A study (1) examined the prevalence of exercise as a coping strategy among Japanese community-dwelling older adults and its impact on their psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Spanning Japan’s first Covid-19 lockdown period, the study covered 618 community-dwelling older adults.
The study concluded: Older adults who walked to maintain their physical and mental health experienced better well-being than those who did not.
This is in line with established scientific research on the relationship between exercise and mental health.
A review (2) of over 1000 academic research studies over 1990-2020 looking at the relationship between exercise and mental health commented:
Physical health is clearly intertwined with mental health in a bidirectional fashion. Scientific evidence shows that changes in thinking patterns and behaviors affect neurological, endocrine, and immune systems. Conversely, disruption in these biological systems negatively impacts mental health.
As well as biological pathways – such as increasing brain neurotransmitters and improving hormone function involved in mental health, exercise appears to improve mental health through social and self-efficacy pathways,
Selected key conclusions are shown below.
| Exercise and Mental Health: Move Your Mental Health study (2) selected conclusions |
| Does exercise and physical activity benefit mental health? |
| 89% of all published peer-reviewed research between 1990 and 2020 found a positive, statistically significant relationship between exercise/physical activity and mental health. |
| How much exercise and how often? |
| Overall, three to five 30-45-minute moderate to vigorous exercise sessions per week appear to deliver optimal mental health benefits (3) |
| What type of exercise? |
| High-intensity exercise regimens are generally more effective than low-intensity regimens (4) |
| Mindfulness-based activities like yoga and tai chi, though they can be lower intensity forms of movement, deliver more mental health benefits than walking |
| What mental health outcomes are most impacted by exercise? |
| Exercise is strongly associated with general mental and emotional well-being including reduced stress, and improved mood and quality of life |
| Evidence strongly supports cardiovascular/aerobic exercise for reducing depression, showing medium to large effect sizes |
| Evidence shows moderate but reliable effect sizes for cardiovascular/aerobic exercise reducing symptoms in people with anxiety disorders |
| Yoga and other mindful exercises such as Tai Chi and Qigong show strong evidence for reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression |
| Source: Move Your Mental Health, (2) Conceptasia, January 2022 |
References:
- Exercise as a coping strategy and its impact on the psychological well-being of Japanese community-dwelling older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study, by Manami Ejiri, Hisashi Kawai, Takeshi Kera, Kazshige Ihara, Yoshinori Fujiwara, Yutaka Watanabe, Hirohiko Hirano, Hunkyung Kim, and Shuichi Obuchi, September 2021
- Move Your Mental Health, A review of the scientific evidence on the role of exercise and physical activity on mental health, by John W. Brick, mental foundation, May 2021
- Association between physical exercise and mental health in 1·2 million individuals in the USA between 2011 and 2015: a cross-sectional study, by Chekroud, S. R., Gueorguieva, R., Zheutlin, A. B., Paulus, M., Krumholz, H. M., Krystal, J. H., & Chekroud, A. M., 2018
- Exercise in the treatment of clinical anxiety in general practice – a systematic review and meta-analysis, by Aylett, E., Small, N. & Bower, P., 2018