Brazilian researchers analyzed more than 200 articles on the subject and identified the types of training most indicated for these cases.

Weight training can help reduce body fat and increase muscle strength and mass in older people, contributing to functional autonomy and avoiding falls and injury. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that it can also benefit the mental health of older people, especially those who suffer from anxiety and depression.

These benefits were confirmed by a study reported in the journal Psychiatry Research. The study involved a systematic review and meta-analysis of more than 200 articles. The analysis was conducted by Paolo Cunha, a postdoctoral fellow with a scholarship from FAPESP at the Albert Einstein Jewish-Brazilian Institute of Education and Research (IIEPAE) in São Paulo, Brazil. 

“Resistance training has been shown to be one of the most effective non-pharmacological strategies for healthy aging. It promotes countless health benefits, including improvements to mental health,” Cunha said.

The findings of the study are highly promising, he continued. Besides improvements to symptoms of anxiety and depression in the general population, weight training appears to have a more significant effect on people with a confirmed diagnosis of anxiety or depression disorder.

“Epidemiological studies have shown that the decrease in muscle strength and mass that occurs naturally as we age may be associated with an increase in mental health problems, given the existence of various physiological mechanisms that bring about functional and structural changes and that are controlled by the brain,” Cunha said.

Another important mental health benefit, he added, is that when weight training is done in a group, it contributes to more social interaction among those involved.

Recommended exercises

The investigation also pointed to the best ways of structuring one’s training to improve mental health. “How the training is done appears to influence the results achieved. The information obtained so far suggests that older people should ideally do weight training exercises three times a week, with three sets of each exercise and sessions that are not too long – six exercises would seem to be sufficient. Do less, but do it well: a short set produces better results. This is meaningful information, as we lack guidelines with specific recommendations for resistance training that focuses on mental health parameters,” Cunha said.

While there are many possible ways to prescribe resistance training programs designed to improve the health, autonomy and quality of life for older people, most result directly or indirectly in improvements to symptoms of anxiety and depression, regardless of the intensity and volume of the exercises involved, according to Edilson Cyrino, last author of the article and principal investigator for the study. He is a professor at the State University of Londrina (UEL) and coordinates the Active Aging Longitudinal Study, a project begun in 2012 to analyze the impact of resistance training on parameters relating to the health of older women.

Another point observed by the researchers was that the use of training machines and free weights appears to be more beneficial for mental health than exercises that involve elastic bands or calisthenics (using the weight of the person’s body), for example. 

“We don’t have statistics comparing the two kinds of training, but the analysis showed that resistance training with weights and other gear is more effective in terms of improving the mental health of older people, largely because the intensity and volume of the exercises can be more precisely controlled,” Cunha explained.

A new study by researchers at the University of Limerick in Ireland and at Iowa State University has demonstrated the impact resistance exercise training can have in the treatment of anxiety and depressive symptoms.

The new study provides evidence to support the benefits resistance exercise training can have on anxiety and depression and offers an examination of possible underlying mechanisms.

The research, published in the Trends in Molecular Medicine journal, was carried out by Professor Matthew P Herring at the University of Limerick and Professor Jacob D Meyer at Iowa State University.

The researchers said there was “exciting evidence” that resistance exercise training may be an accessible alternative therapy to improve anxiety and depression-like more established therapies while also improving other important aspects of health.

Dr Herring explained: “Anxiety and depressive symptoms and disorders are prevalent and debilitating public health burdens for which successful treatment is limited.

“The healthful benefits of resistance exercise training, or muscle-strengthening exercise involving exerting force against a load repeatedly to generate a training response, are well-established,” said Dr Herring, Associate Professor in the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre, Health Research Institute, and Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences within the Faculty of Education and Health Sciences in UL.

“However, the potential impact of resistance exercise training in the treatment of anxiety and depressive symptoms and disorders remains relatively understudied. Moreover, the plausible psychobiological mechanisms that help us better understand how and why resistance exercise training may improve these mental health outcomes are poorly understood.”

The researchers argue that, while the available studies in this area are focused on relatively small sample sizes, there is sufficient evidence from previous and ongoing research at UL and the National Institute of Health-funded research with Dr Meyer and colleagues at Iowa State University to suggest that resistance exercise training does improve anxiety and depressive symptoms and disorders – though disorders themselves are scarcely studied.

“There is a critical need for confirmatory, definitive trials that adequately address limitations, including small sample sizes, but the limited evidence available to us provides initial support for the beneficial effects of resistance exercise training on these mental health outcomes, including increased insulin-like growth factor 1, cerebrovascular adaptations, and potential neural adaptations influenced by controlled breathing inherent to resistance exercise,” Dr Herring explained.

“We are tremendously excited to have what we expect to be a highly cited snapshot of the promising available literature that supports resistance exercise training in improving anxiety and depression. 

“Notwithstanding the limitations of the limited number of studies to date, there is exciting evidence, particularly from our previous and ongoing research of the available studies, that suggests that resistance exercise training may be an accessible alternative therapy to improve anxiety and depression.

“A more exciting aspect is that there is substantial promise in investigating the unknown mechanisms that may underlie these benefits to move us closer to maximizing benefits and to optimising the prescription of resistance exercise via precision medicine approaches,” Dr Herring added.

Professor Meyer, a co-author on the study, said: “The current research provides a foundation for testing if resistance training can be a key behavioural treatment approach for depression and anxiety.

“As resistance training likely works through both shared and distinct mechanisms to achieve its positive mood effects compared to aerobic exercise, it has the potential to be used in conjunction with aerobic exercise or as a standalone therapy for these debilitating conditions.

“Our research will use the platform established by current research as a springboard to comprehensively evaluate these potential benefits of resistance exercise in clinical populations while also identifying who would be the most likely to benefit from resistance exercise.”