How strength training can help your mental health

Most people know that exercise is good for the body. It can help the mind too. The World Health Organization says regular physical activity reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety and can improve overall well-being.

Strength training (lifting weights, using machines, or bodyweight exercises such as squats and push-ups) has been studied on its own as well.

What the research found

• Low mood. A 2018 review in JAMA Psychiatry combined 33 trials with 1,877 people. On average, strength training significantly reduced symptoms of depression in adults, whatever their general health.
• You don't have to lift huge amounts. In that review, the benefit wasn't linked to how much training people were given, or to whether their strength improved a lot.
• Anxiety. A 2017 review in Sports Medicine looked at 16 studies with 922 people. Strength training reduced anxiety symptoms, with a bigger effect in healthy adults than in people living with an illness.

What it doesn't mean

These are averages from research trials. They don't promise that training will fix anyone's mood, and exercise is not a replacement for treatment. If you've been feeling low, anxious or not yourself for a while, please talk to a doctor or another health professional. Training can sit alongside the help they give you.

How to start

• Start small. Any amount of activity is better than none.
• Aim for two days a week of strengthening exercises that work the major muscle groups: legs, hips, back, stomach, chest, shoulders and arms.
• Be patient with yourself, and notice how you feel after a session, not just how much you lifted.