Exercise may lift older adults' belief in themselves and well-being.

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   Older adults in 36 studies, averaging about 66 years old, without a clinical disorder. The paper doesn't say how many people took part in total.

2. 02

   What they did

   The exercise groups did light to hard exercise, most often aerobic. They trained for 1 to 52 weeks, in sessions of 30 to 210 minutes. The other groups did no exercise, joined social activities without exercise, or did very light exercise.

3. 03

   What happened

   The exercise groups gained more than the other groups in belief in themselves and overall well-being. They also felt less anxious. The gains were small, and the paper found signs that studies with weaker results were not published.

What the review found

1. HelpedMotivation

   Across studies that measured belief in themselves, exercise raised it more than the rest.

   Pooled analysis of 0 studies · vs groups with no exercise, social activities or very light exercise · they rated themselves · ⚠ signs that small negative studies went unpublished; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

2. HelpedOther outcomes

   Across studies that measured well-being, exercise improved it more than the rest.

   Pooled analysis of 0 studies · vs groups with no exercise, social activities or very light exercise · they rated themselves · ⚠ signs that small negative studies went unpublished; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

3. HelpedOther outcomes

   Across studies of anxiety, exercise groups had less anxiety than the rest.

   Pooled analysis of 0 studies · vs groups with no exercise, social activities or very light exercise · they rated themselves · ⚠ signs that small negative studies went unpublished; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

Source