A state of physical and mental health allows you to take part in exercise comfortably and enjoyably so that it doesn’t hurt, so that you can look forward to it, and feel good afterwards.If you are feeling down, exercise may help pick you up.

　　Although researchers disagree on this issue, one review of past studies found that long-term exercise, especially when it includes long-lasting, strenuous training sessions, has about as much of an effect on depression as psychotherapy.

　　Working out helps you deal with stress in your job, relationships or any area of life — possibly because exercise is a form of stress itself and helps condition your body to deal with it. When Australian researchers compared people who did 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week to those who practiced progressive relaxation techniques, they found that the former group responded better to acute stress and had lower blood pressure.

A state of physical and mental health allows you to take part in exercise comfortably and enjoyably so that it doesn’t hurt, so that you can look forward to it, and feel good afterwards.If you are feeling down, exercise may help pick you up.

　　Although researchers disagree on this issue, one review of past studies found that long-term exercise, especially when it includes long-lasting, strenuous training sessions, has about as much of an effect on depression as psychotherapy.

　　Working out helps you deal with stress in your job, relationships or any area of life — possibly because exercise is a form of stress itself and helps condition your body to deal with it. When Australian researchers compared people who did 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week to those who practiced progressive relaxation techniques, they found that the former group responded better to acute stress and had lower blood pressure.