Weightlifting and resistance training could be as effective as taking antidepressants in warding off depression and mental health problems, Irish scientists have found.
A study of 1,877 people carried out through 33 clinical trials has found resistance training is comparable to “frontline treatments” such as antidepressants and behavioural therapies for people suffering from depression.
While there has been extensive research into the positive effects of aerobic exercise such as running, cycling and swimming on people’s mental health, there has been little evidence to date of the mental effects of training with weights, notes the study.
The research, which was published in the JAMA Psychiatry international journal, is the first “large-scale quantitative review” into these effects, write the authors.
One of the authors of the report, Brett R Gordan from the University of Limerick, writes that strength training or weight lifting is "free from the negative side effects and high costs of many medications and therapies".
“Strength or resistance training can also be carried out alongside the other therapies,” he adds.
The study found depressive symptoms among participants taking part in the training fell regardless of whether they were healthy or had an illness, or whether they actually built up their physical strength during the research.
The positive effects of resistance exercise training on participants’ mental health did not increase the more sessions they took part in and researchers noted that further research is needed to “explore the optimal resistance exercise training routine” for dealing with depression.
“Importantly, resistance exercise training does not have the negative side effects often associated with other treatments, and it can be lower cost,” the report states.
