The effects of resistance training on the management of anxiety and depression have been understudied. A new review article presents “exciting evidence” that resistance exercise training (RET) may be an accessible alternative therapy to improve anxiety and depression, while also improving other important aspects of health, according to the authors of an article published in Trends in Molecular Medicine.1
The authors, Matthew P Herring, PhD, FACSM, at University of Limerick (UL), and Jacob D Meyer, PhD, at Iowa State University, summarized the most rigorous evidence available on the benefits of resistance training and proposed putative mechanisms for the efficacy of resistance training as a treatment for anxiety and depression. A meta-analysis by Gordon et al found that RET caused small to moderate improvements in anxiety symptoms among both healthy and chronically ill adults. A second review by Gordon et al found that RET caused significant and clinically meaningful reductions
in depression symptoms (>50%) from baseline, which was comparable to antidepressant medication and behavioral therapies.
One potential mechanism for the positive effect of resistance exercise on anxiety and depression is the impact on insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1); the authors also cite other potential mechanisms whereby resistance exercise improves mental health, including cerebrovascular adaptation to counter poor cerebral blood flow, and by means of the potential neural adaptations brought about by the controlled breathing that may be employed during resistance training.
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There is sufficient evidence from previous and ongoing research to suggest that resistance exercise training does improve anxiety and depressive symptoms and disorders – though the disorders themselves are little studied.
“The healthful benefits of resistance exercise training, or muscle-strengthening exercise involving exerting force against a load repeatedly for the purpose of generating a training response, are well-established,” said Dr Herring. “However, the potential impact of resistance exercise training in the treatment of anxiety and depressive symptoms and disorders remains relatively understudied. Moreover, the plausible psychobiological mechanisms, which help us to better understand how and why resistance exercise training may improve these mental health outcomes, are poorly understood.”
The researchers argue that, while the available studies in this area are focused on relatively small sample sizes, there is sufficient evidence from previous and ongoing research at UL and the National Institute of Health funded–research with Dr Meyer and colleagues at Iowa State University, to suggest that resistance exercise training does improve anxiety and depressive symptoms and disorders — although the disorders themselves are little studied.
One goal of the current research is to better understand the mechanisms that underlie the benefits of resistance exercise for mental health. “As resistance training likely works through both shared and distinct mechanisms to achieve its positive mood effects compared to aerobic exercise, it has the potential to be used in conjunction with aerobic exercise or as a standalone therapy for these debilitating conditions. Our research will use the platform established by current research as a springboard to comprehensively evaluate these potential benefits of resistance exercise in clinical populations while also identifying who would be the most likely to benefit from resistance exercise,” Dr Meyer said.
Dr Herring added, “…there is substantial promise in investigating the unknown mechanisms that may underlie these benefits to move us closer to maximizing benefits and to optimizing the prescription of resistance exercise via precision medicine approaches.”
