Moderate exercise makes women happy
Penn State University researchers say middle-aged women who are engaged in moderate physical activity feel happier and are more likely to continue working out.
Many studies have linked daily physical activity with a healthier body and happier mood but when it comes to middle age people too much exercise may not be all beneficent.
For the new study, researchers followed 255 women aged between 40 and 60 engaged in either moderate or vigorous exercise.
At the beginning of the study, participants completed two bouts of moderate or vigorous exercise. They were asked to keep a daily diary of activities and feelings for two weeks.
Participants wore an accelerometer, a small device to track their energy expenditure and their time spent in activities of different intensities.
Results showed that women who did moderate exercise were about twice as likely to feel energized and confident that they could do more exercise in the future.
More of the moderate exercisers experienced more mood improvement and felt less sad and anxious compared to the vigorous-exercise group.
Vigorous exercisers showed smaller benefits to mood and those who were overweight or had symptoms of illness reported "significant decreases in calmness" after the exercise bouts, according to the data presented at the North American Menopause Society meeting in Washington D.C.
"Exercise makes you feel better but it is going to be more pleasant when performed at moderate intensity as compared to vigorous, especially when you have been previously inactive or may be overweight," senior researcher Steriani Elavsky told Reuters Health.
”The effects we observed were large and moderate intensity is sufficient, in fact it is optimal,” she added. ”We also hope that clinicians will realize the importance of considering the proper exercise intensity when making recommendations about exercise.”
Source: presstv.ir
