This time of year can be a bummer for a lot of people. The holidays are long gone, the energy behind New Year’s resolutions has started to fade, and the short days and cold temperatures are becoming a bit of a grind. If your clients express concerns about their mental health, you can offer a powerful reminder that physical activity can play a vital role as both a mood booster and a way to combat social isolation and loneliness.

To learn more about the role of physical activity, particularly group exercise experiences, in boosting mood and improving mental health status, I reached out to Katie Heinrich, PhD, whose research focuses on improving lives through addiction recovery, sense of community, exercise and physical activity.

According to Dr. Heinrich, “What’s important is finding something that you enjoy. For some people, that might be lifting weights and doing CrossFit. For others, it might be putting a song on that they love and dancing around the room or dancing with their kids.” 

If something makes a client feel good, then it’s a solid bet that they’ll want to do it again.

“If we’re talking about it in the exercise sense,” continues Dr. Heinrich, “then ideally it becomes something that they can repeat and is structured, so maybe they’re advancing and improving their fitness over time.”

That said, it’s important to note that there are immediate benefits to a single bout of movement, as some clients may be seeking a short-term boost in mood rather than the long-term mental health benefits of continued participation in an exercise program.

“Movement creates blood flow and stimulates areas in the brain that can begin to feel those effects immediately,” says Dr. Heinrich. In addition, if something is difficult to achieve, whether it’s a tough workout in the gym or a challenging hike, the sense of accomplishment can do wonders for a person’s mood, as well as their self-efficacy for continued participation.

Building a Sense of Community

There’s no denying the power of the “we’re all in this together” feeling that people get during tough workouts, challenging group fitness classes and athletic competition. So, is there an additive effect taking place, where the benefits of physical activity are enhanced by the group experience? If so, what’s driving that effect?

There are several different things that are happening in these scenarios, explains Dr. Heinrich. “You become part of something that's larger than yourself, right? So sometimes if you're anxious or depressed or stuck in a negative mental health spiral, it gets you to focus outside of yourself. Being part of a community where you're supporting other people gives you a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose where you can contribute and help other people just as they support you.”

Camaraderie drives both accountability and social support. And, sometimes, those feelings can grow into friendships that extend outside the gym. Shared experiences, particularly shared struggles and the resulting feelings of success when clients overcome those obstacles together, can be a great way to help clients combat social isolation and loneliness.

Final Thoughts: Exercise Empowerment

One term that shows up frequently in discussions about how to boost mood and mental health through physical activity and exercise is “empowerment.” When clients feel a sense of ownership and control over what they’re doing, it boosts their mood, self-efficacy and motivation.

In a study of exercise empowerment, researchers defined this term as “both a process and an outcome in which individuals gain skills and capabilities to gain power and control…. Individual-level empowerment is conceptually related to self-efficacy, autonomy, and agency.”

This is where you, as a health coach or exercise professional, can make an impact on both the short-term mood and long-term mental health of your clients. By creating an environment that is empowering, you give clients the autonomy over the experience and challenge them to step outside their comfort zone and achieve something new. Combine all that with the camaraderie, accountability and social support found in a group setting and you have a recipe for true success.

To learn more about how to create an environment that empowers everyone to succeed, check out ACE RRAMP Approach™: Cultivating Behavior Change through Group Fitness (worth 0.1 ACE CECs). In this course, you will learn about the five elements of the ACE RRAMP Approach and how to implement them in your cues, behaviors and programming.