How to get moving to improve your mood

Psychologist and fitness guru Chris Pomfret provides his tips for starting a regular exercise routine and staying interested.

There is a wealth of research on how participating in exercise is good for your mood and can help with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. Exercise, for example, causes your brain to release ‘feel good’ chemicals like endorphins and serotonin which help improve a person’s mood.

Having the motivation to exercise, however, can be a real barrier, particularly for those experiencing a low mood.

Pine Rivers Community Health Centre Psychologist and fitness guru Chris Pomfret knows that while starting a regular exercise routine seems easy, for many it can be a challenge.

“Even if people know that regular exercise is a good idea, it can be difficult to know where to start,” said Chris.

Here are a few of Chris’s tips to help get started and stay interested:

Listen to music or podcasts – if you’re struggling with cardio exercise such as walking or jogging, try listening to podcasts or some new music. This can make the experience more interesting and enjoyable, or at least help as a distraction tool until your motivation increases.
Reframe the purpose of your exercise – rather than thinking of exercise as a demanding task that you need to endure for your physical health, you could view it as a physical means to improve your mental health. For example, walking or jogging after work as a way to ‘clear your head’ before settling into your home routine.
Increase your ‘incidental exercise’ – this is a tip you always see but that’s because it can make a real difference. There are many activities you are already doing that involve movement which you might not associate with exercise which you can add some extra steps, repetitions or intensity to. For example, add body-weight squats when you’re gardening, speed up the pace when mowing the lawn, walk to the closest shop to collect bread and milk rather than driving, take a 2-minute stroll to eat your lunch outdoors.
Find numbers that matter to you – you may not have specific goals in mind with your current exercise (e.g., a personal best weight to lift in the gym), however recording your progress (e.g., number of repetitions per set in the gym) builds a sense of achievement and motivation often follows.
Chris acknowledges that different motivations work for different people and finding what works for you is a great starting point.

“In the end one of the most important aspects of sticking to regular exercise is finding what works for you and your current lifestyle. If you’ve never been a morning person, try going for a walk after work rather than joining a 5.30am gym class,” he said.

Chris is currently undertaking the Graduate Certificate in Health Services Innovation – a partnership between Metro North HHS and Griffith University – with the aim of incorporating sport and exercise interventions as core business within community mental health services.