You may not have heard of mental fitness, but it makes sense. When exercising we focus on the physical plane, such as reducing fat or strengthening the muscles. But mental health is also key to well-being.
Playing sports did not become a widespread habit until the 1980s, when videos of aerobics and other similar disciplines for fitness at home began to become popular. It is time to take the next step and train the mind as well as the body, although doing the usual cardio and strength exercises also benefits psychologically. In order to become a personal trainer you also need to be aware of mental fitness and be able to help out your clients this way.
What is mental fitness?
Mental fitness is the one that pursues cognitive stimulation through physical and mental exercise, and personal trainer fort lauderdale beach can be practiced by people of all ages. Psychologist explains that mental training produces profound and permanent changes in the brain.
We must start from the fact that we usually have a habit of thought, be it positive or negative. That way of thinking is producing something similar to grooves in the brain through which mental processing tends to pass. That is, once you get used to it, there are paths along which your way of thinking circulates. This is why having a personal trainer miami comes in handy, as we can help achieve this positive mindset.
However, the brain has the quality of plasticity. By training the brain correctly, those grooves in the mind are erased. If we take them towards harmony and positivity, our thinking will tend towards those paths.
There are studies that compare the brain waves of people who perform several daily meditations, such as monks and nuns, and they have a different frequency than other people. Its frequencies transmit harmony, calm and positivity.
What are the benefits of training the mind?
Mental fitness and hiring a personal trainer offers benefits such as:
Prevent the onset of neurodegenerative diseases.
Stimulate cognitive abilities, such as memory and attention.
Improve mood and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Improve social relationships.
Increase self-esteem.
Motivate behavior improvement.
Increase brain power.
Fight sleep disorders.
Increase productivity.
Psychologist explains that becoming a strong person on a mental and emotional level changes your life. You are full of calm and harmony, something contrary to the general state of stress in which we find ourselves. That awakens the ability to enjoy the little things, from admiring the colors of the urban landscape to a normal meal.
In addition, when problems or situations arise that need to be solved, they are resolved more effectively. Increases productivity, which also translates into new projects and exciting purposes. However, the psychologist rejects that childhood or adolescence is the best period for the mind: if you have mental and emotional strength, you will improve with age.
Recommended Mental Fitness Exercises
In recent years, gyms for the mind have become popular. One of them is AMT, best personal trainers in miami based in Miami, which is presented as an intergenerational space for activities that promote brain gymnastics and intellectual exercise. Cognitive development and well-being are thus pursued.
What exercises can be found in a place like this? Let’s look at some examples:
Chess classes. Between the logical-mathematical, spatial and intrapersonal intelligences, and processes such as understanding, reasoning, analysis, creativity or problem solving.
Theater classes. An activity that involves several multiple intelligences, and especially favors perception, memory, language or creativity.
Smart games, like go or Backgammon. Functions and cognitive processes such as attention, concentration, perception, memory, language, etc. are trained.
Yoga. One of the best activities to practice to achieve the union between body, mind and spirit. More than exercise and more than relaxation.
Mindfulness. It encompasses meditation and relaxation techniques to control breathing and develop mindfulness.
Math Laboratory. They are not usual math classes, but rather playful ingenuity games in which problems and challenges are set out to be solved through logic and calculation.
Maintenance gymnastics. It proposes exercises adapted to the physical state of each person, without great effort, with or without equipment.
Memory exercises and cognitive stimulation. Different visual and entertaining tools and games are used in small groups, adapted to each age group.
Classes cater to all age groups. The center divides them into size classes S, M/L or L/XL (children, young adults and adults and older). They are joined by the size U, which includes activities for everyone.
If you cannot go to a specialized center or you prefer to investigate on your own how to keep your mind fit, there are simple exercises that you can practice at home using only your hands. Let’s look at some examples:
Standing and with your hands raised at chest height, alternately close and open one hand and the other, closing and opening your fist.
With the same starting position, the sequence is: close both fists, open one, remove the thumb from the other, close both again and do the same movement with the opposite hand (the one that was completely open before now only has to thumb out, and vice versa).
From the same position and with open palms, nutrition in personal training it is a question of taking off the index fingers and thumb of one and the other hand alternately.
Also with your palms at chest height, another option is to touch your nose with one hand and your ear with the other, going to the opposite side. Then reopen and do the opposite (with the hand that touched your nose before, now you touch your ear, and vice versa).
Tips to practice it at home
The tips for practicing mental fitness at home have one goal: to help you establish the habit. This is another benefit of hiring a personal trainer miami as we help out in communicating with your needs and goals. Performing these exercises is adding another task to the day to day, which is not always easy. Let’s see how to get it:
Set aside between 15 and 20 days to do mental fitness exercises. Remember that they do not take much effort.
Choose a suitable place to carry out the activities, where you can concentrate without excessive discomfort.
Try to think positive to build those new grooves in the brain that change mental processing. This way you will take advantage of the plasticity of the brain.
Open your mind to learn new things every day, through reading or games like Sudoku or crossword puzzles. The promotion of mental fitness is not a new phenomenon, as psychologists, neurologists and other specialists have been calling for it for decades. It is being taken to another level thanks to initiatives such as brain gyms, although it can be practiced comfortably at home. And thanks to the properties of the brain, the results will end up being noticed if yo