The surprising reason why you should not exercise more than 5 times a week
Yes, you can have too much good thing.
For the millions of Americans who have experienceddepressionAnxiety or other mental health problems, personal care is not just a bubble bath or leaf mask. This is an essential part of the search for our mental well-being proactively. For many of us, exercise - with a therapy, better sleep and another tactic - is a critical way to support our mental health.
"Regular exercise is an important part of the management of our mood," saidPaul Greene, Ph.D, Director ofManhattan Center for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. "Our emotional life is affected by our body and physical health, so take care of our physical health is part of the good emotional management."
In fact, the exercise has been linked to a multitude of mental health benefits, such asFeelings of reduced depression, aImprovement of the meaning of the end,Less anxiety, and more. Search published inGlobal psychiatry Also found that people with mental health problems such as bipolar disorder and major depression are more sedentary than people without these conditions. (It should be noted that the results were associative, non-causative, which means that it is not clear if sedentarity contributes directly to their mental health or is a symptom of these conditions.)
However, it may be possible to get too much good thing, even to exercise. Although you can assume that more exercise is the best, a 2018 study published inLancent psychiatry have found that the effects of promoting the mental health of the exercise seem to a certain amount of time from a certain amount of time. More specifically, the authors of the study found an association betweenPeople who worked more than five times a week and worse mental health.
Surprised? Here is a breakdown of the results of the study - and why this can be a good idea to keep exercise (like all the rest of life) with moderation. And for more Intel exercise, do not miss:This is what stress is to elite the bodies of athletes, tell experts.
Watching the relationship between exercise and mental health
The authors of the study examined data of 1.2 million people aged 18 and over come from disease control and prevention centers (CDC).Investigation of the Behavioral Risk Factors Monitoring System. This survey on the Rund CDC phone collects data from people in the 50 states of their state of health, their habits, etc. The authors of the study, based in Yale University, drew data from three years of survey results: 2011, 2013 and 2015.
Specifically, the authors of the study wanted to compare the number of bad days of self-reported mental health between those who did not do it. They also broke the type of exercise, how often the people exerted and for how long to pull deeper connections. The authors of the study used an algorithm to control for age, race, sex, income, IMC and other factors so that groups are balanced and so just compare. (This ensures that you can say that the results are clearly related to exercise and no, because a group is intrinsically richer or healthier than the other.)
Overall, the authors of the study found that the persons exercised had had43.2% Less bad days of mental health compared to people who have not exercised. All types of exercises were linked to better days of mental health. Researchers stated that team sports, cycling and aerobics and gym training had the most important associations. Read more:A secret exercise trick that women over 50 should try now.
Potential potential outcomes of exercise for mental health
Interestingly, the study also found that more exercise are not necessarily better for mental health. The authors of the study also compared the number of days of poor mental health that people had with how often they exercised. The people who exercised the least (0-2 times a month) tended to have a mental health charge reported as people who have the most to practice (28-30 times a month).
"People who exercise between three and five times a week had a lower health burden than those who exercised less than three or more five times," writes the authors of the study. This model was true for all types of exercise and intensity, they said. People who exercise between 120 minutes and 360 minutes a week "had the lowest mental health burden," he added.
Why more exercise could not necessarily be better
It is important to note that it was an associative study; The authors could not definitely prove that too much (or too few) exercise mental health problems. All they have seen is that a relationship seems to exist between the two. (The authors even wrote inA follow-up paperthat their research "should not be interpreted as evidence that high levels of exercise cause depressive symptoms") a potential explanation, they were initially hypothetic, was that the people who exercised a lot could have an additional line for which they could not take into account in their design design, such as "obsessive characteristics or personality traits".
Dr. Greene says it's a possibility that could partly explain these results. "There are people who feel obliged to exercise because without it, their self-esteem or their mood is taking a success," he says. "It's suggestive of perfectionism or some people eveneating disorders"In these cases, he says that the frequency of exercise is not the cause of the problem of mental health, but rather a symptom of it. But he points out that it is only a hypothesis that justifies a more in-depth follow-up search.
Beyond potential mental health implications, exercise a ton is not an excellent for your physical health either. You can get too much if you are really working hard without allowing an adequate recovery time. This puts you at risk of injury andAssign your sleep habits and fitness results. Read more:Surprising habits that cause sustainable damage to your body, explains science.
The best type of exercise for mental health
All that said, exercise in general can always provide many benefits in mental health. "Some of the research I saw suggest that doing exercise for 30 minutes three times a week is a good number," says Dr. Greene. (It's equal with what thePsychiatry lancet Study found.) But there is no "magic number," says - it really depends on the person.
There is also no exercise that is "best" for mental health, then Dr. Greene recommends choosing something you like. "Even if you play a sport that does not involve many movements - like in a sports field in Softball-if it's a nice activity for you, it will stimulate your mood," he says. "Similarly, if you spend time with your friends, it will also stimulate your mood." This could explain why the study revealed that team sports were apparently beneficial for mental health, he says.
If depression or anxiety make it difficult to find the motivation to exercise, Dr. Greene says to start small. Do not feel like a training session necessary for a number of minutes to wonder your time, he says. "Exercise does not need to involve a team sport or being at the gym," he says. "It can be a vigorous walk. This can be any number of things depending on your body [and] what counts as exercise for you." As long as you are moving, you will enjoy it. And for more training ideas, be sure to readSecret side effects of exercise only 2 hours a week, explains science.