With apologies to Mr. Spock, it turns out that he was wrong about resistance: It's far from futile. A review out of the University of Limerick says that if you're depressed or anxious, resistance exercises can ease those feelings.
The researchers looked at 12 studies and concluded that resistance exercise provides measurable emotional benefits, likely from the impact on blood circulation and neural firing in the brain, and from triggering the increase of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a hormone that affects bone and muscle growth.
Depression and anxiety are difficult to treat. Johns Hopkins Medicine says that depressive symptoms return for up to 33% of people using antidepressants, and a study in Mental Health Clinician found that about 50% of people with generalized anxiety disorder don't see positive results from initial treatment with antidepressants.
Resistance exercises using your body weight and stretchy/resistance bands offer a good alternative.
According to Harvard Health, one study found that 10 weeks of body weight exercises by people who haven't been doing resistance exercise improves aerobic capacity by 33%, core muscle endurance by 11%, and lower-body power by 6%.
And a 2019 study found that resistance-band training is equivalent to using conventional gym equipment.
If you're dealing with depression or anxiety, try 20-30 minutes of resistance training twice weekly. To enhance its effectiveness, adopt a non-inflammatory nutrition plan and consider boosting your protein intake with a whey supplement.