Article by Matt Hirst
We are now in November or Movember a time when people around the world grow a moustache for raising awareness of prostate cancer and depression in men.
I want to look at depression which effects all men, women, boys and girls. What is depression?
The mental health charity mentalhealth.co.uk state;
Depression is a common mental health problem that causes people to experience low mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration.
Symptoms can include; Tiredness and loss of energy, lack of confidence and self esteem, sleeping problems and sadness that won’t go away.
There is a direct correlation between the benefits of exercise and the symptoms of depression.
Benefits of exercise include; improved energy levels, feeling confident and improved self esteem, better night’s sleep and feeling euphoric.
Exercise helps stimulate endorphins, endorphins are neurotransmitters that help relieve stress and pain. Chemicals like Serotonin and Dopamine help improve your mood and feeling of well being.
How can boxing help? Boxing is a fantastic form of exercise that stimulate the body and the mind. Boxing is a cardiovascular sport which is proven to help stimulate Serotonin the mood improving chemical mentioned earlier, runners sometimes call this ‘Runners High’ as the feeling of euphoria after a run. In boxing you will also experience the same feeling which I will call ‘Boxers High’ after a fantastic session skipping, shadow boxing, hitting pads or bags, circuit training, drills and running. That is 6 different forms of exercise to feel euphoric! Can you imagine how that will feel?
Boxing is a skill that requires motor skills. The six components of motor skills related to fitness are agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time and speed. (Glencoe/McGraw-Hill)
Agility to change direction moving around the bag or pads, balance to throw punches without falling over, coordination to throw punches with one hand and block with the other, power to generate punches, reaction time to hit the pads when the instructor raises them and speed to change direction quickly to avoid punches. All these skills activating the mind, focusing on the goal in hand all help improve self esteem and confidence improving your mood.
Best of all Boxing fitness is Fun!
Growing evidence suggests that, beyond making people feel good, the experience of positive emotions such as joy, happiness, and contentment holds numerous social, intellectual, and physical benefits for the individual (Fredrickson, 2001; Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005).
Feeling down? Pick up some Boxing gloves and lets feel GREAT.
If you are interested in adding boxing to your portfolio of teaching skills why not join Matt on his Fitness Boxing Pads course.
Look out to the GroupEx Fitness Pads course launching January 2020