When we think about exercise and mental health, we often imagine that any movement is good movement. But a new study from the University of Georgia challenges that idea.
It turns out that how you exercise — and even where, why, and with whom — could be just as important as the exercise itself.
Patrick O’Connor, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Georgia, explains that most past studies focused on how long people exercised or how many calories they burned.
These studies treated exercise like a dose of medicine — the more you take, the better you feel. But this new research shows it’s not that simple.
People often report better mental health when they take part in physical activities during their free time. This includes things like going for a walk, taking a yoga class, or playing sports.
However, those benefits can change based on what’s happening around the activity. For example, walking through a park on a cool, sunny morning might help your mood more than walking to work on a hot day while feeling stressed.
To explore these ideas, researchers reviewed three types of studies. One type looked at large groups of people and how their health was affected by different types of exercise.
Another type compared people who exercised with people who didn’t, to see if there were changes in mood or mental health. The third type looked at what researchers call “contextual factors,” like the setting of the activity or whether someone exercised alone or with others.
They found that regular physical activity is linked to lower levels of depression and anxiety. But not all activity is equal. Working out at the gym with a friend might feel good and boost your mood. But scrubbing the kitchen floor or mowing lawns for work might not have the same effect, even though both involve physical effort.
Take the example of a soccer player. If they score the winning goal, they might feel amazing. But if they miss the goal and the team blames them, their mood may drop — even though their physical activity was the same in both situations. This shows just how much the mental side of exercise matters.
Some smaller studies also showed that regular exercise can help people with mental health conditions feel better.
However, many of these studies only lasted a few weeks and involved small groups. That means the results may not apply to everyone. Larger and longer-term studies are needed to really understand how exercise affects mental health for different kinds of people.
One key idea is that the environment, the people around you, and how you feel during the activity all play a role. For example, exercising outside on a beautiful day might make you feel better than working out in a crowded gym. Or taking a group class with a great instructor could be more uplifting than doing exercises you don’t enjoy.
The takeaway from this study is that movement matters, but the experience matters too. It’s not just what you do — it’s also how you do it, who you’re with, and why you’re doing it. If we want to use exercise to improve mental health, we need to look beyond the stopwatch and start paying attention to the full picture.
If you care about mental health, please read studies about One sleepless night can reverse depression for days and findings of Scientists find better treatment for older adults with depression.
For more about mental health, please read studies about Frequent painkiller use linked to mental health risks in these people and findings of Common depression drugs may offer new treatment for bipolar disorder.
Copyright © 2025 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
