Longevity Bloomington Newsletter # 19 - The Effect of Exercise on Mental Health
Plus a new financial section with tips for retirement
Research Roundup: Exercise & Mental Health
Most of you are well aware of the vast physical benefits that exercise provides. What is less known, but equally important, is the effect exercise can have on improving your mental health. There have been hundreds of studies that have examined the effects of physical activity on depression, anxiety, cognition and self-esteem. Taken together, the research provides robust evidence that greater habitual physical activity is associated with better mental health functioning. Today, we will provide a brief overview of a few of these studies and highlight ways you can put this information into action in your own life.
A 2016 review in the Journal of Psychiatric Research summarized the effect of exercise on 1,487 adults with depression. The authors found that exercise resulted in a large reduction in symptoms associated with depression. Both aerobic and resistance training were associated with large effects across all studies. The authors also found that exercise of moderate to vigorous intensity reduced depressive symptoms more than light intensity exercise. Additionally, exercise supervised by professionals with relevant training had the greatest improvements. From the authors: “Overall, our results provide robust evidence that exercise can be considered an evidence-based treatment for the management of depression.”
A 2005 study divided 60 adults aged 60 years or older with depression into three groups: high intensity weight training, low intensity weight training and general practitioner care. The exercise groups participated in resistance training three days per week for eight weeks. After eight weeks, 61% of the participants in the high intensity group reported a greater than 50% reduction in their depressive symptoms compared to 29% in the low intensity group and 21% in the general practitioner group. From the authors: “Compared to standard antidepressant treatment, high intensity resistance training appears to offer similar efficacy, with a clinically meaningful response seen in approximately 60% of patients in this study. However, given the poor side effect profile of antidepressant pharmacotherapy in older adults (5), and the low compliance with such treatment (4), the risk/benefit ratio and acceptability may favor resistance exercise. High intensity exercise had additional benefits beyond relief of depression, including more significant improvements in health-related quality of life, sleep quality, and muscle strength than did low intensity exercise or GP care.”
A classic study on combating depression with strength training in adults 50+ was published in the Journal of Gerontology in 1997. The researchers split up 32 participants aged 60-84 into two groups. The experimental group participated in progressive resistance exercise three times per week for ten weeks. The other participants were assigned to a “control” group consisting mainly of health education. After ten weeks of strength training, 60% of the participants reported a > 50% reduction in their depressive symptoms and 14 out of 16 exercisers no longer met the criteria for depression! The exercise group also reported significant improvements in strength, morale and quality of life.
The amount of studies examining the effect of exercise on anxiety are less numerous than the research on depression. However, a 2018 review examined exercise in the treatment of anxiety and found that “aerobic exercise was effective in the treatment of raised anxiety”. The researchers again found that higher intensity exercise was more effective than low intensity exercise.
To conclude, exercise is an effective way to reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety and psychological distress for many people. It has been shown to be as effective or more effective than medication or counseling. Furthermore, exercise has additional benefits that the other treatment options do not including reduced cost, less side effects and additional physical health benefits including improved cardiovascular health and increased strength. This is not to say you should stop taking your medication or cancel your counseling appointments. Both of those options can be very effective and the effectiveness of a particular treatment will often depend on the individual. Depression and anxiety are complex and what works for one individual may not work for another. If medication and counseling do help your symptoms, try adding exercise to your treatment regimen to see if you can get an additional boost. Why not try both? Talk to your mental health provider AND lift some weights. Find what works for you, “but exercise shouldn’t be viewed as a “nice to have” option. It is a powerful and accessible tool for managing mental health conditions.”
Practical takeaways:
Both aerobic and resistance exercise are effective at improving mental health but a combination of the two is most effective.
High intensity exercise is more effective than low intensity in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Aim to meet the physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes of physical activity per week for maximum benefit. If that sounds like too much right now, some exercise is better than no exercise at all and much of the benefit can be realized in as little as 2-3 days per week.
How to Get More Out of Your Walking Routine
Many individuals use walking as their primary means of exercise. And although we (and the research) strongly believe everyone could benefit from adding strength training into their routine, walking can be highly beneficial and improve your health in a variety of ways. This is especially true if you are currently sedentary. Moving from doing nothing to something will significantly improve your well being. On the other hand, if you have been walking the same route at the same pace for years, maybe it is time to switch things up a bit and get even more benefit out of that walk!
Here a few ways to level up your walking routine to get more out of your daily walk:
Bump up the pace - you can easily increase the health benefits of your walking simply by walking faster. An easy way to do this is to alternate fast walking intervals with moderate walking intervals. You can start by walking fast for 30 seconds and then reducing your speed to a moderate pace for 1-2 minutes. As you get more fit, reduce the moderate pace interval so you are resting for a shorter period of time.
Walk up hill - you can also increase the intensity of your walk by changing the terrain. Find a spot nearby that has some elevation change. Walking uphill will elevate your heart rate quickly and can make for a more efficient workout!
Add weight - another great way to derive additional benefits from your walk is to add resistance. This is easily done by adding weight to a backpack. The addition of weight in a backpack can help with improving endurance, strength and bone density far more than your standard walk.
Longevity Bloomington Members In Action
The Longevity Bloomington members had another great month in June. Check them out below - in super speed!
Can You Limit Your Sitting and Sleeping to 23.5 hours per day?
Below is a great video from Dr. Mike Evans, MD explaining the single best thing we can do for our health. He clearly explains the research and provides a great way to think about allocating a small portion of your day to exercise. This is 10 minutes well spent!
Financial Focus - Should You Own Bonds When Interest Rates Rise?
This month we are expanding our subject matter outside of health and fitness with some investment advice from a local financial advisor.
As you know, the stock market has attracted a lot of attention – and for good reason, as we’ve seen considerable volatility almost from the beginning of the year. But if you own bonds, or bond-based mutual funds, you might also have some concerns. However, it’s important to understand why bonds should continue to be an important part of your portfolio.
To begin with, let’s look at what’s happened with bond prices recently. Inflation has heated up, leading the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to help “cool off” the economy. And rising interest rates typically raise bond yields — the total annual income that investors get from their “coupon” (interest) payments. Rising yields can cause a drop in the value of your existing bonds, because investors will want to buy the newly issued bonds that offer higher yields than yours.
And yet, despite this possible drop in their value, the bonds you own can still help you make progress toward your financial goals. Consider these benefits of bond ownership:
Income – No matter what happens to the value of your bonds, they will continue to provide you with income, in the form of interest payments, until they mature, provided the issuer doesn’t default — and defaults are generally unlikely with investment-grade bonds (those rated BBB or higher). Your interest payments will remain the same throughout the life of your bond, which can help you plan for your cash flow and spending.
Diversification – As you’ve probably heard, diversification is a key to successful investing. If you only owned one type of asset, such as growth stocks, and the stock market went into a decline, as has happened this year, your portfolio likely would have taken a big hit — even bigger than the one you may have experienced. But bond prices don’t always move in the same direction as stocks, so the presence of bonds in your portfolio — along with other investments, such as government securities and certificates of deposit — can help reduce the impact of volatility on your holdings. (Keep in mind, though, that by itself, diversification can’t guarantee profits or protect against all losses in a declining market.)
Reinvestment opportunities – As mentioned above, rising interest rates and higher yields may reduce the value of your current bonds, but this same development may also offer you some favorable reinvestment opportunities. If you own bonds of varying durations — short-, intermediate- and long-term — you should regularly have some bonds maturing. And in an environment such as the current one, you can reinvest the proceeds of your expiring short-term bonds into new ones issued at potentially higher interest rates. By doing so, you can potentially provide yourself with more income. Also, by owning a mix of bonds, you’ll still have the longer-term ones working for you, and these bonds typically (but not always) pay a higher interest rate than the shorter-term ones.
It might not feel pleasant to see the current value of your bonds drop. But if you’re not selling them before they mature, and you take advantage of the opportunities afforded by higher yields, you’ll find that owning bonds can still be a valuable part of your investment strategy.
Provided by Aubrey Williams CFP®, Financial Advisor
http://edwardjones.com/aubrey-williams
Edward Jones, Member SIPC
Yoga Pose of the Month
Halfway Lift (Ardha Uttanasana)
If you have tight hamstrings or would like to strengthen your back, try our pose of the month, halfway lift.
Halfway Lift is typically used as a transition between other poses, but practicing it on its own has significant benefits:
It creates length in the back of the legs, especially in the hamstrings and calves
It lengthens the postural muscles of the spine
It strengthens the abdominals, back muscles, legs, and shoulder girdle
Over time, practicing halfway lift may help to relieve lower back pain.
Here’s how:
1. Begin with the feet parallel to one another, the knees slightly to deeply bent (the amount of bend will depend your body), and the torso folded down toward the legs.
2. On your next inhale, place your hands on your thighs, your shins, or a support in front of you.
3. Lengthen the crown of your head forward and your tailbone backward.
4. Pull your navel in, engaging the abdominal muscles.
5. Draw your shoulder blades toward one another and slide them down your back.
6. You can hold here for up to 30 seconds, breathing deeply.
Keep the focus on lengthening the spine. Think about making the back as flat as possible.
When you are first starting, tight hamstrings and/or a tight back can really get in the way of finding length in the back. Try bending the knees more deeply to lessen the stretch in the hamstrings, and make sure that you are actively pulling the belly in towards the spine.
Every time we practice halfway lift, we are building back strength, and that’s a very good thing, because a strong back is a healthy back!
Come practice with us Mondays and Wednesdays at 2:00-3:00.
~Patricia
100 Class Club
Please welcome Jana Hasty to the 100 class club! Jana is always willing to help anyone in class that needs it and she has been a great supporter of Longevity over the last 2 years. We appreciate you Jana!