Exercise Really Can Chase Away the Blues … to a Point

It has been long believed that the more exercise you do, the better your mental health. However, new studies are showing that this is not necessarily the case. While exercising is one of the most effective ways to combat depression, over or under doing it can actually worsen your mental health.

Studies have shown that on average a person has 3.4 poor mental health days a month, but people who exercise three to five days a week had 1.5 less poor mental health days.

These studies also looked at a group of different physical activities, not just one or two. The studies looked at things ranging from aerobics to childcare to sports, lawn mowing, going to the gym, and so on. What they found was that team sports, cycling, going to the gym, and aerobics were all the most likely exercises to decrease depression and poor mental health days, possibly because of the social interaction involved in each.

Exercise has and always will be a great way to improve mental health, but there are ways you can do it to get the most benefit from it, like only exercising three to five days a week and making it as social as possible.

Key Points:

  • 1Average person in USA reports 3-4 days of poor mental health per month.
  • 2Being physically active may reduce poor mental health days experienced when compared to those less active.
  • 3Team sports seem to contribute the most, possibly due to the additional social interaction.


Exercise is good for your mental health, as long as you don’t overdo it, researchers say.
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Written by HealthStatus
Medical Writer & Editor

HealthStatus has been operating since 1998 providing the best interactive health tools on the Internet, millions of visitors have used our health risk assessment, body fat and calories burned calculators. The HealthStatus editorial team has continued that commitment to excellence by providing our visitors with easy to understand high quality health content for many years.

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