Keep Depression Away With An Hour Of Exercising: Study

Health benefits of exercising are no news to any one of us. Everyone knows how regular exercising can help in preventing chronic diseases like diabetes. But did you know, exercising one hour just once a week can also keep mental illness away? According to a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, working out in a gym or even running for just one hour and once a week can help in keeping depression away. Scientists examined 33908 people in this study.

Over a period of 11 years, scientists checked if regular exercising had any impact on them and checked for symptoms of depression or anxiety in these people. None of them was diagnosed with the same. 12% of the people said that they exercised regularly from 30 minutes to four hours.

7% of the people involved in the study developed depression in the following years and 9% developed anxiety. It was also found that people who did not exercise at all in the beginning of the study were 44% more likely to develop depression.

Also read: 3 Exercises That Burn Huge Amounts Of Calories

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"Relatively modest changes in population levels of exercise may have important public mental health benefits and prevent a substantial number of new cases of depression," the study found.

Also, it was observed that exercising need not be very intensive. Just an hour of workout could lower chances of depression by 12%.

American Heart Association recommends a moderate intensity exercise session for only 150 minutes in a week. For those who wish to give it lesser time, 75 minutes a week of vigorous exercising could also work. This along with "moderate-to high-intensity muscle strengthening activity" only twice a week could help in improving your overall cardiovascular health. However, this relationship was not seen effective in the prevention of anxiety.