Straight from the no shit Sherlock files. I am always amazed that people are amazed by the obvious, I am doubly amazed that the obvious also gets research grants…….
It’s not just running. Two new studies confirm that weightlifting provides a similar boost to mental health.
At the beginning of the year, when I was coming out of a rough experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and depression, I decided to switch from running regularly to lifting weights. This was despite mountains of evidence pointing to the benefits of aerobic exercise for mental health. The story I told myself was that running is a catabolic activity: It breaks the body down and causes increases in the stress hormone cortisol. Weightlifting, on the other hand, is anabolic: It builds the body up and promotes the release of the feel-good hormone testosterone. I felt broken. I figured trying to build myself up might help.
And it did. I began strength training three to four days per week, doing mainly compound lifts like squatting, pressing, and deadlifting, and started to feel incrementally better. Whether this drove my improvement is hard to say. I was also engaging in regular cognitive behavioral therapy, meditating daily, and taking medication. But lifting weights certainly didn’t hurt.
More here – Outside
