How Strength Training (and Aerobic Training) can transform your mental health.
We all want to feel as good as possible, as often as possible, and be in a great mental space.
With the ebbs and flows of life, it’s highly unlikely that we’re always going to experience peak mental health, but there are some behaviours we can engage in to ensure we’re doing what we can, to feel as good as we can.
One of these behaviours is physical activity, and more specifically, strength training!
There’s more to it than “It’ll release endorphins and you’ll feel better”; let’s take a deeper dive.
Mental health conditions (such as depression and anxiety) can be major disruptors to an individual’s mental well-being. The two usually go hand in hand, it affects a huge amount of the global population, and it’s only increasing.
The good news is that leading organisations have started including physical activity in the treatment plan for depression/anxiety.
What is clearly shown over numerous studies is that aerobic training is extremely beneficial for those with depression and anxiety.
Performing aerobic training may even create similar results to those seen after antidepressant drug treatment! (1)
“These results confirm and extend previous findings that exercise is comparable to antidepressant medication in the treatment of patients with MDD [Major depressive disorder]” - Blumenthal et al., 2007
Besides all of the other impressive benefits of aerobic training for your health and longevity, the impact it can have on mental health is another reason I think it should be included in everyone’s health and fitness plan.
But let’s talk about strength training ...
A lot less has been studied on strength training alone, but what has been done looks promising!
- Low to moderate intensity (think training at a 50% intensity) strength training produced the greatest anxiety reducing effects (2)
- Strength training alone can consistently reduce anxiety symptoms (again, a lower to moderate intensity was superior to high intensity when it comes to anxiety reduction specifically), there were large reductions in depression amongst depressed patients, the symptoms of poor sleep were improved by 30% (amongst depressed older adults), and there were considerable improvements in the symptoms of fatigue. (3)
- There’s a powerful relationship between high-intensity strength training and a decrease in depression symptoms. (4)
- “Resistance exercise training significantly reduced depressive symptoms among adults regardless of health status, total prescribed volume of RET, or significant improvements in strength.” - Gordon et al., 2018 (5)
(Regardless of what you do, who you are, or how you do it, including strength training is effective at reducing depressive symptoms)
Aerobic training definitely helps, and strength training (alone or alongside some aerobic training) also has good evidence for helping.
The important thing is choosing the form of exercise you’re most likely to engage in on a consistent basis.
The study that had the greatest improvements in mental health (even though it was the shortest), had more than 95% presence for each training session (4)
In other words, the participants adherence was very high!
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to people engaging in physical activity (especially if you have no interest in doing so), is adherence.
‘Autonomous motivation’ (you being in control of your own behaviour and choosing what you’d like to do) is a critical element to continuing an exercise behaviour and creating this adherence. (6)
So, being able to choose a method that you enjoy the most, and expect the most benefits from, is essential.
When you engage in these forms of physical activity, many interactions, alterations and creations of various chemical messengers, hormones and so on occur. (1)
This can impact how you think and feel, and the overall state your body is in. (eg. less anxious, feeling ‘better’ and less fatigued)
There are also improvements in your physical capabilities and appearance, how well your brain functions, and even your sleep. (3) (7) These are all going to lead to improved mental health.
A lot of these improvements may also come from purely psychological elements. This includes:
- Higher self-esteem (1) (huge for happiness and overall well-being)
- Self-efficacy (1) (3) (belief in your own ability)
- Physical self-worth (3) (start seeing what your body can do and the positive changes that are taking place)
- Positive thoughts and distraction from the negative ones (1) (discussed in my blog post “Strength Training: a Meditation Tool”.)
- A sense of mastery (1) (this carries over to feeling like you can control big events in your life).
- Even the placebo effect of expecting an improved mental state contributes! (3)
There’s going to be a lot more discovered about the positive effects that take place in the body and how it relates to better mental health.
At the same time, I believe these psychological aspects are where most of the money lies. The pursuit of improving yourself through physical activity, and seeing yourself make those improvements is a game changer for your mental health. The subsequent carry-over to other areas of your life will be just as significant.
Most of the studies included a general strength training program.
This would look like:
- Frequency: 2 to 3 times per week
- Muscle Group Trained: full body
- Sets/Rounds: 2-3 per muscle group
- Reps: anywhere from 3-20 reps
- Time to complete: 40-80 mins
Want to get even more benefits?
Throw in some aerobic training 1-2 times per week
This would look like:
- A long hike/walk, elliptical/treadmill/bike, low intensity jog, light and high repetition strength training with minimal rest.
- Getting your heart rate up between 120-150bpm and keeping it there for 30-40+ minutes.
- Don’t have a heart rate monitor? You should be puffing a little, but still be able to hold a conversation.
Physical activity is clearly an important part of mental health.
The research shows the incredible ability of both aerobic and strength training for helping treat depression and anxiety, and positively influencing mental health.
Other than the positive physical events that occur during your body when you train (and thus your mental health), the ability of something like strength training to completely change your psychological outlook on yourself and what you’re capable of is unmatched.
It may sound silly if you’re not already adamantly training, but it may just become your favourite mental health getaway and transform all areas of your life.
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