Donate

Exercise and anxiety

Emerging evidence – there isn’t much evidence on this treatment option yet, but the research that has been carried out suggests that it could be helpful.

Exercise to improve mental health can be done in a number of ways. For example, aerobic exercises increase your breathing and heart rate, while weight training improves your overall body strength.

Exercise treatments usually involve intense exercise at least three times each week for 6-20 weeks. There is some research evidence that exercise can help with anxiety and mood, but exercise is also important for good general health.

Exercise is one of several self-care strategies which young people told us help them manage their mental health and wellbeing. Read how other young people find physical exercise helpful here.

Treatments outlined on these webpages may not be available in every local area. It’s important that you discuss with your GP or mental health professional the treatment options available to you. You can also search for services near you on our Youth Wellbeing Directory and find out more about referral processes here.

Our use of cookies

We use necessary cookies to make our site work. We’d also like to set optional analytics to help us improve it. We won’t set optional cookies unless you enable them. Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences.

For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Cookies page


Necessary cookies

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.


Analytics cookies

We’d like to set non-essential cookies, such as Google Analytics, to help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. The cookies collect information in a way that does not directly identify anyone. For more information on how these cookies work, please see our Cookies page. If you are 16 or under, please ask a parent or carer for consent before accepting.