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Certain fitness routines do more to help avoid depression, stress or other emotional problems, new research finds
We assume exercise improves our mental health. But what kind of exercise works best?
Researchers looking at the link between physical activity and mental health found that team sports fared best, followed by cycling, either on the road or a stationary bike.
The study, published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry this month, is among the first of its kind, and the largest, analyzing the effect of different types of exercise.
It found that physical activity typically performed in groups, such as team sports and gym classes, provided greater benefits than running or walking.
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Researchers rated mental health based on a survey. It asked respondents how many days in the previous month their mental health was “not good” due to stress, depression or problems with emotions.
People who played team sports like soccer and basketball reported 22.3% fewer poor mental-health days than those who didn’t exercise. Those who ran or jogged fared 19% better, while those who did household chores 11.8% better.
In a secondary analysis, the researchers found that yoga and tai chi—grouped into a category called recreational sports in the original analysis—had a 22.9% reduction in poor mental-health days. (Recreational sports included everything from yoga to golf to horseback riding.)
Adam Chekroud, the senior author on the study, is a chief scientist and co-founder of Spring Health, a New York City-based mental-health startup, and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale University. He says team sports may have an extra benefit because of the social component, and yoga/tai chi promote mindfulness, which is often touted as beneficial for mental health.
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He would like to explore with further research why some activities scored higher than others to see if exercise regimes can be personalized to choose the most relevant and helpful type.
The researchers also found that those who exercise between 30 and 60 minutes had the best mental health, with 45 minutes the optimal duration. Exercising three to five times a week correlated with fewer dark days.
More exercise wasn’t always better. “Over 90 minutes of exercise and there isn’t an extra benefit,” Dr. Chekroud says.
Read the entire article by Sumathi Reddy at at The Wall Street Journal.
