By Libby Schulz
Even if it just feels like another boring chore, exercise is extremely important and is crucial to leading a healthy lifestyle, especially as a teen because you are still not a fully developed adult. Unfortunately, the way exercise and sport is portrayed in the media can often have a pernicious impact on teens; causing them to question their ability and worth due to comparison to other athletes. This also results in less youth participation in sport and more youth missing out on all of the wonderful things sport has to offer.
Regular exercise can offer a huge variety of physical and mental benefits with one example being reduced anxiety and stress. Teens who engage in sports are a lot less likely to experience anxiety and depression than their peers who do not exercise. This is partly due to the increased release of endorphins (the brain's feel-good neurotransmitters) which physical activity helps to speed up the production of. Another benefit of exercise is improved academic performance. Research has demonstrated that acute exercise can cause improvements in cognitive development via increased cerebral blood flow (CBF) to the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Exercising regularly also improves sleep which will in turn make you feel more awake meaning you will have more energy and better concentration in school. Thirdly, through sport you have many opportunities to meet new people who share similar interests to you and therefore make more friends. This will help to create a more positive mindset and heighten self esteem and confidence.
There are many ways you can exercise which is great as it means everyone can fit something in - no matter how busy your schedule is. Even just a 30 minute walk every day can still have an amazing and positive effect. Another easy thing you can start doing is running. This - like walking - is free and you can do it almost anywhere without any equipment. Even though you may have been told that it is, the speed and the distance of your runs really doesn’t matter. Anything is better than nothing! Another good form of cardio is cycling and whilst a bike is costly, once you have one cycling is mainly free apart from bike repairs if yours gets broken. If you do these forms of exercise you can do races such as The Great North Run or for cycling The Kent Classic or The Peaks Tour. Another way you can keep fit is with a gym membership. This is great as it means you can go whenever you have time - whether that is before or after school. You have to look into this properly though as some memberships cost a lot more than others. Finally, you could also join a sports club or team. Here are some links to out of school clubs you could join.
Sports Clubs and Teams Based in Cramlington:
Football - Cramlington United FC
Basketball - Cramlington Vikings
Netball - Astley Netball Club
Tennis - Cramlington Community Tennis
Rugby - Cramlington Rockets Rugby
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