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Thread: Strength Training Can Relieve Depression - Dr Mercola

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    Strength Training Can Relieve Depression - Dr Mercola

    • A meta-analysis of 33 trials involving nearly 2,000 people showed that strength training led to a significant reduction in depressive symptoms
    • The greatest improvements were seen among people with symptoms of mild to moderate depression, as opposed to those without depression, which suggests strength training may be most effective for people with greater depressive symptoms
    • While strength training may not provide an all-out cure for depression, it may improve depressive symptoms as well as antidepressants and behavioral therapies
    • Strength training is a simple, accessible and side-effect-free intervention that could help drive down rising rates of depression and improve quality of life

    By Dr. Mercola

    Resistance exercise training, commonly referred to as weight training or strength training, is often viewed as an activity aimed at building large muscles. While it certainly does build muscle mass and strength, its benefits don't end there, as strength training offers bodywide benefits from your heart to your brain. In fact, recent research published in JAMA Psychiatry revealed it's even beneficial for your mood and may help to alleviate symptoms of depression.

    A meta-analysis of 33 trials involving nearly 2,000 people showed that strength training led to a significant reduction in depressive symptoms, and this held true regardless of the participant's health status, improvements in strength or how much strength training they completed.

    According to the study's lead author, Brett Gordon, a postgraduate researcher in the department of physical education and sports sciences at the University of Limerick in Ireland, the greatest improvements were seen among people with symptoms of mild to moderate depression, as opposed to those without depression, which suggests strength training may be most effective for people with greater depressive symptoms.

    Strength Training May Be as Effective as Antidepressants
    While strength training may not provide an all-out cure for depression, Gordon noted in an email to Time that it may improve depressive symptoms as well as antidepressants and behavioral therapies. Many different strength training programs turned out to be beneficial, so Gordon recommended strength training for two days a week, with eight to 12 repetitions of eight to 10 strength-training exercises, to boost mental health, which are the guidelines suggested by the American College of Sports Medicine.

    The World Health Organization's (WHO) physical activity guidelines for adults 18 to 64 also recommends at least two days of strength-based exercises each week. Past research has also highlighted strength training's psychological benefits, including a study on stroke survivors, which found improvements in strength are associated with a reduction in levels of depression. Yet another review revealed impressive mental health benefits of strength training in adults, including:

    • Reductions in anxiety symptoms in healthy adults
    • Improvements in cognition among older adults
    • Improvements in sleep quality among older adults with depression
    • Reductions in symptoms of depression among people diagnosed with depression
    • Improvements in self-esteem
    • Further, in a study of older depressed adults, 80 percent experienced a significant reduction in depressive symptoms after taking up strength training for 10 weeks, such that researchers concluded, "PRT [progressive resistance training] is an effective antidepressant in depressed elders, while also improving strength, morale and quality of life."


    In yet another study of older adults with depression, those who took part in high-intensity strength training three days a week for eight weeks experienced a 50 percent reduction in depressive symptoms, whereas separate research showed strength training exercise reduced depressive symptoms in older Hispanic/Latino adults as well (endurance, balance and flexibility exercises were also beneficial for mood).

    What Makes Exercise so Good for Your Brain and Mood?
    The featured study in JAMA Psychiatry revealed that both strength training and aerobic exercise appear to be effective for depression. As for why such activities are so good for your brain and mood, it could be related to increased blood flow to your brain or the release of mood-boosting chemicals like endorphins, norepinephrine and dopamine, helping to buffer some of the effects of stress...

    https://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fi..._rid=324294297

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    Proven!

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    Amen~!

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    I forgot I even posted this. I always feel much better mentally when I'm working out regularly, which these days is most of the time. I don't do as much cardio these days as I used to. Mainly stick to strength training, and and a few exercises that I do in such a way to give me some HIIT (high intensity interval training).

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    Quote Originally Posted by fuego View Post
    I forgot I even posted this. I always feel much better mentally when I'm working out regularly, which these days is most of the time. I don't do as much cardio these days as I used to. Mainly stick to strength training, and and a few exercises that I do in such a way to give me some HIIT (high intensity interval training).
    I have given up weight training in favor of cycling. Last summer was my first summer of more serious mountain biking/trail riding. Few things are as exhillerating and strenuous as single track riding on dedicated trails. But I do miss weight training.

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    Quote Originally Posted by FireBrand View Post
    I have given up weight training in favor of cycling. Last summer was my first summer of more serious mountain biking/trail riding. Few things are as exhillerating and strenuous as single track riding on dedicated trails. But I do miss weight training.
    You don't exercise your upper body specifically at all ?

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    I just do old school

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    There's nothing for the outer back and biceps in that program.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Colonel View Post
    You don't exercise your upper body specifically at all ?
    Sorry for the late response. Mountain biking on challenging singletrack works it all in various intensity. Wrestling the handlebar, body english to control the ride, pulling on the bars to aid in “leg presses” hillclimbs...surprisingly intense. I try to work in one good ride per week along with regular road riding that is one longer ride and one fast ride. Works for me.

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    Quote Originally Posted by FireBrand View Post
    Sorry for the late response. Mountain biking on challenging singletrack works it all in various intensity. Wrestling the handlebar, body english to control the ride, pulling on the bars to aid in “leg presses” hillclimbs...surprisingly intense. I try to work in one good ride per week along with regular road riding that is one longer ride and one fast ride. Works for me.
    So you don't do wrestling anymore, just mountain biking ?

    I went to Planetfitness in Florida a couple of times during the previous week. There were lots of big, strong 300 pound guys there. They seemed to think that I seemed fairly weak until I started doing bodyweight exercises and then they seemed to decide that I was pretty strong for a flyweight. Just my impressions in a "new" country. Dips, pullups and single leg squats are pretty easy to do for me and I weigh under 200 pounds.

    As an aside. I was standing in line at the security check at Orlando airport yesterday and there was an unusual number of enormous people standing in front of me. To my right there was an Arabian looking guy who was around 6'6". In front of me there were two white dudes, one was about 6'7" and looked like he weighed about 500 pounds. To his right was another guy who was about the same height and had the largest upper body that I have ever seen. Meaning he had extremely short legs and extremely wide shoulders, not that his muscles were unusually large. Somewhere in front of those two was a woman who was about 6'9" and somewhere in front of her a guy who was close to 7'. For a moment I felt dwarfed in my 6'2" frame. Not what I had expected after reading that the average American male is about 5'9".

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