Increasing the level of physical activity can effectively boost one’s mood, a study has found.The researchers, published in journal JAMA Psychiatry, found that increases in physical activity tended to be followed by increases in mood and perceived energy level.This beneficial effect was even more pronounced for a subset of the study subjects who had bipolar disorder, according to the researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the US.For the study, activity trackers and electronic diaries were used for two weeks in a community sample of 242 (150 women and 92 men) adults, ages 15 to 84, with an average age of 48 years.The sample included 54 people with bipolar disorder.Mobile assessments in the study included wrist-worn devices that automatically recorded levels of physical movement in real time and electronic diaries that assessed mood and perceived energy levels four times per day for two weeks.These real-time mood and energy levels were rated by study participants on a seven-point analogue scale from “very happy” to “very sad” for mood and from “very tired” to “very energetic” for energy.”Systems regulating sleep, motor activity and mood have typically been studied independently. This work demonstrates the importance of examining these systems jointly rather than in isolation,” said Vadim Zipunnikov, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins, who led the data analyses.The findings showed that on average a higher activity level at one time-point was associated with improved mood and increased perceived energy at the next time-point during the day.Likewise, increased energy at one time-point was associated with increased activity at the next time-point.These associations controlled for the current levels of mood, energy and activity, respectively.Activity was inversely associated with sleep duration—more activity tended to be followed by less sleep that night, and more sleep tended to be followed by less activity the next day.Tracking sleep, activity, mood and energy concurrently was particularly important in people with bipolar disorder because the changes in internal psychological states were strongly influenced by both sleep and physical activity.Many of the current interventions for mood, sleep, and physical activity focus on only one of these systems rather than considering the collective impact across multiple systems.”This study exemplifies the potential for combining the use of physical-activity trackers and electronic diaries to better understand the complex dynamic interrelationships among multiple systems in a real-time and real-life context,” said Zipunnikov. Any exercise or physical activity that gets the heart rate up and the blood flowing and releases endorphins is going to raise your energy level. Good cardiovascular exercises will strengthen your heart and give you more stamina.Aerobic exercise, according to a review of studies published in March 2014 in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, has been shown to be among the best when it comes to helping ease symptoms of depression. But lower-intensity exercise, such as yoga, has also shown potential benefits when it comes to mood. Research suggests yoga may help reduce depression and anxiety, and a study published in September 2016 in the journal Depression and Anxiety found that six weeks of yoga, in addition to standard treatment for depression, reduced depressive symptoms. Which are the best energy-boosting exercises? It’s really up to you and what you like to do. “It’s not going to work if you don’t like it. It’s got to be something that’s enjoyable that serves the aerobic goal,” says Gotlin. He also points out that it’s important to maintain a healthy diet, cut out the sweets, and increase protein to rebuild muscles to reap the most benefits from your workouts.
