There is plenty of research which shows that exercise can help with depression. Most studies however focus on aerobic exercise (running, cycling, etc). Could it be that lifting weights also helps tackle depression? In a paper published in JAMA Psychiatry, researchers analysed the results of 33 experiments focused on this issue. They found that:
a) Strength training was linked across the board to improvements in depressive symptoms, such as low mood, a loss of interest in activities, and feelings of worthlessness. In fact, “…resistance training may be particularly effective for those with greater depressive symptoms.”
b) “…the number of weekly workouts didn’t seem to matter. The benefits were much the same, whether people trained twice or five times a week. In addition, improvements in physical strength didn’t correlate with less depression. Just getting the training done, irrespective of the amount of strength gained, seemed to help.”
c) “Resistance training…is also a highly effective way to manage symptoms of anxiety…Both types of exercise led to a significant drop in symptoms of worry, with subjects in the resistance training group seeing the best results. In fact, lifting weights just twice a week led to a remission rate that was on par with antidepressants.”
d) “Six months of resistance training has also been shown to increase the size of certain regions of the brain. And this change in brain structure was tied to an improvement in mental function.”
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