Exercise Makes Us Happier Than Money, Study Finds
Physical exercise and well-being: how are they linked? Do you think that sport brings you happiness? If you were asked the question right away, what do you think makes you happier, money or sport? How would you respond?
A study from Yale and Oxford universities attempted to shed light on this issue through a cross-sectional study with a sample of 1.2 million American participants. Just that.
Research determines that regular sport has a positive influence, far beyond what a highly advantageous economic position can offer. Find out more about this interesting study!
Exercise makes us happier than money, study finds
Sport makes us happier than money ; this is confirmed by a study conducted by researchers at Yale and Oxford universities and published in The Lancet Psychiatry . The study, which examined the mental health of participants between 2011 and 2015, involved more than one million Americans.
More specifically, it was to analyze the relationship between mental health and the practice of physical exercise. In the study, participants recounted how many times they had felt emotionally bad in the past month, either because of stress, emotional problems… And what did the researchers find?
That in people who exercised regularly, the number of times they felt bad was significantly lower, compared to people who did not participate in sport. In addition, these people felt happier than those who had more income but did not exercise.
Other information: according to the conclusions of the study, the level of happiness is not proportional to the amount of sport practiced, even if this positively influences our mental health.
Happiness as a function of sport
The researchers also came to other conclusions: depending on the sport, the impact on mental health varies. So, in popular team sports, or in a sport where socialization is required, the impact is even greater.
Followed by team sports, other types of sports that produce more well-being are cycling, aerobic activities, and gym activities.
Income-based well-being
The researchers also compared the level of well-being reported by participants based on their income. And they came to the following conclusion: physically active people feel just as good as those who do not play sports but earn 25,000 dollars more per year (the equivalent of 22,000 euros).
In other words: those who earn 1,800 euros more per month are just as happy, even if they do not play sports. As we can see, the relationship between money, exercise and well-being is by no means linear.
Physical exercise and well-being: the importance of moderate sport
Another conclusion of the researchers: sport is beneficial for our mental health and offers us a good dose of happiness and well-being, but it should be moderate. Thus, excessive physical exercise would be counterproductive.
And this is demonstrated by the results: participants who exercised excessively (more than recommended) felt as unhappy as those who did not participate in sports. And, according to the study, the “ideal” for our mental health would be to play sports between 3 and 5 times a week (with sessions of 30 to 60 minutes).
In the same vein, there is another study, published in the scientific journal Current Biology in 2019 and directed by Bastien Blain, which claims that excessive physical exercise induces cognitive fatigue similar to that caused by excessive intellectual work. .
Emotional benefits of physical exercise
We have seen how physical exercise and well-being are linked, because the former can offer us the latter. But, more specifically, how does sport benefit us mentally or emotionally? Among the great benefits of playing sports for emotional health, we find the following:
- It prevents and reduces anxiety and stress.
- It induces states of relaxation.
- Sport helps develop self-esteem through self-knowledge.
- It offers routine and organization.
- It helps us to work, indirectly, on cognitive skills such as attention or memory.
- The practice of sport increases our discipline, which allows us to overcome challenges.
Remember that when you exercise you release endorphins, neurotransmitters, hormones and various chemicals that induce a state of relaxation and pleasure.
This is why sport is so beneficial in preventing (and treating) anxiety and stress states. It is also used to fight against the states of apathy so typical of depression, since sport activates us physically and mentally.
Sport helps to disconnect
As we can see, physical exercise and well-being are two concepts that go hand in hand. Regardless of the fact that sport makes us more or less satisfaction or well-being than money, the undeniable point is that the sport helps us to disconnect and take care of our physical and mental health.
Therefore, if you are feeling anxious or overly stressed, or want to fight apathy, play sports! You don’t have to adopt a very demanding routine; Sometimes all you need to do is take a brisk walk once a week and gradually increase your activity.
Our thoughts it is advisable to play sports. But what can it bring us on the mental level? Why does it deserve a place in our agendas? What is …
