Cardiologist: Exercise is a vital therapy for mental health, not just physical wellbeing

Physical activity is a powerful therapeutic tool for mental health, according to cardiologist Daniel López Rosetti. He detailed how exercise combats anxiety and sadness, which have become more prevalent due to current stress levels.

“

Between one month and two months. The published studies, the benefit is not immediate but it is almost immediate for someone with depression between four and eight weeks the benefits are noticed.

Rosetti explained that the brain's positive response to movement isn't immediate. It requires a biological adaptation period, typically one to two months. "The published studies show the benefit is not immediate, but it is almost immediate for someone with depression; benefits are noticeable between four and eight weeks," he stated.

Both aerobic exercises, such as brisk walking or jogging, and resistance training, like weightlifting, provide comparable advantages for mental well-being. "Published studies talk about aerobic physical activity, which is walking, brisk walking, jogging, and weights, meaning resistance exercise, meaning weight training, has the same effect as aerobic physical exercise in terms of treating depression," Rosetti clarified.

“

Published studies talk about aerobic physical activity this is walking, brisk walking, jogging, and weights meaning resistance exercise meaning weight training has the same effect as aerobic physical exercise in terms of treating depression.

The recommended "dose" of exercise aligns with World Health Organization standards: 150 minutes of brisk walking per week. "If you walk briskly, without stopping, 30 minutes, five times a week, it is a sufficient dose," he said. He also emphasized the importance of maintaining muscle tone through strength training, likening it to a "dose of medication."

“

The dose is the one usually indicated by the World Health Organization in the case of aerobic physical exercise, which is to reach 150 minutes per week of brisk walking. If you walk quickly, without stopping, 30 minutes, well, 3 times 5, 15, 30 minutes, 5 times a week, it is a sufficient dose.

For everyday stress and transient low moods, exercise offers a quicker response than for clinical depression. Rosetti noted that daily frustrations and stress often lead to a subdued mood, characterized by sadness, low energy, and an inability to enjoy life. In these cases, physical activity can rapidly improve emotional states.

“

It is true that in the days we live in, a depressed mood due to frustrations, due to experiential emotional issues, due to stress itself, whose symptomatic manifestation is often sadness, dejection, the inability to smile, the inability to enjoy the emotional state, which is muffled or anesthetized, is increasingly frequent.