What makes you put on your running shoes or active wear? Is it wanting to stay healthy? The satisfaction of seeing your step count increase? A desire to drop some kilos or build more muscles?

Perhaps for you exercise is more of an obligation, something you know you should do but don’t particularly love. As Kelly McGonigal, research psychologist and author of The Joy of Movement puts it, you see exercise as “punishment for enjoying life.”

Mindset reset

McGonigal believes many of us have developed the wrong attitude to exercise and movement. “Movement is a fundamental part of being human,” she says, so “don’t exercise from a place of shame or fear.”

She argues that rather than a chore, exercise is integral to enjoying your life. People who are physically active report being more satisfied with their lives and experience more gratitude, love and hope and less loneliness and depression.

The powerful effect of exercise on the brain leads to a wide range of psychological benefits. Here are three of them:

• You connect more to others.

Exercising with others is one way to increase a feeling of connection – and not only because you are spending time with each other.

It’s all down to brain chemistry. Research shows that the ‘exercise high’ is linked to a class of brain chemicals called endocannabinoids (the chemicals mimicked by cannabis), which can reduce anxiety and increase feelings of optimism. They also increase the pleasure we get from being around other people, helping to strengthen relationships.

• You become more sensitive to joy.

“When you exercise, you provide a low-dose jolt to the brain’s reward centres – the system of the brain that helps you anticipate pleasure, feel motivated, and maintain hope,” says McGonigal. Over time, regular exercise leads to higher circulating levels of the brain chemical dopamine, which relieves depression, helps you become more resilient to stress and expands your capacity for joy.

• You can transform your self-image.

If you have a voice in your head telling you that you’re too old, too unfit, or too weak to exercise, the sensations you feel when you move can provide a powerful counterargument. Moving with power, grace or strength can change how you feel about yourself and what you are capable of, a feeling that can transfer to your daily life.