Everyone knows that exercise is good for our physical health - much less attention is given to its benefits for mood and mental health. Join us as we dig into the science of exercise for preventing and treating all-too-common mental health conditions, like depression, anxiety, and stress. We discuss what type of exercise works best, in what duration, as well as how this evidence is and should be used as part of a public health strategy. Finally, you can learn one principle to rule them all when it comes to the science of exercise for mental health.

📊 Key research studies we discussed:

• Review concluding that exercise can be 1.5x more effective than antidepressants: Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews (British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2023)
• Harvard study on offsetting the genetic risk of depression: Physical activity offsets genetic risk for incident depression assessed via electronic health records in a biobank cohort study (Depression and Anxiety, 2020)
• Review with recommendations for resistance training: The acute effects of resistance exercise on affect, anxiety, and mood – practical implications for designing resistance training programs (International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2019)
• Review comparing indoor vs. outdoor exercise: Does participating in physical activity in outdoor natural environments have a greater effect on physical and mental wellbeing than physical activity indoors? A systematic review (Environmental Science and Technology, 2011)

📚 Books and other resources:

• Daniel Lieberman: Exercised

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We thank the South West Doctoral Training Partnership for supporting this podcast and Rhannan Lacey for audiography, videography, and production.