A message from our friends at the Macquarie University Sport and Aquatic Centre
TOPSY KRETTS | NEWS
While Beth Harmon may not have received the memo, the benefits physical activity loans to mental acuity is well known throughout the chess world. The rise in physical activity to aid strictly mental performances is steadily extending its reach throughout many industries specifically in higher education.
And let’s face it, if the health benefits (particularly the mental health benefits) of physical activity could be packaged into a transparent gelatine or plant polysaccharides cap, psychiatrists would rule the world and perhaps you’d be a world chess champion too. So, why are we still treating mental health and exercise as mutually exclusive practices? Particularly when the argument can be made that physical activity does more for the mind than it does for the body.
Despite the fact that we will all soon be immunised to not only COVID-19 but also to any further pandemic-induced mania, now more than ever, we need to look after our minds. Be it for academic, performance, or trivial pursuits, we could all use the psychological and emotional boost that comes from exercise. There is research to suggest that lifting weights helps memory and performing cardio stimulates creative thinking; anaerobic activity increases blood flow and response time; regular exercise increases the thickness of the cerebral cortex; and the list continues…
But, does that really matter if we still feel rubbish? What isn’t up for discussion is that exercise delivers a truckload of dopamine and serotonin to the doorstep of your brain. And, makes you feel better about your future, feel better about your flatmate who hasn’t showered in three days, feel better about your upcoming exams, feel better about your impending study, feel better about not studying, but most importantly feel better about yourself!
For those more inclined to share their dopamine hits with a friend, this can be done in any capacity you desire. In Group Fitness, whether you’re jumping, lifting, or flailing your way through a class, you’ll always find somebody in the same boat as you, as happy to see you as you are happy to see them. There’s no need to further bore you by unpacking the social benefits of physical activity in a gym… you can google all of that if you’re still unaware. What you may not have known is that the social opportunities of working out are an entirely slidable scale that is predicated purely on the size of your headphones and your willingness to point to them. This is a universally spoken language that has no direct translation but means entirely the same thing.
So please, world champion pursuits or not, please do yourself a favour and feel good again by visiting your Macquarie University Sport and Aquatic Centre.
As a Grapeshot readers only exclusive offer, your Macquarie University Sport and Aquatic Centre is offering you a 10 Visit Health Club pass for only $50.00. Scan the QR code to activate this exclusive offer and start feeling better today!
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