Exercise and Mental Health
How can movement meaningfully support a us through times of mental challenge?
The More|Better substack is a weekly dose of fitness, wellness, and wellbeing content here to help you make sense of all the nonsense. Written by personal trainer, wellness coach, and positive psychology practitioner Darlene Marshall.
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About once a month for the last few months I’ve been taking a deep dive into individual studies over on the Better Than Fine podcast and it’s been really fun! We’ve looked at studies on purpose and movement, sleep and breathing, and most recently on the relationship between exercise and mental health (all of which you can find totally free wherever you get your podcasts).
That last one, Exercise and Mental Health, takes a look at the study
Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews by Singh et al, 2023 (which you can get here for free).
You can hear the deep analysis of all the details in the study and how it was done on the episode (free player below) - on this post we’re going to take a look at what the conclusions of the study mean and how we use that information.
So let’s get to it!
What We Know:
Here’s a quick summary of the most important details about exercise and mental health confirmed by this study:
Exercise is more effective than medication for treating mild to moderate episodic depression
Exercise is more effective than medication for treating mild to moderate anxiety disorders or short term anxiety than medication
For those with severe depression or anxiety or both, exercise helps make medication more effective
Why is that?
The study doesn’t dive too deeply into causality, but generally we know there are a few factors going on. Some are biological, like increased sensitivity to your own serotonin; some are psychological, like the sense of accomplishment you feel for having done something good for yourself that you set out to do.
Studies are coming out every week with new pieces of the “mode” puzzle (meaning, how this stuff actually works) - but another cool thing confirmed in the study: every mode of movement somehow gives a benefit!
Yes, there are slight differences in some outcomes; but they’re negligible to mental health outcomes.
Translation: if you like something, you’ll do it - so pick things you like and you’ll get the mental health benefits!
YAHTZEE!
But I see a big challenge here that I call out in the episode:
Therapists who know little about embodiment practices and feel uncomfortable or not knowledgeable about how to talk to their clients about movement (and other lifestyle changes like sleep) for mental health
Personal trainers and other movement practitioners who’ve been trained to see physical practice as about Making Gainz(!!) or losing weight and don’t know how to support it as a mental health program
What Do We Do About It?
There are two kinds of “what we do” - what we need for ourselves and what we support in others as practitioners.
The three factors I consider both for myself and my clients/students:
What do I/they like?
What is it I/they need?
What can I/they safely do?
What do I/they like?
For me, the goal of physical activity for mental health is to prime what Barbara Fredrickson calls Upward Spirals - no, these are not woo woo concepts of betterment, they’re scientific phenomena wherein one or more beneficial acts compound to boost wellbeing.
You can learn all about Upward Spirals by checking out these two past posts:
One of the biggest factors in using movement or exercise to prime upward spirals: you have to like something ANYTHING about the experience.
This is often confused - people think it has to be liking the exercise itself. NOPE!
You can like the music, the instructor, your personal trainer, or doing it with your friends. You can like the movie you put on while you walk on the treadmill on an incline.
WHY?
Because you’ll be more consistent, resulting in enough dosage to shift your neurology, physiology, hormones, yada yada you get the idea.
What do I/they need?
This ones a little more tricky if you’re not trained in some aspect of fitness. With my clients I do a postural analysis and a movement screening to figure out if there’s anything in the way of their successful, happy, fun movement.
For example: women approaching perimenopause or post-menopausal women have increasing chances of osteoporosis and gradual muscle and strength loss. I’m probably going to recommend those women to do anything they can to get stronger.
Personally - if I have a knowledge gap on some aspect of my movement I work with someone I trust and I do what they say.
If you’re someone working with others on their wellbeing and don’t feel qualified to assess what they “need”, it’s time to collaborate (and you can always reach out!)
What can I/they do safely?
This is going to echo a lot about what they “need” - it’s challenging if you’re not trained to know where they line is; but gentle movement is always going to be a safe choice. Walking does wonders and you can always go to a class of a practitioner you like and trust (and so can your clients).
For example: many of my clients are virtual and have a variety of lifestyle diseases, injuries, chronic illnesses, etc. If they decide classes are their best option, other than their doctors and my own screening and guidance, I’m relying on the instructor of that class to keep them safe.
Personally - as someone with a chronic illness I rely on a great team of physicians and my exceptional husband/trainer to let me know when I’m missing someone
If you’re someone working with others on their wellbeing and don’t feel qualified to assess what they “need”, it’s time to collaborate (and you can always reach out!)
Later this week paid supporters are going to get a step by step application guide for how I apply these priniciples in my own practice and with my clients.
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