CERTAIN WEIGHT TRAINING SURPASSES MEDICATION TREATMENT FOR DEPRESSION

Depression results in substantial personal and social burdens, including impairment, reduced quality of life, and needing frequent health care interventions.  Those with chronic major depression are often misdiagnosed, with only 22% receiving adequate treatment, and 60% having adverse events from antidepressant medications.  A study in The Journals of Gerontology, was done comparing the effects of resistance training on depression.

The 8-week study compared the effects of assignment to one of three interventions for clinical depression: two exercise interventions (high intensity and low intensity) and a usual care group getting standard general practitioner care.  Participants fulfilled DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) diagnostic criteria for major depression, minor depression, or dysthymia.  Participants assigned to high intensity underwent a regimen of supervised high intensity of the large muscle groups, 3 days per week for 8 weeks.  Exercise machines included chest press, upright row, shoulder press, leg press, knee extension, and knee flexion.  For the high weight training group, the resistance was set at 80% of the one repetition maximum (1RM).  On each machine, participants performed 3 sets of 8 repetitions.  The low weight training group underwent low intensity resistance using the exact same regimen, except they were trained at 20% 1RM.  The group receiving counseling and pharmacological treatment through general practitioners had a average of 5 visits over the 8-week period.

Using the standard pharmaceutical trial definition of a 50% reduction in HRSD (Hamilton Rating Scale of Depression), the high resistance group saw an improvement over twice as effective (61%) compared to either low resistance (29%) or general practitioner group (21%).  Mean strength gains (averaged across all muscle groups) were about 37% in high resistance, 6% in low resistance, and −1% in the general practitioner care group.  The high resistance group saw a greater increase in quality of life:  physical function, role physical, vitality, social function, role emotional, and mental health. The high resistance group also saw the highest positive changes in overall sleep quality.




This study supported the efficacy and dose-response characteristic of weight training exercise for depression, surpassing the general practitioner and pharmaceutical treatment.  High intensity resistance training is superior to low intensity.  High intensity weight training involves 3 sets of about 6-9 repetitions using 70-80% of maximal load, 3 days a week.  Research supports reductions in depression for those doing aerobic exercise 3 days per week.  Weight training can be added to these aerobic regimens for greater gains in depression, or used as an alternative for those prevented from doing aerobic exercises due to comorbidities.  More importantly, high resistance training can serve as an alternative to pharmacological treatments, which are often not very effect with negative side-effects.