Tapping into Exercise to Improve Personal Grit
One of the least talked about - but most important - benefits to sports & exercise is the personal development of grit & authentic will power.
Last week we celebrated ADHD awareness month. If you missed out, click on the link below to take a look and learn something new..
This week I’m going to talk a little more about one such therapeutic tool for people with ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Diabetes, and more. Something that has huge potential but often gets overlooked in our world of hyper palatable ultra processed food and intimidating gym-bros. I’m talking about exercise (and sports), but in a completely different light than you’ve probably heard it before.
On Exercise and Sports
Are you a fan? It took me almost 12 full years of my early childhood before I really began to taste a hint of what exercise could feel like. A few years later, I became a regular runner and enjoyed playing multiple sports. I found the dopamine rush, the endorphin release, the runner’s high as they say, and I was undoubtedly hooked.
But that’s not all. If you’re an athlete or weekend warrior you already know what I’m talking about here. But that’s not all.
What I also found in my own personal wellness journey in the scope of exercise is that it pushed me out of my comfort zone, equipped me with grit and helped me to find the confidence to independently take on challenges in life.
Exercise does not always feel good to perform in the moment. But rather it’s the finishing feeling of accomplishment and growth that occurs that draws so many people in. When we have the ability to project into the future and motivate ourselves to muster the courage and discipline to fight ourselves past the initial inertia, we often find a fun and freeing playground on the other side of that intimidating barrier to our progress in the beginning.
One of the least talked about - but most important - benefits to sports & exercise is the personal development of grit & authentic will power.
If you look at any of the great sports athletes of all time you'll find one common trait among the top players across sports industries, and that is that they all have an impeccable and impenetrable mental fortitude. This mental strength and spirit of courage and confidence is needed for them to remain at the top of their game and be champions in their sport.
Training requires discipline and discipline takes time to develop and grow. Without the grit to show up and put in your best effort - even to exhaustion at times - you never get to really see what you’re capable of.
Sports & Exercise teaches us to overcome inertia, to trust the process, be long-term projecting in our motivation and drive.
Exercise teaches us we can do hard things.
Sports & Exercise teaches us that yes we can in fact fail and survive to tell the tale
Sports & Exercise teaches us that yes we can in fact fall and survive, learn from the process, and get back up to overcome.
Yes, we can compete in this playground called life. Yes, we can go running on our own find out who we really are. So many people use running and exercise in many forms as a means of therapy for their heart and heartache.
I know I’ve been there.
In times of anxious stress I tend to want to go run. In times when I’m feeling cold, isolated and lonely I tend to go for long walks in the crisp cool evening air. In other moods, I tend to prefer strength training, like when I’m feeling good, fueled, energized, and confident. I would be lying if I didn’t say that mood and movement is a two way street.
What I mean is this:
Movement affects our mood and our mood affects our movement.
We can use either one as a tool to improve the other if we are intentional and push ourselves with meaningful movement in different areas of life.
I’m not saying we need to go for long runs to chronically breakdown our knees while avoiding real pain and hardship inside our minds or avoiding real conflicts with people in our lives but we can certainly use exercise and sports as tools to help support our good health.
As you likely know by now… it’s all about the balance we take with any endeavor in life. If you’re just starting off in your exercise journey, here are some thoughts to consider.
Find movement that feels good for your mind, body, and soul. Don’t force yourself to go do something you’re going to dread if it’s going to cause you to walk away or burnout within a few short weeks (I’m looking at you New Years’ resolutions).
Find exercise that you really enjoy. This includes things like walking along a trail, walking your dog in the park, or swimming, cycling, pickle ball or disc golf and so much more. Recreational sports obviously count as well too. Maybe you used to be a high school athlete but haven’t picked up a bat or or a ball in years. Perhaps it’s time to get back out there and spend some time in an old sport you used to love.
Exercise regularly. Exercise is a great way to relieve stress and improve your mood. Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise most days of the week. Regular, consistent physical activity is an important part of overall health, vitality, and resilience.
This is especially important in children, teens, and adolescents. Kids need to play in order to learn. They need to play early, play often, and play until the sun goes down when they are young. Play based learning is one of the most effective learning strategies we have available to us. The ADHD brain craves distractions from pain and has the profound ability to hyperfocus on something specific when it finds the right route with ample dopamine to help drive positive behaviors.
Like I have said before, exercise can be our ally and can provide us with a wonderful surge of positive chemicals to our brain when practiced well.
Exercise can drive us out of boredom, a lull, give us concrete structure and sufficient multi-sensory stimuli to keep us busy, attentive to our activity and focused on our fitness. Exercise enthusiasts know all about the euphoric boost that they get from their physical fitness routine, but far too many people never catch a glimpse of that mental health miracle. Some research even suggests that remission rates for depression exceed 30% for those who follow a regular exercise program for at least 12 weeks.
Exercise can bring us into full presence with the present moment while we’re pushing, pulling, lifting, or pressing weights or moving our bodies against resistance.
Strength training help with regulation of dopamine, serotonin, promoting protein synthesis and more.
Aim for 2–3 sessions of at least 30–45 minutes of strength training per week to form a habit around exercise. A review of strength training research published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine found that it is associated with numerous mental health benefits, including reduced anxiety symptoms, improved cognition, reduced symptoms of depression, improved self-esteem, and better sleep.
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Thanks for putting this out there - I exercise regularly, but I also sometimes fall into the rut of exercise - feeling bored with what I'm doing. For me, it is essential - especially in growing older - to continually mix things up...to swim, run, bike, strength training, walk... And to do all these things when the mood is right without forcing myself to perform at any particular level. It is also a balancing act because sometimes my mood is lazy, and I don't feel motivated to do anything. This is when I need to do something - anything, to keep my mojo moving forward...otherwise, I allow the laziness in my head to win, and that never helps!