Wouldn’t it be nice if we woke up every day ready to jump out of bed and wake up with total clarity, motivation, and vigor every day? It would be, but for most of us humans, it’s just not the case. Some days, you just won’t feel like doing much of anything. This is why it’s so important to have a plan and a commitment to consistency instead of relying on motivation. Motivation can be fleeting. One day it’s there and the next, gone. But that’s okay; we don’t need to be in a state of constant high vibes to tackle our goals. All you need is the right workout routine with plenty of feel-good workouts for the days where you could use a boost.
Exercise Helps Boost Mood, According to Science
That energy rush and happy feelings after a workout are no coincidence or placebo. Exercise produces the hormones and neurotransmitters (like serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins) that increase your mood, memory, energy levels, and overall sense of well-being. In addition, simply finishing the task of exercise sends signals to your brain to feel accomplished and boosts your confidence in yourself for completing tasks and meeting your goals.
Any exercise can help improve your mood. However, we have a lot of moods (some of us more than others, which is totally normal and beautiful). There are specific workouts that can be more effective at getting you out of your individual slump than others.
Whether you’re feeling scattered or down and out, we put together a list of five different mood-boosting workouts to turn around your day so you can be the boss that you are, no matter what may be holding you back.
5 Feel-Good Workouts That Will Boost Your Mood in Under 30-Minutes
#1 Pumping Iron to Get Your Brain Working For You
Feeling foggy and just can’t seem to focus? Weight training has been proven to fight cognitive impairment and even boost the creation of new neurons. Pick up a set of weights and try a circuit workout that combines strength training with cardio for an extra boost in endorphins.
We love Breann Mitchell’s 21-minute Full Body Strength workout, which targets all your major muscle groups to build definition and give you that extra oomph to bust through our day.
#2 Yoga to Give You Those Happy Feels
If you’re out of sorts and your mind is racing, it’s time to start getting in a little “Om” time. Yoga has been shown to help ease feelings of stress and anxiety, according to recent studies, making it one of our favorite go-to feel-good workouts.
The deep breathing we do in yoga also increases oxygen in the body, giving the brain the nutrients it needs to fire up. If you’re new to yoga, Sydney Benner’s 16-minute Daily Yoga is the perfect place to start to begin feeling yoga’s benefits. Want a little extra challenge?
Try Vytas’ 23-minute Balance and Focus routine that uses longer holds and balancing poses to challenge you mentally and physically.
Though a yoga class may boost your mood right away or leave you feeling more relaxed, consistency is key. Strive to make a commitment to making yoga a regular part of your fitness routine! The best may be yet to come when it comes to the mood-boosting and calming benefits of yoga.
#3 Interval Training to Produce Feel-Good Hormones
Feel like there’s a heavy cloud over your head? Get out of that funk quickly with a quick HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) workout. Getting your heart rate elevated is like hitting the boost button that releases endorphins in your body, which give you all the feel-good vibes.
A study showed that regular high-intensity workouts had a positive impact on cognitive performance. Pushing yourself beyond where you thought your body could go also gives you a sense of accomplishment that will put that pep back into your step.
Try this 28-minute Tabata Strong workout with Danielle Pascente to not only burn fat and build muscle but to improve your move.
#4 Dance to Release Your Inner Child
To feel free like a little kid again. No responsibilities. Sounds like the life. We wish we could take away all your adulting responsibilities, but we can do second best. Oh yeah, let’s boogie! If you’re ready to feel the rhythm, press play on any of our fun dance workout videos.
Dancing has been proven to not only increase endorphins through cardiovascular exercise, but it has also been shown to reduce the stress hormone, cortisol.
When you let yourself feel the music and express yourself through movement, it can help you relive those times where you were purely you, without any of the world’s opinions or judgments.
The nice part — you can do this privately in your living room, or even bedroom, if you want. Go ahead, dance like no one’s watching (because they aren’t)!
#5 Pilates to Help You Sleep Better
When you get a good night’s sleep, you feel like you can conquer anything the day throws at you. When you don’t, well, it can make even the little things feel that much harder. To get more good nights than bad, try adding in Pilates to your workout routine. It’s one of those feel-good workouts that has too many benefits to ignore.
A study found a connection between Pilates and improved mood and sleep quality in college students giving us yet another reason to consider adding more Pilates into our lives!
Try a 23-minute Pilates Head to Toe class with Cassey Ho.
Finding The Good in The Meh
If you feel like you’re in a funk, we totally get it, and we want you to know you’re not alone. Our mental health is just as important as our physical, so making sure you honor your feelings and allow yourself to process negative emotions is a healthy, but not always easy, part of being human. However, if you’re feeling more than a little off, we highly recommend you talk to a medical professional about it. A little chat never hurts, right?
