Scientists Found An Unexpected Mental Health Benefit Of Weightlifting—And You Don't Have to Lift Heavy to Get It

4 min readNew research suggests strength training may be helpful for reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety.Women who lifted heavy and light weights saw benefits. Experts stress that exercise shouldn’t be the only thing you do for your mental health.Managing your mental health often takes a 360-degree approach and can involve lifestyle tweaks ranging from nutrition, exercise, and sleep—along with therapy and medication as needed. And though many people think of endorphins, cardio, and HIIT for mental health benefits, new research suggests weightlifting may also help.The study, which was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, links multiple types of strength training with fewer symptoms of depression in women with anxiety disorders. While the research doesn’t suggest a new strength training habit can change your mental health, the association implies that adding weightlifting to what you’re already doing could help.Meet the experts: Darragh O'Sullivan, PhD, lead study author and health researcher at the University of Limerick and Thea Gallagher, PsyD, clinical associate professor of psychology at NYU Langone Health.What did the study find?For the study, researchers recruited 49 young women with anxiety symptoms who were not currently doing regular strength training. After providing guidance, the women were randomized into two groups, each of which was asked to do one-on-one supervised lifting sessions over eight weeks.One group followed a moderate-to-high intensity routine, lifting weights at 70 percent to 80 percent of their max capacity; the other group acted as the “control” group and instead did significantly lighter lifting at 20 percent of their max capacity.Participants were given questionnaires to track their symptoms of depression during the study and a month after the formal exercise program ended. After analyzing the data, researchers found that women in both groups saw big drops in their symptoms of depression. Those in the high-intensity group saw their depression scores drop by 54 percent, based on the questionnaire data, while those in the low-intensity group saw a drop of 43 percent. (Because this was a smaller study, and the drops weren’t that different, the researchers concluded that the differences were not statistically significant.)Ultimately, the researchers concluded that resistance exercise training and low-intensity lifting “can induce large antidepressant benefits.”Why might resistance and strength training help with anxiety and depression?The findings are “encouraging,” according to Thea Gallagher, PsyD, clinical associate professor of psychology at NYU Langone Health. Among other things, “exercise can function as behavioral activation—it gets people out of avoidance, gives structure to the week, and creates a concrete activity to show up for, even when motivation is low,” she says. A standing workout plan can also reduce the negotiating you might do with yourself about whether to exercise on any given day, she says. “The plan is already made,” Gallagher points out.But Gallagher says the results may involve more than just strength training—there may also be a social element involved. “The women in both groups were participating in structured, supervised exercise sessions with regular contact and support,” she says.“A scheduled session with a trainer, class, or workout partner creates accountability and human contact, both of which can be protective when someone is feeling depressed or isolated,” Gallagher says. “So, the benefit may come from a combination of movement, routine, mastery, connection, and simply having somewhere to be.”The fact that the effects of the interventions were consistent regardless of the intensity also “reinforces the idea that the psychological benefit of exercise may not depend on becoming dramatically stronger or fitter,” she says.Would men get the same perks, too?Possibly. “In our previous trial, guidelines-based resistance exercise training resulted in larger-than-expected, large antidepressant effects among both young men and women, suggesting benefits regardless of sex or gender,” says Darragh O'Sullivan, PhD, lead study author and health researcher at University of Limerick. Though this particular study focused on women, O’Sullivan noted that women are about twice as likely as men to experience anxiety and depression.How to work out to support your mental healthWhile the latest findings are a win for strength training, that’s not the only form of exercise that can support your mental health. “Many types of exercise have demonstrated antidepressant effects, including resistance training, aerobic training, and yoga,” O’Sullivan says. “Any exercise is better than nothing for mental health, but consistent exercise will confer additional mental and other health benefits.”If strength training is appealing to you, he suggests aiming for eight to 10 multi-joint exercises that target all major muscle groups, with two to three sets of eight to 12 repetitions at least two days per week. “We do recommend gradual progression to higher intensity for additional health benefits,” O’Sullivan says.But Gallagher also says it’s important to find an exercise routine that you enjoy. “One of the most useful takeaways from this study is that you may not have to crush yourself in the gym to get a psychological benefit,” she says. “Start with something that feels doable enough that you are actually likely to repeat it.”She also stresses the importance of seeing exercise as part of your care plan, not the only thing you should be doing for your mental health. “I would never want someone to hear this research and think, ‘If I’m still depressed, I just need to exercise more,’” she says. “Exercise can be a very useful component of mental health care, but significant or persistent depression and anxiety may still require evidence-based psychotherapy, medication, or other professional treatment.”Carina Hsieh, MPH, is the deputy features editor of Women’s Health. She has more than a decade’s worth of experience working in media and has covered everything from beauty, fashion, travel, lifestyle, pets, to health. She began her career as an intern in the fashion closet at Cosmopolitan where she worked her way up to Senior Sex & Relationships Editor. While covering women’s health there, she discovered her passion for health service journalism and took a break to get her Masters in Public Health. Post-grad school, she worked as a freelance writer and as The Daily Beast’s first Beauty, Health, and Wellness Reporter. Carina is an alum of the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Yale School of Public Health. She and her French Bulldog, Bao Bao, split their time between Brooklyn and Connecticut. She enjoys reformer Pilates, (slow) running, and smelling the fancy toiletries in boutique fitness class locker rooms.