GET MOVING FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

More than 500 million people live with depression or anxiety, conditions that for many were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, two new studies show that regular physical exercise can alleviate symptoms.

A University of Gothenburg clinical trial found that most patients with anxiety who did 12 weeks of aerobic and strength training saw major improvements—and the more vigorously people worked out, the more their anxiety symptoms lessened. For example, participants who exercised for an hour three times a week and reached 75 percent of their maximum heart rate became more relaxed than those who attained 60 percent of their maximum heart rate.

To alleviate depression, one solution is to spend less time sitting, according to a study in Frontiers in

Psychiatry. Researchers found that people who spent more time on the couch looking at screens early in the pandemic were more likely to be depressed than those who got up and moved more frequently.

Exercise may help ease symptoms of anxiety and depression by releasing feel-good chemicals called endorphins, stimulating the growth of nerve cell connections in brain regions that regulate mood and take the mind off negative thoughts.