Psychological effects of habitual aerobic exercise: a critical review

Controlled experiments of the effects of habitual aerobic exercise on mood, personality, and cognition are reviewed. The results indicate that exercise improves self-concept. They provide little evidence for claims that exercise improved anxiety, depression, body image, personality, or cognition. Several processes have been hypothesized to mediate the psychological benefits of exercise but none has been adequately tested. Future research should examine the individuals and the disorders that are most likely to experience psychological benefits from exercise, the types of exercise that are most beneficial, and the proposed mechanisms for the psychological benefits.