Exercise May Be the Best Medicine for Mental Health

Photo by Simona Roubkova on Unsplash

I am not a great athlete and never have been. But physical exercise is a critical part of my life. I try to work out at least a little every day. On busy days, that might be a quick 15 or 20 minute session of weightlifting or cardio. I’m not training for any kind of competition. I just try to stay active and in shape, mixing in everything from lifting weights to swimming, biking, and hiking. To keep things fun, I also try to work in social physical activities like regular long walks with my wife and a weekly run club at a local brewery. When I occasionally do get out of my regular workout routine, I notice it in my mood, energy, and general outlook.

For me, exercise is about maintaining and strengthening my overall health and wellbeing. But a growing body of research finds that physical activity is far more than a wellness habit. It may be one of the most powerful tools we have for actually treating mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.

There is already a lot of research supporting this idea, but a new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine provides one of the most comprehensive analyses to date. The study is what researchers call a “meta-meta-analysis.” Meta-analyses combine results from multiple individual studies to identify broader patterns. A meta-meta-analysis takes that a step further by systematically reviewing and synthesizing all the existing meta-analyses on a topic. In this case, the researchers examined 81 separate meta-analyses, which together drew from more than 1,000 original trials and nearly 80,000 participants.

The researchers set out to determine how effective exercise is at reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety, and whether the type, intensity, frequency, or social context of exercise matters. They found strong evidence that exercise reduces both depression and anxiety symptoms compared to being inactive. These effects were comparable to, and in some cases exceeded, those of more commonly prescribed treatments including psychotherapy and antidepressant medication.

This is so important because traditional mental health treatments can be expensive, difficult to access, and burdensome in other ways. Exercise, by contrast, is widely accessible and relatively low cost, and it comes with a host of additional physical health benefits. It is also something that fits naturally into daily life. We can exercise with friends and family. We can take our kids to the park and run around with them. We can take a walk on our lunch break. We can join a recreational sports league, take a yoga class, or, like me, show up to a weekly run club. It doesn’t require a referral or a prescription.

Aerobic activities like walking, running, cycling, and swimming were the most effective at reducing both depression and anxiety. But all forms of exercise showed positive effects, including resistance training and yoga. For depression specifically, the greatest improvements occurred when people exercised in group settings with professional guidance, such as fitness classes, running clubs, or supervised walking programs. (Data on group and supervised exercise for anxiety was not available in this analysis, so more research is needed there.) This social and structured component appears to be especially important for depression, which makes sense given what we know about the fundamental human need to belong and the psychological benefits of social connection.

There were also interesting findings about who benefits most. Young adults aged 18 to 30 and women who had recently given birth showed the most substantial improvements. Given that depression and anxiety rates are particularly high among younger populations, this is an especially relevant finding.

The good news is you don’t have to be a gym rat or train like you’re preparing for the Olympics. For depression, exercising just once or twice a week was about as effective as more frequent sessions, and intensity didn’t seem to matter much. For anxiety, the best outcomes came from consistent lower-intensity exercise maintained for up to eight weeks. Regular movement at a comfortable pace can make a real difference.

Beyond depression and anxiety, research shows that the psychological benefits of physical activity are wide-ranging. In a previous newsletter, I argued that we shouldn’t treat physical and psychological health as distinct. Our minds and bodies work in concert. Physical activity decreases the production of stress-related hormones like cortisol while increasing the brain’s output of mood-enhancing endorphins. Exercise enhances our ability to focus, boosts creativity, and improves memory, reducing the risk of cognitive decline as we age.

These findings also connect to a broader case I’ve been making about the need for a different societal approach to mental health. In previous articles and newsletters, I’ve argued that our culture’s growing fixation on psychological distress, while well-intentioned, may actually be contributing to the problem it seeks to solve. Reducing stigma around mental illness is a good thing, and so are efforts to make professional treatment more accessible for those who need it. But when we encourage people to spend more and more time focused inward on their negative thoughts and feelings, we risk promoting the kind of rumination that worsens depression and anxiety. Instead of pushing people further into their heads, we should be helping them engage in meaning-providing and outward-focused social, creative, educational, professional, spiritual, and physical activities.

Exercise may be one of the clearest illustrations of this principle. When you’re on a run, in a fitness class, or playing a sport, you’re engaged with the physical world around you. You’re setting and working toward goals. You’re often doing it alongside other people. You simply don’t have the mental bandwidth for rumination. And far from being a mere distraction, these activities foster self-confidence and a sense of agency that energize us to pursue a wide range of life goals. The research increasingly shows that this kind of outward orientation is a direct pathway to better mental health. Our team at the Archbridge Institute’s Human Flourishing Lab will be launching a major project on the outward action approach in the coming months, and I’ll have much more to share on this soon.

As a mental health intervention, exercise is evidence-based, accessible, and something you can start today. Sometimes the best thing we can do for our minds is to get out of our heads and move.

Have a great weekend!

Clay