Lift Your Mood With This Lower-Body Workout

You already know that exercise is great for your mental health in the long run, but did you know that just a single workout can have an immediate, positive benefit on your brain including your mood and your focus? Neuroscientist and author Wendy Suzuki spoke on a recentTed Talk about the immediate and long-lasting benefits of exercise, and it’s mind-blowing to say the least. 

Benefits of Exercise:

  1. Exercise has immediate effects on your brain. A single workout will immediately increase levels of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin and noradrenaline. These effects will increase your mood right after that workout. Her studies also found that a single workout increases your attention and focus for at least two hours.

  2. Exercise also has long-lasting benefits. Over time, regular exercise gives you better focus and attention, plus your overall long-term mood will improve.

  3. Just as the mental health aspect of exercise is transformative, so are the brain health benefits. Your brain gets stronger and more resilient the more you use and care for it. Suzuki explains that this is important because it strengthens the areas of the brain that are most susceptible neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and normal cognitive decline in aging. So, with increased exercise over your lifetime, you're working towards prevention.

Ready to get all these great benefits and not sure where to start? This lower-body workout is the perfect place to start!  If you have questions with any of the exercises, ask a team member!

Lower-body Workout:  

  • Warm-up for 5-10 minutes by walking, jogging, rowing, or cycling

  • Perform 1-3 warm up sets of each movement to build up to your optimal weight

  • After you have completed your workout, finish with 5 minutes of stretching, focusing on your lower-body muscle-group!

 
Lower-body Exercises

  • Barbell Squat
    Sets: 5 Reps: 3

SUPERSET

  • Leg Press
    Sets: 5 Reps: 20

  • Walking Lunges
    Sets: 5 Reps: 20/ per leg

SUPERSET

  • Swiss Ball Hip Extension One Leg
    Sets: 4 Reps: 10/ per leg

  • Calf Raises
    Sets: 4 Reps: Perform as many reps as you can!

After you've completed the workout, noticed how your mood changed! 

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