Lifting Weights May Help With Depression

JAMA PSYCHIATRY and PSYCHOLOGY TODAY

Sometimes I tell myself that cardio is good enough this week so screw the gym. However, it looks like that’s flat-out incorrect as the list of reasons supporting resistance training continues to stack up, even moving into the realm of mental health. Ok ok I’m listening.

Researchers at the University of Limericks analyzed 33 clinical trials with data from 1877 participants to weed out any effects that resistance training might have on depression.

What’s the word?
Even participants who saw minimal physical growth from strength training saw improvements in their mood. Specifically, resistance exercise was associated with a significant reduction in depressive symptoms. This was consistent regardless of intensity, duration, and even the type of strength training. And what I really like about these findings is that regular strength training may both ward off and fight symptoms of depression.

This is a good time to add that this is in addition to the physical benefits of adding weights to your routine, which includes things like decreasing risk of injury, improving bone health, and looking swol af when you’re naked.

To further boost the argument for strength training, these same researchers also published an analysis in 2017 that found that weight training was an effective treatment for anxiety in a group of 922 participants. And again, the strength of the effect wasn’t tied to the strength of the participant. In fact, the benefits of lifting weights remained, regardless of sex, age, program length, session duration, frequency, or intensity.

As far as the type of strength training goes, researcher Brett Gordon suggests you use the American College of Sports Medicine’s guidelines, which has you working on major muscle groups two to three non-consecutive days each week.

TAKEAWAY
Lifting weights will bring about physical change, sure, but also significant mental improvements toward your depression or anxiety. Try to incorporate resistance training into your routine two to three days a week, focusing on keeping a consistent routine. Don’t stress the specifics because they aren’t required to benefit.