Feeling low or anxious? Why moving your body is so good for mental health

“You’re increasing actually the birth of new neurons within the brain,” said Mazen Kheirbek, a psychiatry professor at the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. By creating new brain cells, exercise “changes, over many days, how your brain functions”.

Adults typically don’t generate many new neurons, and it only happens in a few places, namely in the hippocampus, which is tied to mood and memory. People suffering for long periods from depression or stress tend to have smaller hippocampi than others, with fewer new neurons and less plasticity.

According to research on both humans and lab animals, there’s essentially a reverse effect – more neurons and a greater ability to adapt – after regular exercise, Kheirbek says. This is especially clear in people with more severe anxiety or depression, who generally see larger improvements over time.

Are certain workouts more beneficial than others?

Scientists haven’t yet determined whether, say, running is better than weightlifting for improving mental health.

For one thing, a lot of exercise studies are performed on animals, and it’s much easier to get a mouse to run in a wheel than lift weights, says Brett Gordon, a postdoctoral fellow at the Penn State Cancer Institute.

Loading

It is also hard to compare different kinds of exercise because the effects can be different for different people, and participants bring their own biases about exercise to a study. Someone who already enjoys running may be more likely to experience a mood lift after other forms of cardio.

However, there is some evidence suggesting that activities like yoga or tai chi are better for relieving symptoms of anxiety than, say, boxing or basketball. This may be because these fluid, low-intensity workouts often employ meditative or mindful techniques that have repeatedly proven beneficial for mental health.

“The mind-body connection, it can be present in all forms of exercise, but it’s reinforced very much in yoga and tai chi,” Heisz says.

More intense exercise – almost by definition – increases stress levels. Some of Heisz’s research suggests that people who report more symptoms of anxiety tend to see fewer mental health benefits from intense workouts in the short term than those with little or no anxiety.

But several experts, including Heisz, point out that over time, regular intense exercise can still have significant benefits to people with anxiety, if they stick with it and listen to their bodies. In fact, a large 2023 review suggested that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts can be more effective at alleviating depression and anxiety symptoms than lower-intensity workouts.

But none of this matters if a patient doesn’t feel motivated to do it, said A’Naja Newsome, a physical activity researcher at the University of Central Florida. With depression in particular, she says, it can be difficult to get started, or to enjoy it.

She stresses the importance of beginning with easier, lower impact activities and having an exercise community or workout buddy to keep you going. If you’re just starting out, a daily walk might be more sustainable than an intense workout.

“While I’m a huge proponent of resistance training and aerobic exercise,” she says, “if someone doesn’t like it, they don’t enjoy it, they’re not going to do it.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox every Monday.