How daily activity and social connectedness through sport support mental health

Hayley Jarvis

Head of Physical Activity, Mind

We are in the middle of a mental health crisis, with 2 million people currently stuck on waiting lists for NHS mental health services.

While it’s certainly not a replacement for medical care, physical activity or movement in inclusive environments can have a really positive impact on people’s wellbeing.

Short daily activity boosts mood

For many years, mental health, and its relationship with physical activity, has been under-researched. However, recent research from Professor Brendon Stubbs and ASICS has highlighted that the ‘sweet spot’ could involve moving for a bit over 15 minutes¹ a day to feel the benefits of a lifted mood.

While we strive to reach the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines of doing 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week — knowing that a short walk can help improve our mood or counter the stresses from work and daily life can be a game-changer. It reinforces the messages of campaigns such as We Are Undefeatable, which is aimed at getting people with long-term health conditions to move in their own way.

NICE Guidelines for the treatment of
depression focus on the benefits of
being active in structured, group settings.

Social connectedness

NICE Guidelines for the treatment of depression focus on the benefits of being active in structured, group settings. This chimes with our own Get Set to Go research, which found that social connectedness — that feeling of being valued and cared for — provides an added buffer of protection for our mental health. Not only can it be motivating to move with your tribe but also having people to share the ups and downs of life with. Ultimately, you need to find something that you enjoy and that you can build into your everyday life.

Prioritise mental health in sport

We’re working with the sport, physical activity and mental health communities to drive best practices to ensure sessions are safe and effective and the mental health of participants and the people running them is supported. This includes calling for all organisers to have foundational skills in mental health and signposting people to professional mental health support.

Through our partnership with the Hub of Hope, we are also listing physical activity and movement sessions, which are specifically designed to support your mental health. Safeguarding and physical first aid have been long recognised as key components of best practice in the industry — it is now time for mental health to be given the same status.

[1] Stubbs, B,. (2022) Uplifting Minds study. Available at https://www.asics.com/gb/en-gb/mk/sound-mind-sound-body-impact-uplifting-minds-study