“If you struggle with depression, your best therapy may be to hit the gym and pump some iron.
While the physical benefits of strength training are widely known, there are plenty of psychological benefits to reap too. A Harvard Medical School study found that that weight lifting could help alleviate the symptoms of clinical depression.
The tried and true Harvard study from the 1990s found that the heavier the weight a person used, the more depression improved. A similar study from Duke University found that depressed participants who weight trained for four months, four times per week for 40 minutes overcame their depression without medication.
The Duke researchers found that for every 50 minutes of exercise each week, the rate of depression decreased by half.”