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[The Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research+]

The Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research

Evidence-Based Living

Depression

What Fitness Exercises Treat Depression the Best?

Research provides details on how exercise can improve depression symptoms.

Updated May 2, 2024 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma

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THE BASICS

• What Is Depression?
• Find counselling to overcome depression

Key points

• A large body of evidence demonstrates that exercise is an effective for depression.
• New research provides details on which forms of exercise are most effective.
• Dance, walking, and jogging are the best are relieving symptoms.
• Patients are most likely to stick with exercise programs that involve yoga and strength training.

[Tom Wang/Adobe Stock+]

Tom Wang/Adobe Stock

Chances are that someone you love has experienced depression. Approximately 8 percent of U.S. adults ? some 21 million people ? have a major depressive disorder each year. For people under age 18, depression is the most common cause of hospitalization.

For decades, researchers have been exploring interventions to prevent and treat depression, including medications, talk therapy, and exercise ? which many studieshave found is equally as effective in treating depression as medications and psychotherapy.

A new systematic review compiled by a team of global researchers adds more evidence to how exercise helps treat depression. The review was published in the British Medical Journal and includes 218 studies with more than 14,000 participants.

The review examined specific types and intensities of exercise to determine the best treatments for individuals. Here are some of its findings:

• Dance, exercise combined with medication, and walking or jogging were most effective for relieving symptoms of depression.
• Yoga, strength training, mixed aerobic exercises, and tai chi or qigong were moderately effective when performed regularly.
• Although light exercise, such as walking or hatha yoga, was still clinically meaningful, more vigorous exercise such as running or int