Islamabad (Pakistan Point News / Online - 23rd February, 2020) Researchers say people can benefit from exercise whether it's outdoors or indoors, and whether it's team sports or individual activities. Getty ImagesMatt Nerger was 6 when he first tried sports and, like for many youngsters, it was overwhelming.He cried for hours leading up to his first soccer game at the spacious indoor Soccer Centers complex in New Jersey.Just thinking about being on the field with all those other kids caused him excessive anxiety, nausea, and outright fear.
But in the end, he put the scariness aside, took the field, and had a good time.He also learned a lifelong lesson about how exercising his body is good for exercising demons."Team bonding and learning how to work with others was crucial in my development into adulthood," said Nerger, who now works as a writer. "Sports helped me destroy some of the barriers that my anxiety created."Scientists agree that physical exercise either solo or in a team environment not only helps our bodies look and function better, it can effectively battle mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.
What researchers uncoveredSports sociology researchers from the University of South Australia (UniSA) and MSH Medical school Hamburg in Germany released a study they say demonstrates sports can protect people from serious mental health disorders.The study assessed levels of anxiety and depression among 682 German recreational athletes under different conditions along with similar amounts of exercise and intensity.Researchers also gauged factors such as indoor settings versus outdoors, as well as team sports compared to individual sports.
Athletes who met the World Health Organization's (WHO) exercise guidelines generally experienced better mental health than those that didn't.The guidelines recommendTrusted Source 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week for healthy adults ages 18 to 64.The effects on mental healthOne of the study's authors, Katja Siefken, an adjunct lecturer in the School of Health Sciences at the University of South Australia, said it's important to recognize that different forms of exercise affect mental health in different ways.
"Understanding the factors that can influence or alleviate depression and anxiety are essential but, until now, there's been insufficient proof about the optimal types or amounts of activity needed for positive mental health," Siefken said in a statement.Researchers found people not exercising up to WHO guideline standards reported higher depression scores, whether they exercised indoors or outdoors, individually, or with a team."We have studied some of these issues in my lab," said Thomas Plante, PhD, ABPP, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University in California.
"You get different benefits from group exercise than individual. Typically, group exercise keeps you engaged and is energizing, while individual exercise is more contemplative and stress reducing," he said.Don't overdo itThe study also found that people undertaking vigorous-intensity physical activity often had higher levels of depression.Moderation may be key."I would caution against a blanket statement that more (equals) better," said Kelly Clifton Turner, director of education for national yoga chain YogaSix and an experienced registered yoga teacher.
"Some people lean toward obsessive tendencies, and thinking that they have to do more, more, more, can actually add stress both to their physical body (and) their emotional state," she told Healthline. "Oranges are a wonderful food to eat they have vitamins [and] give good energy. But no doctor would recommend eating 20 oranges a day. Moderation and balance are important in all things.""If you can't meet the 150 minutes per week, the question to ask is: What can you make? Something is better than nothing," she added.
Exercise is a concept a counselor in Georgia said stretches back millennia."Looking at our early ancestors helps us see why exercise boosts our mental health," Brent Sweitzer, LPC, a licensed family therapist in Georgia who helps children manage feeling through play, told Healthline.ASK A DOCTOR NOWExercise can't do everything"Some disorders, such as bipolar [disorder] and schizophrenia, are not going to be stopped (by) running or playing tennis," said Plante.
"Certainly, exercise can help with anxiety, depression, stress, and self-esteem issues that might then lead into something more concerning. But it isn't going to stop major psychopathology from unfolding in at-risk people."About those recommendations that adults exercise 150 minutes a week? No less than a champion powerlifter and member of the AAU Strength Sports Hall of Fame said they're not exactly the law."As for the WHO guidelines, they are a minimum requirement, like the RDA (recommended dietary allowance) for vitamins," Robert Herbst, who had scoliosis as a child and began weightlifting after a doctor told him to never lift anything heavy, told Healthline.
