The results highlight the correlation between exercising outdoors and a mentally and physically healthy life with less frequent exercise. Participants who reported doing outdoor exercise reported exercising less often than the participants who reported indoor exercise. Outdoor exercise participants also reported feeling less mental distress (feelings of hopelessness, nervousness, worthlessness, depression, restlessness, and that everything is an effort) than the indoor exercise participants.
This shows a possible positive correlation between less frequent exercise and more a positive mental state. Outdoor exercise also had a positive correlation with a healthier lifestyle (eating breakfast and fruit, and not eating fast-foods). The positive mental state of outdoor exercise participants could also be related to their healthier lifestyle choices. The most beneficial type of exercise for mental and physical health was reported to be a combination of both cardio and weight training exercises.
As discussed in the introduction, different studies have looked at the ideal amount of exercise to increase an individual’s mental state. Some studies report findings as low as one hour a week, and some report 30-45 minutes a few times a week. Results from this study support those theories of needing less exercise than previously thought to improve mood. This research shows that more frequent exercise does not always lead to a happier or healthier mental state, and that for mood improvement, less frequent exercise may be better.
Information on how frequency of exercise helps mood can be used by mental health professionals to help their patients and clients create the ideal exercise routine to improve their mental state. Research should continue in the future to assess how participants mental states change as their exercise routines change to better understand exercise frequency and mood. These results only demonstrate a small insight into how the frequency of exercise matters when it comes to improving mood and mental health, thus indicating that further research should be conducted on this topic.