The #1 thing to do when you're feeling low

Most of us know that exercise has positive effects on our body and for our health – think heart health, blood pressure control, bone density improvement and weight management. But it also has a terrific effect on your mental well-being. In fact, moving your body is the number one way to boost your mood, fast. Here's why:

Exercise gives you a natural high

When we exercise, our brain produces natural feel-good hormones called endorphins. These endorphins give us a natural high, increasing happy feelings and helping to shift our mood to a brighter state.

That’s not all though. When we exercise, our body increases levels of serotonin – a natural chemical that results in an elevated, happier mood. It would be hard to complete one of Tiff’s HIIT sessions and not feel amazing for it afterward!

You'll sleep sounder

Tend to feel grumpy and tired after a bad night’s sleep? Yep, us too. Not getting enough sleep, taking forever to fall asleep or waking up multiple times in the night can leave you feeling shattered and pretty cranky.

Luckily, exercise can help with that. It helps us reach the most important phase of sleep for our bodies – deep sleep – during which we release growth hormones, restore cells, strengthen our immune system and get our bodies ready for another busy day.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, activities that get your heart rate up will help improve sleep and battle insomnia. And building muscle helps to improve sleep quality, makes you fall asleep quicker and decreases how often you wake up during the night. Those sound like pretty big incentives to exercise to us.

Working out gives you more energy

As contradictory as it sounds – because we tend to think of getting tired from exercising – exercise will actually improve and increase your energy levels. Yep, you read that right.

Simply put, exercise strengthens your circulation, your heart’s efficiency and your muscles while increasing the movement of your joints and the speed of your metabolism. As your body adapts, you’ll see energy your levels rise since you no longer have to work so hard to do everything.

So if you’re “too tired to exercise,” that’s exactly why you should be exercising.

The success of simply creating an exercise plan and sticking to it allows you to enjoy a sense of achievement. Just imagine how you’ll feel when you start getting results and are fitter and healthier from your workouts.

Clearly, exercise is a great way to boost your confidence and a big contributor to feeling healthy, happy and strong.

Not quite exercise related, but…

Luke Zocchi might very well challenge you in his HIRT and HIIT sessions, but he’s also guaranteed to make you laugh a fair bit, too – and there’s nothing like a good giggle to boost your mood!