Yet Another Study Shows Exercise Reduces Symptoms of Depression
By Ken Reed
The mental health benefits of exercise have been lauded for quite a while now. Regular exercisers can attest to the stress-and-anxiety-reducing benefits of cardiovascular exercise.
A recent study from Germany, published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, highlights how exercise helps the depressed brain. The study adds to the growing mound of research touting the mental health benefits of regular exercise.
The German research out of Ruhr-Universitat Bochum’s Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy showed a three-week physical activity intervention supports the remission of major depressive disorders (MDD). The exercise program also restored neuroplasticity in the subjects’ brains.
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s capacity to adapt or change over time, by creating new neurons and building new networks.
Participants undergoing treatment for depression were divided into two groups – exercisers and non-exercisers. The exercisers were given a three-week physical activity program.
The exercise group had much lower scores than the non-exercise group on measures such as negative feelings, pessimism, hopelessness, a loss of passion and desire, and lack of motivation and drive.
“It is known that physical activity does the brain good, as it, for instance, promotes the formation of neuron connections,” said Karin Rosenkranz, the study’s senior author.
The study’s authors concluded by saying:
“[W]e showed that a physical activity (PA) intervention supports the remission of clinical symptoms and normalizes deficient LTP-induced neuroplasticity in MDD and that these two observations are highly correlated.”
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans

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Episode #29 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Honorable Tom McMillen Visits League of Fans’ Sports Forum – McMillen is a former All-American basketball player, Olympian, Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Congressman. We discuss the state of college athletics today.
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world. We discuss problems in youth sports today.
Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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