Several studies have showed that exercise is as good as antidepressant medication in relieving depression. Research published in the January 2005 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine shows that relief from depressive symptoms is related to the intensity of exercise. More intense exercise is effective for the treatment of depression. Very light exercise may not work any better than nothing.
In the study 80 depressed adults (aged 20-45) were randomly assigned to one of 5 groups.
1. One group did light aerobic exercise 3 times per week with a total Calorie expenditure of 7 calories/kg of body weight. For example a person who weighs 189 pounds has a mass of 86 kilograms so she would burn a total of 602 Calories after 3 workouts. That could be achieved with 24 minutes of walking at a moderate speed (3 miles/hr.) three times each week. If one is in excellent shape, one could work off the same amount of calories with 9 minutes of running up stairs.
2. One group did light aerobic exercise 5 times per week with a total Calorie expenditure of 7 Calories/kg of body weight. For example a person who weighs 189 pounds has a mass of 86 kilograms so she would burn a total of 602 Calories in 5 workouts. That could be achieved with 24 minutes of walking at a moderate speed (3 miles/hr.) three times each week. If one is in excellent shape, one could work off the same amount of Calories with 6 minutes of running up stairs three times per week.
3. One group did aerobic exercise 3 times per week with a total Calorie expenditure of 17.5 Calories/kg of body weight. For example a person who weighs 189 pounds has a mass of 86 kilograms so she would burn a total of 1505 Calories in 3 workouts. That could be achieved with 1 hour of walking at a moderate speed (3 miles/hr.) three times each week. If one is in excellent shape, one could work off the same amount of Calories with 24 minutes of running up stairs. This intensity level of exercise is the public health recommendation for physical activity.
4. One group did aerobic exercise 5 times per week with a total Calorie expenditure of 17.5 Calories/kg of body weight. For example a person who weighs 189 pounds has a mass of 86 kilograms so she would burn a total of 1505 Calories in 5 workouts. That could be achieved with 102 minutes of walking at a moderate speed (3 miles/hr.) three times each week. If one is in excellent shape, one could work off the same amount of Calories with 9 minutes of running up stairs.
5. The last group served as a control group by doing flexibility exercises three times each week for 15 to 20 minutes per session.
By having all these groups the scientists were able to both see the effect of workout frequency and workout intensity. Is it better to work out 3 or 5 times each week? Is easy or hard exercise better to relieve depression?
All exercise was carried out on either a treadmill or a stationary bicycle. The exercise was conducted in a supervised laboratory setting.
After 12 weeks, results showed that the more intense exercise (groups 3 and 4) relieved depression symptoms as well as medication. It did not matter if the person worked out 3 or 5 times each week. Patients doing the lower exercise level did not improve any better than the control group doing flexibility exercise.
Forty two percent of patients working at the higher intensity had a remission of depression. This rate of remission is similar to rates experienced with medication. Contrary to what we want to believe or what advertisements lead us to believe, not everyone is helped with medication. A large study conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health showed medication produced a remission of depression in 42% of participants. (1) Other studies (2,3,4,5,6,7) have shown that exercise helps in treating depression. This study shows that the intensity of exercise is most important, more important than frequency of exercise.
1. I. Elkin, M.T. Shea and J.T. Watkins et al. 1989. National Institute of Mental Health Treatment of depression Collaborative Research Program, General effectiveness of treatments. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 46: pp. 13-22.
2. E. W. Martinsen. 1987. The role of aerobic exercise in the treatment of depression. Stress Med. 3: pp. 93-100.
3. N.A. Singh and M. A. Singh. 2000. Exercise and depressive symptoms in the moderately depressed elderly. Nutr Clin Care. 3: pp.93-100.
4. J.K. McNeil, E. M. LeBlanc and M. Joyner. 1991. The effect of exercise on depressive symptoms in the moderately depressed elderly. Pschol Aging. 6: pp. 487-488.
5. J.H. Greist, M. H. Klein, R.R. Eischens, J. Faris, A. S. Gurman and W. P. Morgan. 1979. Running as treatment for depression. Comp. Psychiatry. 20: pp. 41-54.
6. R. S. Paffenbarger, I. M. Lee and R. Leung. 1994. Physical activity and personal characteristics associated with depression and suicide in American college men. Acta Psychiatr Scand Suppl. 377: pp. 16-22.
7. J. A. Blumenthal, M.A. Babyak and K.A. Moore et al. 1999. Effects of exercise training on older patients with major depression. Arch Intern Med. 159: pp. 2349-2356.