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Abstract

The importance of exercise in molding a healthy mind, body, and emotional perception has been well established in scientific research. A review of the recent literature examining type, intensity, and duration of exercise illustrates how to achieve the best emotional results. Because exercise is not naturally built in to the modern lifestyle, people need to make concerted effort to exercise in order to better deal with stress and experience positive emotions. Studies indicate that both animals and humans are better able to cope with stressors when able to voluntary exercise. However, not all exercise is alike. Aerobic exercise appears to be more beneficial than anaerobic exercise in improving emotion. Research suggests that those with originally low levels of positive emotions most significantly achieved an increase in positive emotions when they exercised at a low intensity. Manageable intensity and low duration work together to provide the best emotional results. Studies indicated that about 30 minutes of aerobic exercise at an intensity below the lactate-threshold is sufficient to produce achieve emotional benefits.

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