
Finding someone who is also looking to become more active can help you to stay motivated and determined. It can be difficult to make tough decisions such as taking the bus or walking home when you are alone, however, with the right companion, you are more likely to choose the tougher choice since you have somebody who is on the same journey as you.
This is equivalent to having a gym buddy, you both encourage each other to hit the gym together at that specific time. Knowing somebody is on the same journey as you make you feel less alone and more motivated to continue.
4 – Be intentional about fitting healthy habits into your routine
Being intentional means you giving yourself the chance to make a change. You are aware of the choices you are making and you know that they are for the better. It also helps to serve as a reminder to keep going when things get hard.
5 – Walk and talk
Walking is not the most enjoyable exercise, in fact, it can get pretty boring with time. Instead of walking alone, grab somebody who you can talk to, either physically or on the phone, to keep you occupied and busy. This can make walking feel less like a chore and more enjoyable.
6 – Schedule 10 minutes of physical activity
If you find the above points slightly difficult to achieve, a simple way to incorporate exercise into your routine is to spend 10 minutes doing an exercise. There are plenty of home workout videos available online for you. What is good about home workouts is that they are fast, easy, and easily accessible. All you really need is yourself and probably a yoga mat.
7 – Stand up more
Standing up more also offers significant health benefits. Sitting down constricts circulation, slows your metabolism, and shuts off muscles. If it’s worth convincing yourself, standing burns 1.36 more calories a minute than sitting. It also provides healthy circulation and works your muscles.
