New Study Finds Workouts Have a Lasting Emotional Impact

What are the emotional benefits of exercise? Recent research suggests that it may do as much, if not more, for your mind than it does for your body. From growing new neurons to easing depression, the list of perks continues to grow. Here’s what to know about the new studies finding that workouts have a lasting emotional impact. 

The Most Effective Workout for Reaping the Emotional Benefits of Exercise — What Recent Studies Show 

A study recently conducted at UC Santa Barbara and published in the journal Communications Psychology found that single, acute bouts of exercise at high intensities had the most consistent impact on memory, executive functioning, information processing and other cognitive functions. In particular, HIIT-style workouts lasting less than 30 minutes produced the most impressive effects in young to middle-aged adults. 

Does that mean one of the emotional benefits of exercise is that you can get away with shorter, more intense workouts? Yes and no. The ideal may be a mix of moderate and vigorous activity. Another recent study published in the journal PLoS ONE showed that the minimum amount of movement recommended by the WHO — 150 minutes per week — was not sufficient to offset the effects of sitting all day. 

However, you could do two shorter, HIIT-style workouts or alternate shorter, more intense activity with longer, more moderate exercise. For example, you might do a vigorous 20 minutes of intense cardio and weight training in the morning, then take a brisk walk after dinner with your family or join your kids for a game of pickup basketball. 

What seems to matter most is going hard, albeit briefly. While you can rely on fitness monitors to measure intensity, a good judge is breathiness — while you should be able to talk, you should find it challenging to carry on a conversation. 

You can also calculate your target heart rate by taking 220 minus your age, then multiplying it by .60 to .85. That way, you’re working between 60% and 85% of your max, the sweet spot for feeling the burn. 

Exercise, Neuronal Growth and Recovery From Trauma 

Another emotional benefit of exercise concerns the formation of your nerve cells themselves. Science long believed that your nerves did not regrow but have since learned this is incorrect. Neurogenesis, or creating new nerve cells, continues throughout your lifetime. 

New research from MIT shows that exercise facilitates this process. When you workout, your body produces a chemical soup called myokines. Nerve fibers exposed to these myokines grew four times farther than those that remained untouched. 

These changes don’t only affect the nerve fibers in your body — they also impact your brain. Research recently published in Molecular Psychiatry shows that exercise spurs increased neuronal formation in the hippocampus, which helps mice overcome the behavioral changes caused by traumatic or drug-associated memories. Researchers hope these findings will help in developing treatments for PTSD — but there’s nothing to stop you from developing your own healing workout plan. 

The Emotional Benefits of Exercise and Depression — a Complicated Relationship 

Research has long suggested that one of the emotional benefits of exercise is that it eases depression symptoms, and two new studies further support this assertion. One recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that 80 weekly minutes of moderate-intensity movement cut the severity of the “baby blues” and the risk of major clinical depression after giving birth. 

Another study investigated the effect of exercise on adolescents. They found one of the emotional benefits of exercise is reducing negative feelings among teens. In particular, physical activity showed the most beneficial effects on those with depression. However, it did not have a similar impact on anxiety symptoms. 

4 Ways to Use Your Workouts to Improve Your Emotional Health 

If you want to reap the emotional benefits of exercise, here are four ways to work your body to improve your mind. 

1. Pick a Style, Intensity and Format That You Genuinely Enjoy 

If going to the gym feels like a slog, you’ll always spend the first few minutes feeling yucky until those sweet endorphins take over. Therefore, pick activities you truly enjoy, which may or may not include a membership. You might find you love a brisk hike or trail run after work or the upper-body work a rock climbing wall provides. Make exercise recess, and you’ll never truly “workout” again. 

2. Use Walking, Jogging or Working Out as a Time-Out Intervention 

The next time you feel your negative emotions getting out of control, take an exercise break. Use your phone to set a timer and hit it hard for 10 minutes, doing jumping jacks, jump squats, burpees — any moves that get your heart pumping. Alternatively, head outside if it isn’t pouring rain and take a brisk walk around the block to clear your head. 

3. Embrace Recovery Exercise, Too 

While it’s important to go hard, remember, your intensity periods should be brief enough to fit inside a 30-minute HIIT workout. However, that doesn’t mean sitting on the couch for the remaining 23 ½ hours per day. Gentler movements, like a bike ride with your kid, still boost your mood and get you moving outdoors. Slow, meditative practices like Yin yoga stimulate hyaluronic acid flow through your fascia, a connective tissue filled with nerves, to ease aches. 

4. Schedule Movement Breaks Throughout Your Day 

Since short, intense exercise bursts are best, you don’t have to schedule a full hour to hit the gym — unless, of course, that works best for your lifestyle. However, you can also schedule smaller movement breaks throughout your day. Use your morning and afternoon 15-minute break to work up a brief, intense sweat. Take a walk at lunch or walk or bike to work and race to beat your time to dial up the intensity. 

The Emotional Benefits of Exercise

Recent research lends new insight into the emotional benefits of exercise. Physical activity may do as much for your brain as it does your body. Find forms of movement that you love and get your heart pumping hard, albeit briefly, at least once a day for better overall fitness.