Research says Exercise makes you happier than money

You probably know that a good workout releases feel-good hormones like endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin, which help reduce your perception of pain and stress. These chemicals also trigger a somewhat positive feeling in your body, the same way drugs like codeine and morphine do. In turn, you’re left in higher spirits than before.

But can exercise ever make people happier than wealth can?

Yes, certainly! What’s more, scientists at Oxford and Yale have managed to prove it! They noticed that the benefits of exercise for mental health far outnumber those of money or economic status.

In a cross-sectional study about how mental health is related to physical exercise, researchers at these two universities collected and analyzed data from precisely 1, 237, 194 Americans aged 18 years or older. The data provided information regarding the physical behaviour, mental health, and incomes of these 1.2 million people in the USA between 2011 and 2015.

The individuals were asked to point out activities they were associated with from a list of 75 different kinds of physical exercises. These activities included both light and intense options like running, lawn-mowing, looking after children, weight-lifting, housework, walking the dog, and cycling, among others.

Next, the scientists asked the individuals the following question, “In the past month, how many times have you felt mentally unwell, for example, due to depression, emotional problems, or stress?”

More physically active people are happier than non-active ones

According to the researchers, those who don’t exercise regularly or are not as physically active as others usually feel bad for 53 days a year, on an average. On the other hand, physically active individuals tend to have only around 35 bad days in a year.

Also, people who earn about $25,000 more per year, but don’t do regular exercise, are just as happy as those who work out every other day. In other words, if you want your earnings to give your mental health the same boost that regular physical activity does, you’d have to earn a lot more.

Working out for too long can adversely affect your mental health

However, exercising for more than three hours a day can prove to be too much of a good thing. Individuals who do so tend to suffer more in terms of mental well-being than those who are not much physically active. As the ideal duration of an exercise, scientists recommend 3 or 5 training sessions per week, each lasting for around 30 to 60 minutes. This means that sports can contribute to better mental health only when indulged in for a specific time period.

The researchers also found that team sports, or exercises that involve socializing, can lead to a higher increase in happiness levels than other activities can. Out of the exercises that don’t count as team sports, aerobics and cycling can also have a significant positive effect on your mood.

Published in The Lancet, these findings prove that exercise can make you happier than money!