Can sport really improve our mental health? A new study by ASICS leaves no doubts.
We have heard it a thousand times before; exercising plays a pivotal role in taking care of our mind just as much as our body. But even if we all knew this before, our profound need to move has come out in full force during the last year.
I have never been very sporty, but I have always moved a lot – I loved to walk instead of taking the tube or dance instead of sipping a drink on a sofa, so I always got my dose of healthy movement in.
During the first lockdown, when going out was already very much limited, I injured my foot and could barely walk. I don’t think I understood the difference that those long walks made for my brain until then.
The second I could walk again, I bought a bike and pedalling has revealed itself to be my way of surviving three lockdowns and continues to be an incredible tool to keep myself sane.
If you are still sceptic about the power that movement can hold over your mind, the Japanese brand ASICS has commissioned a study – developed by EMOTIV, a market-leading bioinformatics company, with the support of Dr Brendon Stubbs, a leading exercise and mental health researcher based at King’s College London – to demonstrate the relation between movement and mental wellbeing.
Our preliminary research findings outline the profound impact that something as simple as a 20-minute run can have on our minds. With exercise playing such a valuable role in maintaining our mental health and wellbeing, it is more important than ever that people can see and understand the positive link between the two.”
Dr Stubbs
A recent survey by the brand also showed that 79% of runners say running helped them with mental health over the past year.
To try it out for yourself, ASICS has created the Mind Uplifter Tool, a program that uses facial scanning technology and self-report data collection to record the effect that as little as twenty minutes of physical activity can have on a person.
Trying it is super easy: visit the Mind Uplifter Tool, scan your face and answer a few questions. Once that’s done, do any kind of workout and repeat the first two points. The app will tell you if the exercise had a good influence on your mood.
The results of this worldwide survey about the correlation between sport and wellbeing will be put on a world map and you’ll be able to see the mood in your country from the 1st of July 2021.
