Mason Markarian

10/5/16 Period 7
Senior Project Research
People should be aware of how different forms of exercise correlate to the human mood.
Exercise is an incredibly beneficial and important part of a persons lifestyle, however it works
more wonders than some are cognitive of. Fitness afflicts people psychologically just as much
as it does physically. The researcher delved deeply into this topic and has gathered credible
information from a variety of sources in order to present the importance of exercising from a
mental standpoint, differences between multiple exercises and their effects on mood, and how it
is an overall natural remedy for mental struggles.
Psychology and exercise have crossed paths multiple times in history and has only since
progressed. In 1893, one of the most well-known psychologists by the name of William James,
taught a course at Harvard for graduates on psychopathology that resulted in heavy influence
on psychotherapy scientifically. William would write that the effects of a well-toned motor
apparatus would heavily affect the general personal self-consciousness of the human being.
The ideas of social darwinism had spread to American psychologists including James which had
in turn, led to what was considered the first ever social-psychology experiment which involved
the examinations of social influences at a bicycle race (Buckworth, et al.). Psychology and
fitness interaction and studies have progressed dramatically since these times with experiments
and understandings long-since evolved.
One of the most popular and heavily utilized forms of exercise is yoga, in which people utilize
breathing control, meditation, and muscular stretching. Yoga has been found to reduce
perceived anxiety and stress in the mind and modulate stress-response systems. Many health
benefits of yoga translate into mental benefits, for example, yoga increases heart variability
which allows for the body to have easier responses to stress. Studies from the University of
Utah show that people who have healthier responses to stress are also less sensitive to pain

than others, of these test subjects were 12 experienced yoga practitioners, 14 people with
fibromyalgia, and 16 moderately-healthy volunteers. Another experiment concluded that 24
women who described themselves as emotionally distressed, and or depressed took a yoga
class twice a week for 3 months ended up reporting a massive decrease in stress, depression,
anxiety, and fatigue, as well as positive feedback on energy levels and overall well-beings.
Other studies have shown that yoga has been used as a remedy to depression as well as a
potential remedy to PTSD (http://www.health.harvard.edu).
Resistance training as a form of exercise in which one utilizes resistance in the form of the
weights, typically it is associated with body weight rather than physical weights however, both
can be used. Overall health benefits includes lower chances of death, cardiovascular events,
(such as heart attack, stroke, etc) osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and metabolic syndrome. Like
other forms of exercise, resistance training benefits you mentally as well. According to OConnor
and his colleagues, they concluded that multiple different resistance training studies reported
that resistance training is a healthy intervention for people who suffer from anxiety. They also
reached the conclusion that resistance training has aided and improved cognition in older
adults. Resistance training has also shown improved sleep quality as well as improved selfesteem.
The researcher conducted personal research on a many of people through interviews. These
interviews greatly helped finalize his conclusions in mental health and workout correlations
through multiple types of exercise backgrounds, forms, and purposes. Fitness competitor and
trainer Nezzie Wiseman proclaims that she works and trains hard in strength training, aerobic
training, resistance training, and cardiovascular training. According to Damien Puckler, an actor
and martial arts enthusiast, he strived to specialize in martial arts, cardiovascular endurance,
power lifting, strength training, and crossfit which led to his success in Bangkok, Thailand where
he became world champion in martial arts in 1991. Musician Scotty Kormos exercised for
himself and his profession in music with cardiovascular exercise and strength training. Everyday

mother of two, Jennifer Ober started exercising to be able to healthily maintain a happy lifestyle
with her family through muscle conditioning and aerobic exercise. Fitness celebrity Lauren
Powers exercises for herself and her brand with her extensive past of fire-fighting,
snowboarding, professional surfing, fitness group-classes, resistance training, heavyweight
bodybuilding, yoga, and powerlifting. Of all of these participants, when asked the question, How
do you feel after exercising? every participant responded with feelings of accomplishment,
stress-relief, and senses of happiness. When posed the question of, Do you feel any negativity
after conducting your respected workouts? Wiseman, Ober, Powers, Kormos, and Puckler
responded with a confident, No. Even with the wide variety of workout/exercise forms, all of
them came to the same conclusions that exercise brought them positive satisfactions, and relief
from mental struggles such as anxiety and or stress.
Exercise in general has shown itself to provide people with all-natural health benefits and
extremely helpful mental benefits as well. Exercise studies have shown that it is just as effective
in combating depression as an antidepressant as well as reducing risk of relapsing back to
depression (Robinson, et al.). Other scientists who believe that exercise is an antidepressant
show in their studies that cardiovascular exercise is a highly progressive workout type in the
cause of wanting to reduce and push away depression (North, et al.). Scientist Griest suggests
that exercise in the cardiovascular sense is an effective treatment for reducing or removing
depression. Physical activity has been proven to immediately increase Norepinephrine,
Dopamine, and Serotonin levels inside the brain. These chemicals aid the person in focusing,
because of this, psychologists recommend exercising to patients with ADHD. Since, the
increased focus is a natural effect of exercise, patients can aid their nervous systems evade the
immobilization responses that accompany PTSD, and trauma (Robinson, et al.). A study
conducted by Blumenthal in which a series of depressed adults of mixed genders were exposed
to either a placebo pill, exercise programs, and antidepressant therapy sessions. This study

showed that the people who exercised for their mental health had the highest rates of remission
(Weir).
As you can see from our researchers findings, exercise is a proven healthy form of remedy
for mental disorders and struggles. People can clearly analyze how different workouts have
different effects on humans and their mentalities, however they all have provided the
participants and public with feelings of relief, accomplishment, and healthy satisfaction through
hormone secretion and endorphin release. Fitness and psychology have consecutive
intersections with each other and an understanding of their relationship and individual effects on
the body mentally and physically can provide anyone with a healthy solution to many diseases,
struggles, and hardships.

Works Cited
Buckworth, Janet, et al. Exercise Psychology. Ed 2.
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=-QIfF9q6Q_EC&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=fitn
ess+and+psychology&ots=7C00qUXKvt&sig=Dz3Y9ZOQ1BeQQs1TBt3ttzuiIjU#v=onepage&q=
fitness%20and%20psychology&f=false

North T. Christian PhD, et al. Exercise and Sport Science Reviews. Vol. 18, ACSM, January
1990,

http://journals.lww.com/acsm-

essr/Citation/1990/01000/Effect_of_Exercise_on_Depression.16.aspx. Accessed September 16,

2016.

Kirsten Weir. American Psychological Association. Vol. 42, No. 11, APA, December 2011,
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/12/exercise.aspx. Accessed September 16, 2016.

Robinson, Lawrence, et al. Help Guide.org. H.H. Publications, May 2016,

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/exercise-fitness/emotional-benefits-of-exercise.htm. Accessed
September 16, 2016.

Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications. April 2009,

http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/yoga-for-anxiety-and-depression. Accessed
September 16, 2016.

Ramirez, Amenda, et al. University of New Mexico.

Vol 1. 2011,

https://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/RTandMentalHealth.html. Accessed September

16, 2016.

Powers, Lauren. Personal interview September 31, 2016.

Kormos, Scotty. Personal interview September 17, 2016.

Wiseman, Nezzie. Personal interview September 17, 2016.

Puckler, Damien. Personal interview September 5, 2016.

Ober, Jennifer. Personal interview September 25, 2016.