|
 Researchers analyzed data from 16 previously published studies with
a total of 922 participants who were randomly assigned to do
resistance training or be inactive.
Resistance workouts were associated with a reduction in anxiety
symptoms regardless of whether or not participants had a mental
health disorder, though the effect was more pronounced in healthy
people who didn’t report any physical or psychological problems.
“The positive effects of exercise training on mental health are well
established; however, the majority of this knowledge is based on
studies involving aerobic based training,” said lead study author
Brett Gordon, a physical education and sports researcher at the
University of Limerick in Ireland.
“RET (resistance exercise training) significantly reduced anxiety in
both healthy participants and those with a physical or mental
illness, and the effect size of these reductions is comparable to
that of frontline treatments such as medication and psychotherapy,”
Gordon said by email. “RET is a low-cost behavior with minimal risk,
and can be an effective tool to reduce anxiety for healthy and ill
alike.”
Because the analysis only focused on resistance training, the
results can’t show whether this type of activity might be better or
worse than aerobic or other types of exercise for easing anxiety
symptoms.
While the effects of resistance exercise on the brain are not as
well understood as the impact of aerobic workouts, emerging research
has also linked resistance training to less shrinkage of white
matter in the brain, said Dianna Purvis Jaffin of the Brain
Performance Institute at the University of Texas at Dallas.
White matter is composed of nerve fibers that connect neurons in
different parts of the brain. Changes in white matter can occur with
age, and are thought to be involved in cognitive and behavioral
problems.
It’s possible that exercise might help ease anxiety simply by
distracting people from how they’re feeling and giving them
something else to focus on, Jaffin, who wasn’t involved in the
current study, said by email.
[to top of second column] |
“Exercise generally requires some level of concentration on the
activity and may serve as a distraction, and at least acutely
(meaning - during that bout of exercise and a bit after) interrupt
rumination and obsessive worrying,” Jaffin said.
“Finally, since people with anxiety tend to have uncertainty about
their future, they may obsessively worry and lack confidence,”
Jaffin added. “Exercise can improve self-efficacy, the belief that
one can succeed in particular situations, which may make someone
feel more empowered.”
While the amount of exercise may influence the impact of workouts on
mental health, there isn’t enough evidence available yet to
prescribe a specific amount of activity, said Steven Petruzzello, a
body mechanics researcher at the University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign who wasn’t involved in the study.
Absent this sort of prescription, choosing an enjoyable workout
makes sense, Petruzzello said by email.
In the current analysis, people did resistance exercises on two to
five days per week for an average of 11 weeks.
“The best advice at the present time is to ‘just do it’ - it being
whatever the person finds enjoyable or at least tolerable,”
Petruzzello said. “For some that might mean going for a walk, for
others it might entail more vigorous forms of activity.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2yvBptq Sports Medicine, online August 17,
2017.
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
