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4 min readA study of 62 people found that strength training and quiet rest can reduce symptoms of depression as well as quiet rest. There isn’t as much research on the impact of lifting (compared to aerobic activity) on depressive symptoms.Working through sets relatively quickly, like in circuit training, might impact your mood in as little as 10 minutes after your workout, a researcher says.<\/p>\n
When you hear that exercise can boost your mood, you likely picture yourself running<\/a> or cycling<\/a>, probably along some beautiful trail on a perfectly sunny day. <\/p>\n But a new study adds to the still-limited evidence<\/a> that lifting weights can have a measurable impact on symptoms of depression, too. While aerobic cycling has the most evidence supporting its ability to reduce symptoms of depression in a single session, there’s simply been less research around the impact of resistance exercise on mental health, says Darragh O’Sullivan<\/a>, PhD, lead study author and health researcher at University of Limerick. <\/p>\n Here\u2019s what the researchers found, plus why strength training can be such a win for body and brain.<\/p>\n Meet the experts: Thea Gallagher, PsyD<\/a>, is a clinical associate professor at NYU Langone Health and cohost of the Mind in View podcast; Darragh O’Sullivan<\/a>, PhD, is the lead study author and health researcher at University of Limerick. Albert Matheny, RD, CSCS, is the co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab<\/a>.<\/p>\n What did the study find?<\/p>\n For the study, which was published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise,<\/a> researchers recruited 62 young adults around age 27, some with subclinical generalized anxiety disorder and\/or major depressive disorder. (The authors says that depressive symptoms are common among young adults, especially among those with anxiety.)<\/p>\n The participants either went through an eight-week resistance training program or were added to a waitlist. In the first week, those in the exercise program completed a moderate-intensity strength session that included two sets of eight to 12 reps of eight different exercises that target major muscle groups. The waitlist group completed 30 minutes of quiet rest. <\/p>\n The researchers tracked participants\u2019 moods before and after each session, along with changes in depressive symptoms over time. The results? People in both the strength training group and quiet time group had an improvement in mood after just a single session. While the difference between groups wasn\u2019t huge, the researchers noted that both strength training and quiet rest had a significant positive effect on mood.<\/p>\n To be fair, this didn\u2019t compare strength training head-to-head with cardio workouts. But it did find that there are mental health perks to strength training workouts, too.<\/p>\n Related StoriesWhy might strength training help with symptoms of depression?<\/p>\n While nothing has been proven, there are a few potential reasons for these findings.<\/p>\n “We believe that the antidepressant effects of aerobic and resistance training largely have shared mechanisms,” says Darragh O’Sullivan<\/a>, PhD, the lead study author and health researcher at University of Limerick. For example, both types of exercise may impact brain structure and function, blood flow to the brain, and inflammation in the body, which may help lower the risk of depression, O’Sullivan says. Movement in general also impacts chemical messengers called neurotransmitters, leading to better communication between nerve cells in your brain.<\/p>\n However, resistance training may have a more potent impact on insulin-like growth factor-1, a hormone that plays a role in the growth, repair, and protection of neurons in brain regions that regulate mood, such as the hippocampus, O’Sullivan says. “This is similar to what protein does for the muscles.” But all of this is still being explored.<\/p>\n