A new study by researchers at the University of Gothenburg, published in The Journal of Affective Disorders, again shows the powerful, potential benefit of exercise for symptoms of anxiety.
Here’s the brief upshot.
The researchers assigned individuals with “moderate to high anxiety” a 12 week exercise program, consisting of 1 hour training sessions 3x/week, using cardio and weight training.
They also broke them up into two groups.
The first group was assigned “low-intensity exercise,” defined as exertion that reached 60% of their maximum heart rate.
The second group was assigned “high-intensity exercise,” defined as exertion that reached 75% of maximum heart rate.
Here’s what they found.
People in the first, “low-intensity” group were 3.62 times more likely to report their anxiety was “low” after the twelve weeks.
Meanwhile, people in the “high-intensity” group were 4.88 times more likely to report their anxiety was now “low” after the exercise regimen.
Those are really good numbers, and show, one again, how effective even light exercise can be at reducing symptoms of anxiety.
Now… I’ve posted a lot of these “exercise is good for anxiety” studies over the years, and the reason is two-fold.
First, each of these studies is designed in some, new and meaningful way, and so gathering a bunch of studies provides researchers with an even clearer look at a phenomenon.
Causality or correlation? What context? And each field studies different aspects of a phenomenon (neurologists look at how the brain changes during exercise, whereas other specialists look for different things).
For example, last year a study found that people who exercised frequently before the pandemic lockdowns were more likely to experience new symptoms of anxiety and depression. This group, on average, sat 32% more during lockdown.
But if they continued being physically active during the lockdown (running outside, walking outside etc), they were less likely to develop these symptoms.
Of course that doesn’t establish causality between sitting and depression.
It could be that people who were saddened by the pandemic chose to exercise less. But even if causality wasn’t established, the correlation was compelling and added to researchers’ understanding.
One of the most interesting studies, published two years ago, found that exercise reduced the likelihood of developing depression, even among those who had genetic risk for it — including people with the most extreme, genetic risk.
So those are just two examples of all the ways researchers are building a more complete portrait of exercise’s effect on mental health.
And if you’re going to ever read one excellent, reader-friendly article with a multitude of evidence-based research surrounding exercise and mental health, bookmark this one by Professor Arash Javanbakht from Wayne State University.
You’ll sign up for dance classes, even if you hate dancing, like I do. (Here’s a terrific piece on how dance and movement therapy can help). And I mention dance because it seems to do a better job at warding off dementia than other forms of exercise.
The second reason I post all these studies about exercise and anxiety is that it’s just a really, really good reminder for those of us with anxiety to stop typing and start walking.
Which I’m going to do right now, because it’s a beautiful morning.
[Photo: Nick Chubb, who hit 20+ mph on a touchdown run last week. High-intensity exercise. Via Erik Drost.]
