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Exercise may be as effective at reducing the symptoms of depression as therapy and antidepressants, a review published this week suggests. 

Moderate intensity exercise was deemed more effective than vigorous exercise, while a combination of cardiovascular and resistance training was preferable to aerobic exercise alone.   

The review was conducted by academics at the University of Lancashire, England. They analysed 73 randomised controlled trials which nearly 5,000 adults with depression took part in.

“Our findings suggest that exercise appears to be a safe and accessible option for helping to manage symptoms of depression,” said lead researcher Prof Andrew Clegg. 

However, he cautioned that existing research into the effects of exercise on depression have significant limitations. Some forms of exercise, such as yoga, qigong and stretching, were not included, while the long-term effects of exercise and other treatments remained unclear as few studies followed participants after treatment.

“Exercise can help people with depression, but if we want to find which types work best, for who and whether the benefits last over time, we still need larger, high-quality studies,” he said. 

Image: Ketut Subiyanto