The expert: Alice Liveing, personal trainer, author and Give Me Strength founder. 
Here’s a sobering stat: roughly 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year, according to mental health charity Mind. Of those, 5.9 in every 100 people will experience general anxiety disorder, and 3.3 in 100 will experience depression. 7.8 in 100 will experience mixed anxiety and depression.
If one thing’s clear, it’s that mental health urgently needs our attention – not least because the cost-of-living crisis and global instability is bound to only increase the numbers of people suffering, and the severity with which people suffer, as they merely try to navigate everyday life.
Exercise has long been celebrated as a kind of “therapy” by many who suffer from mental illness, often praising its ability to help them shift away from difficult thought patterns and raise spirits in the process, too. But, is there any science to support it?
Of course, physical activity, whilst boasting near endless wellbeing benefits, should not take the place of interventions such as medicine and psychological support if mental ill-health is disrupting your ability to move through everyday life.
However, there is stacks of evidence to suggest that exercise is an excellent tool for relieving stress, and helping to manage symptoms of mental illnesses including anxiety and depression.
So, what type of exercise is best for supporting your mental wellbeing? We asked Alice Liveing, personal trainer and Women's Health Collective panellist, for the low-down on using exercise for a mental lift.
What is the best exercise to relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression?
The short answer is: there’s no one exercise that helps with anxiety and depression management. Rather, it all comes down to the individual. But, science certainly does indicate that it’s a worthy addition to your toolbox of management techniques.
'We know that there is extensive evidence to support exercise boosting mood and helping our overall mental wellbeing,’ says Liveing. 'In one large cross-sectional study, it was found that individuals who exercised had fewer days of poor mental health over a month than individuals who did not exercise.'
What’s interesting, says Liveing, is that all types of exercise were associated with lower mental health burden than not exercising. 'The largest associations were seen for popular team sports, cycling, and aerobic and strength training and it was noted that durations typically were around 45 minutes of exercise 3-4 times per week.’
So, what does this mean? That, happily, any form of movement can help to alleviate symptoms of anxiety and or depressive mood. 'That’s not to say that exercise totally eradicates these things,’ Liveing says.
'I think it’s important not to see exercise as the panacea of mental health, but it can be an important component in a spectrum of tools used to improve mental wellbeing. What’s important is that there is a sense of enjoyment with exercise, and that’s applicable regardless of whether someone is training for their mental health or not, but I think it’s particularly important when it comes to training for mental health.’
How, then, can you use exercise to support your mental wellbeing? 'I think finding a form of exercise that you enjoy, and that you’re able to stick to consistently over a period of time, is going to be the best way to use movement to improve mental health,’ says Liveing.
'In addition to this, we also know that nature and being outdoors has far-reaching benefits when it comes to both our physical and mental wellbeing, so an important addition I’d make to the above is to try and get outdoors to walk at least once a day for a minimum of 10 minutes.
'This might sound simple, but the difference being in a green space can make to how you feel can be huge, so I’d try adding this in to your daily routine when possible.'
