An interesting article at the New York Times explores how much exercise one needs to do to improve her mood. If you are not active at all, as little as 20 minutes a week (and no, that's not a typo) can work, but the sweet spot is 150 minutes of moderate activity a week.
In case the link above did not work, here it is spelled out:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/phys-ed-how-much-exercise-to-avoid-feeling-gloomy/
Have you discovered that working out regularly affects your mood? Is there a minimum you need to do to get that positive effect?
4 comments:
Interesting article, Michelle. I find that it depends on the activity. Since I'm a teacher and live in a city, I'm walking all the time - so walking does nothing for me in terms of exercise. However, short bursts of housework can get me out of a funk (strange as it sounds ;) Running in short bursts with my dog also has an exhilarating effect. Dancing for a few minutes to a lively song will do it too.
Come to think of it, maybe the regular walking keeps me in a good mood most of the time. :)
Thinking about it a bit longer, I think it depends on how much I increase my heart rate. When I was very out of shape, walking could really increase my heart rate. Now, it takes more.
I can't imagine house work getting me out of a funk. It would probably be good for me if it did. :)
I am always amazed at how much housework actually makes me sweat. Scrubbing floors and bathrooms is hard work and it makes you feel good seeing everything all sparkly clean. That improves my mood greatly. I am still working on daily exercise.
I need to develop this ability to feel good after house cleaning. Whatever works for you two Maries is something to keep up. :)
Post a Comment