Mental Health and Exercise

Want to alleviate stress or cope with depression? Exercise may help. Increasingly, there is evidence from researchers that certain levels of physical activity can positively affect mental health. A growing body of research over the last 10 years shows that physical activity and exercise also improve psychological well-being.  Published data show that people with higher levels of fitness are capable of managing stress more effectively than those who are less fit.  It appears that cardiovascular exercise is the method that most benefits stress reduction.  Moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, performed three times a week (sessions lasting over 20 minutes) for up to 12 weeks, has the most influence on stress management.   Cardiovascular and resistance exercise seem to be equally effective in producing antidepressive effects.  Research does imply, though, that the greatest antidepressive effects occur after 17 weeks of exercise, although you can observe improvements after 4 weeks. The effects of exercise on depression seem the same for men and women.  The results of over 30 published papers show a link between acute and chronic exercise and the reduction of anxiety. It appears that even short bursts of 5 minutes of cardiovascular exercise stimulate anti-anxiety effects. The research also indicates that people who train for periods of 10–15 weeks receive the greatest beneficial effects. It appears that cardiovascular and resistance exercise can positively affect various mood states, including tension, fatigue, anger and vigor in normal and clinical populations. Plus, it has been shown that even a single session of 25–60 minutes of aerobic exercise (at low, moderate or high intensities) increases positive mood feelings while also decreasing negative mood feelings.  Let me know if you want a tailored program just for you.