While depression can make it difficult to get motivated to even shower, take out the trash, or go to work, learning how to set realistic goals allows a person to still be able to experience the benefits of exercise.
Many studies have found that adults who exercise at least 30 minutes per day, three to five days per week tend to experience significant improvements in depression symptoms. To get yourself started, however, even smaller amounts of exercise can help in the short term. Begin with a more easily attainable goal of 10-15 minutes per day. Do not make exercising become a burden that adds stress and anxiety to your life.
To further increase your chances of being successful, develop your exercise program based on exercises that you enjoy. Studies have shown that any exercise appears to positively impact the symptoms of depression, so focus on what you like to do. Think of some of these examples of moderate to vigorous exercise:
- Walk/Jog
- Swim
- Ride a bike
- Dance
- Housework
- Yardwork
- Basketball
- Tennis
- Volleyball
If you feel like your lifestyle would better be suited for working out around other people in a gym setting, look into your local facilities. Depending on your personal goals, local gyms offer a variety of classes including yoga, kickboxing, and “spinning” (stationary bikes).
If you are more likely to exercise in the comfort of your own home, then assess your goals and decide what type of workouts you will be doing. There are excellent video workout routines that people have found a lot of success in such as Core Secrets for stability ball core training, and P90X as a great total body workout program utilizing a relatively new concept of muscle confusion to prevent muscles from hitting a plateau.
Whatever you decide, be sure to change what you do often to prevent boredom with your exercise.