A nice-weather bike ride to a picturesque lake is clearly better for your mental health than a similarly long bike ride to work in the rain.
In their new study, researchers from the University of Georgia focused not on the number of movements or calories burned, but on how, where, and why people exercise. According to the authors, it's not the activity itself that improves a person's emotional state, but the context in which it occurs.
As one of the study's authors, Professor Patrick O'Connor of the Department of Kinesiology, noted, science traditionally focuses on the dosage of physical activity—the duration of exercise and energy expenditure. However, a crucial aspect is overlooked: whether a person exercises alone or in a group, and whether their activities include competitive or game-like elements. Yet, as the study has shown, it is precisely these factors that can significantly alter the effect of physical activity on a person's mental state.
The conditions in which the activity takes place—weather factors, the trainer's style, the nature of the workout itself, the time of day, or the presence of company—play a key role in how a person perceives and evaluates the experience. For example, a solitary morning walk to work in the rain may be perceived completely differently than a vigorous group workout. At the same time, for some, a leisurely stroll may be more preferable than a competitive group workout.
Group yoga classes typically provide the greatest mental health benefits.
Scientists analyzed three types of data: large-scale epidemiological studies, randomized controlled trials, and a growing number of observational studies focused specifically on physical activity. The results showed that leisure-time forms of physical activity—yoga, running, and cycling—are indeed associated with lower levels of anxiety and depression. However, similar activities in other settings, such as housework or gardening, do not always produce the same psychological benefits.
O'Connor gives a striking example: if a soccer player scores the winning goal, his well-being and emotional state soar, but if he misses the goal, the emotional outcome is diametrically opposed, even though the energy expenditure is the same in both cases. This clearly illustrates how the same level of physical activity can elicit completely different psycho-emotional responses depending on the context.
Choose a physical activity that you enjoy and create a pleasant environment for your activities, for example, with the help of music.
Numerous studies involving people suffering from depression and anxiety have shown that regular exercise can indeed improve mental well-being. However, such experiments are typically conducted on small and homogeneous samples, making it difficult to generalize their findings to broader populations. The authors emphasize the need for larger, longer-term studies to draw definitive conclusions about the impact of exercise on mental health.
O'Connor's key conclusion is that when it comes to mental health, it's not just physical activity itself that matters, but also its meaning, environment, and subjective experience. And if the goal is to improve mental well-being through exercise, then it's important to consider not only the intensity and type of exercise, but also the context of the activity.