Lifting and Cardio Equally Effective for Depression and Anxiety, Study Finds

An overlooked benefit of exercise is its impact on your mental health. Many people go to the gym to improve their physical health or simply just to look better. The mood benefits are considered an add-on.

But now there is legitimate research showing that exercise can help treat depression and anxiety. No longer is it just a hokey thing to say that some non-exercisers may roll their eyes at.

A systematic review and meta-analysis by Banyard et al. looked at 32 randomized controlled trials on individuals 18-64 years old that were clinically diagnosed with depression or anxiety. The goal was to try and determine the effectiveness of exercise in treating these ailments. Here's what they found:

Exercise produced a large beneficial effect on depressive symptoms. What's even better is that the type of exercise did not matter; aerobic, resistance training, or a mix of both all were equally effective.

Exercise produced a moderately beneficial effect on anxiety, though not as strong as the effect on depression. In this case, resistance training showed stronger improvements than aerobic training. Aerobic exercise still had a benefit, just not to the same level.

The way they measured the effectiveness was based on a variety of mental health questionnaires and scoring systems that are standard in the industry.

Overall, the good news is that the type of exercise doesn't really matter. If you are someone struggling with depression or anxiety, you don't have to pigeonhole yourself into doing a form of exercise you don't like. Just doing something seems to help.

While it may not be as effective as medication, some people may be hesitant to go that route. Exercise serves as a quality standalone treatment option that people can try before taking that leap. The physical health benefits are an added bonus.

You don't need a perfect, optimized program to see real mental health benefits. Whether it's lifting weights, going for a run, or mixing the two, the act of consistently moving your body is what matters. Go out there and train and let the endorphins do their work.

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This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 4:37 PM.