Beyond helping you burn the baby fat, exercise provides additional hormonal benefits to a new mom. In addition to lowering stress hormones and stimulating fat burning hormones like HGH, exercise releases endorphins that will help ease the postpartum blues that almost every new mom encounters.

The endorphins from exercise trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine. Many people describe the feeling that follows a workout as “euphoric.”

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These endorphins act as analgesics, which means they diminish the perception of pain, act as sedatives, and promote an overall feeling of calm and relaxation. (and keep you from killing your husband).

Endorphins are manufactured in your brain, spinal cord, and many other parts of your body and are released in response to brain chemicals called neurotransmitters.

Interestingly enough, the neuron receptors endorphins bind to are the same ones that bind some pain medicines! But unlike with morphine and other drugs, the activation of these receptors by the body’s endorphins does not lead to addiction or dependence…. That’s what I call a win-win!

Not only does regular exercise help with post-partum depression through the release of endorphins, but I also found just 10 minutes of exercise to help me sleep better, and it is a huge help in relieving stress (as wonderful as it is, having a 6 month old who is teething is VERY stressful).

4 Busy Mom Benefits of Regular Exercise:

1. Reduce stress
2. Ward off anxiety and feelings of depression
3. Boost self-esteem
4. Improve sleep

7 Reasons Why Exercise is Good for Your Health:

1. It strengthens your heart.
2. It increases energy levels.
3. It lowers blood pressure.
4. It improves muscle tone and strength.
5. It strengthens and builds bones.
6. It helps reduce body fat.
7. It makes you look fit and healthy.

Even if you don’t have the time or energy for a full training schedule, you can still take advantage of those feel good hormones by squeezing in short 10- to 20-minute walks as often as possible.

 oxo! -Kate