Physical exercise helps combat depression: new evidence reveals its powerful effect

Depression? New scientific evidence confirms that exercise helps reduce its symptoms in adults. Discover how....

Table of Contents

1. Can exercise reduce depression in adults? What the new scientific review says 🧠🏃‍♀️
2. Study details: what they found about exercise and depression 📊
3. Which type of exercise helps most against depression 🤔
4. How much exercise you need to notice fewer depressive symptoms ⏱️
5. Extra benefits of exercise compared to psychotherapy and drugs ⚖️
6. How to start using exercise as part of your treatment for depression 💬

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Can exercise reduce depression in adults? What the new scientific review says 🧠🏃‍♀️

Depression affects more than 280 million adults worldwide. Many never reach therapy, others do not tolerate medications well, and some simply feel trapped without knowing where to start.

Here comes some good news: a recent review published in the prestigious Cochrane database and coordinated by the University of Lancashire analyzed dozens of studies and reached a very interesting conclusion:

• Physical exercise reduces depressive symptoms in adults.


• Its effect approaches that of psychotherapy.


• It may even be comparable to antidepressants, although with less solid evidence.

Note: this is not about saying “exercise and your depression will go away.” That would be simplistic and cruel. It’s about viewing exercise as a serious tool, backed by data, that can be part of treatment.

As a psychologist, every time I explain this in talks or group sessions I see the same reaction: that mix of surprise and relief. Surprise because they didn’t expect exercise to carry so much weight, and relief because it seems more achievable than changing your whole life at once. 🙂

Study details: what they found about exercise and depression 📊

The review gathered 73 controlled clinical trials with nearly 5,000 adults diagnosed with depression. They compared exercise with:

• Doing nothing or receiving a minimal intervention.


• Psychotherapy.


• Antidepressant medication.

Key results:

• Exercise vs no treatment
  Exercise produced a moderate improvement in depressive symptoms. Put simply: many people felt clearly better, but this is not a magic cure.



• Exercise vs psychotherapy
  The difference was very small. Exercise performed similarly to psychological therapy in reducing symptoms, with moderate-quality evidence.
  That doesn’t mean you can replace your therapist with a treadmill, but it does show that exercise behaves like a legitimate therapeutic intervention.



• Exercise vs antidepressants
  A similar effect also appeared, but here the data have lower certainty. Larger, better-designed studies are needed. Still, the message is powerful: exercise plays in the major leagues.

Regarding safety:

• Those who exercised had few adverse effects. The most common were muscle or joint discomfort.


• Those taking medication showed the usual effects: fatigue, digestive upset, among others.

From a psychology perspective, I love one detail that’s often overlooked: besides improving mood, exercise increases the sense of self-efficacy. In other words, your brain registers: “I’m doing something concrete for myself, I’m not completely at the mercy of how I feel.” That idea, in depression, is priceless. 💛

Which type of exercise helps most against depression 🤔

The research team reviewed several exercise formats. They didn’t find a single “miracle exercise,” but they did find some interesting clues:

• Mixed programs
  Combining aerobic exercise with strength work was slightly more effective than doing only aerobic exercise.



• Strength training
  Showed good capacity to reduce depressive symptoms. Strengthening the body also strengthens self-image. Seeing progress with weights often greatly improves self-esteem.



• Aerobic exercise
  Walking, light jogging, cycling, dancing, swimming… also helped clearly, although in some studies with slightly less impact than mixed programs.

Activities like yoga, qigong or simple stretching were not included in the main analysis, but other independent studies show that:

• Yoga can regulate the nervous system and reduce anxiety.


• Gentle breathing and body-awareness exercises can improve sleep and emotional regulation.

At the brain level, exercise:

• Increases substances like endorphins and serotonin.


• Promotes the production of BDNF (a factor that helps neurons survive and connect better).


• Regulates the circadian rhythm, which improves sleep and, with that, mood.

In stress-management workshops many people tell me: “But I hate the gym.” And I always answer the same: you don’t need to love weights or machines.
The key is:

• Choose something you don’t hate.


• That you can sustain over time.


• That fits your body and your current life situation.

If walking with good music already feels like a challenge, we start there. 🚶‍♀️🎧

How much exercise you need to notice fewer depressive symptoms ⏱️

The review provided some useful clues about doses of exercise:

• Light to moderate intensity
  Very intense exercise did not prove better. On the contrary, low to moderate intensity appeared more beneficial.
  A practical reference: you should be able to talk while moving, although with some effort.



• Number of sessions
  The best results appeared with programs of between 13 and 36 sessions.
  If we translate that to something manageable:
  
  
  
  • Approximately between one and a half and three months with consistency.
  
  
  • For example: 3 times a week for 8 to 12 weeks.
  
  
  
  

From clinical practice, something I hear in many stories is this: people don’t improve because they do one intense day of exercise, but because they keep going even when days are weak.
Some realistic tips:

• Start with very small, almost ridiculous goals. For example: “I walk 10 minutes today.”


• Record in a notebook or app how you feel before and after. You usually notice small improvements, even if minimal.


• Don’t wait for motivation to start. Often motivation appears after moving, not before.

A curious fact: many studies show that people begin to notice mood changes from the first weeks, even before the body changes visibly. The brain reacts faster than the mirror. 😉

Physical exercise improves the immune system

Extra benefits of exercise compared to psychotherapy and drugs ⚖️

The scientific review focused on depression, but exercise brings a long list of positive side effects:

• Improves cardiovascular health.


• Regulates sleep, crucial in depression.


• Increases energy in the medium term, even if it’s hard at first.


• Boosts self-esteem and body perception.


• Reduces isolation if done in a group.

Compared with other interventions:

• Compared to psychotherapy
  Therapy offers something exercise alone cannot: a space to understand your history, your patterns, your wounds.
  Exercise, on the other hand, works from the body toward the mind. The combination is often very powerful.



• Compared to medication
  Medications help a lot in moderate or severe cases but can cause side effects. Exercise, in contrast, shows few risks when well adapted to the person.
  However, in severe depression it’s not advisable to stop medication without supervision. Ideally, add exercise to an existing plan.

One important point researchers emphasize: exercise works very well for some people and less for others.
It’s not about blaming yourself if it doesn’t perform “miracles” for you. The goal is to add tools, not to replace everything with running shoes.

How to start using exercise as part of your treatment for depression 💬

If right now you’re thinking: “Okay, I’m interested, but I don’t have the strength to get out of bed,” I understand. From psychology we know that one of the core symptoms of depression is precisely the loss of energy and motivation.
That’s why the plan must be kind to you, not a cruel list of demands.

Here’s a practical guide I propose:

• 1. Talk to your health professional
  Discuss this information with your doctor or therapist. Together you can decide:
  
  
  
  • What type of exercise fits your physical condition.
  
  
  • What frequency seems realistic.
  
  
  • How to integrate exercise with your current medication or therapy.
  
  
  
  



• 2. Start with the easiest things
  Examples:
  
  
  
  • Walk around your house for 10 to 15 minutes.
  
  
  • Dance to two songs you like in your living room.
  
  
  • Do a short routine of gentle exercises guided by a video.
  
  
  
  You don’t need special clothes or an expensive gym to start.



• 3. Use exercise as an experiment, not an obligation
  Before moving, ask yourself: “How do I feel from 1 to 10?”.
  Afterwards, repeat the question.
  Even if you only go up half a point, your brain already gets the message: “This does something.” That internal evidence motivates more than any motivational speech.



• 4. Find allies
  Social support helps a lot:
  
  
  
  • Walk with someone.
  
  
  • Join a dance, walking, or gentle yoga group.
  
  
  • Share your progress with trusted friends or family.
  
  
  
  Depression feeds on isolation. Group movement breaks that circle a bit.



• 5. Accept bad days without giving up
  In sessions I always say something like: “Your worth is not measured by how many days you managed to exercise, but by how many times you decided to try again.”
  There will be days when you can only get up and stretch a little. That also counts. 💚

To finish, the scientific review leaves a clear message: physical exercise stands out as a safe, accessible and effective tool to reduce depressive symptoms in adults.
It does not replace psychotherapy or medication when those are necessary, but it can become another pillar of your recovery.

If you’re unsure where to start, you can ask yourself these questions:

• What movement could I try tomorrow that doesn’t scare me too much?


• Who could I share this plan with so they can accompany me?


• What do I need to tell my doctor or therapist about this?

Sometimes the first step doesn’t feel heroic. It feels small, clumsy and tired.
Still, from science and clinical experience, we know that that small step can start a profound change in your mind and your life. 🌱💫

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