[HN Gopher] Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with lower a...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with lower anger and
       anxiety
        
       Author : PaulHoule
       Score  : 87 points
       Date   : 2026-02-24 17:03 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (linkinghub.elsevier.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (linkinghub.elsevier.com)
        
       | toomuchtodo wrote:
       | Related:
       | 
       |  _Exercise may relieve depression as effectively as
       | antidepressants_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46541672
       | - January 2026
       | 
       |  _Exercise twice as effective as anti-depressants_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39396047 - February 2024
       | 
       |  _Running from the Pain (2018)_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27306725 - May 2021
       | 
       |  _Running from the Pain_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16573009 - March 2018
        
       | arctic-true wrote:
       | I am pretty confident from my own experience that the study's
       | conclusion is broadly true. But the study leaves open one obvious
       | alternative explanation: people who have enough free time to
       | exercise regularly (and exercise was used as a stand-in for
       | fitness level, it doesn't look like they actually measured
       | anything else) could have less stressful and anger-inducing lives
       | overall.
        
         | PeterStuer wrote:
         | Alternatively: People who spent their time regularly exercising
         | instead of arguing on Facebook or X, have lower anger and
         | anxiety.
        
           | PaulHoule wrote:
           | Which introduces variables such as: "believes in righteous
           | anger"
        
           | rustyhancock wrote:
           | And alternatively again, you need to have lower anger and
           | anxiety to engage in excercise!
           | 
           | I'm sure all of this is an inseparable mess.
           | 
           | But it doesn't affect the recommendation does it? Everyone
           | should aim to be physically fit and that involves engaging in
           | cardiorespiratory exercise.
        
           | usefulcat wrote:
           | I thought of "people who have enough time to exercise because
           | they don't have to work multiple jobs in an attempt to scrape
           | together enough to make ends meet".
        
             | oncallthrow wrote:
             | Under 10 million people in the US (less than 6% of
             | workforce) work multiple jobs.
        
         | kace91 wrote:
         | Pretty much everything related to exercise is a direct or
         | indirect positive effect for health.
         | 
         | Stress relief, tiredness leading to better sleep, physiological
         | effects of muscle gain, physiological effects of weight loss,
         | social interaction in shared spaces, exposure to sunlight, push
         | to improve diet in pursuit of fitness goals, better self image,
         | social effects of becoming more physically attractive...
        
         | marginalia_nu wrote:
         | Anecdotally, I started lifting again a few weeks ago. Took a
         | few years off due to Covid complications, but was previously
         | exercising regularly.
         | 
         | Walked up to the bar stressed about all sorts of things,
         | everything is expensive, car is making weird chafing noises
         | when I make sharp turns, politics, this and that.
         | 
         | Did 3 sets of 5 deadlifts with a 60kg bar. Barely any weight on
         | the bar since I didn't want to annihilate my joints.
         | Regardless, as I finished the sets, all that stress was just
         | gone, and it stayed away for days. I was calmer, clearer, more
         | present.
         | 
         | I don't think I have fewer reasons to be stressed since getting
         | the gym membership, but I sure am less stressed.
         | 
         | Deadlifts in particular, but really any full body lifts have
         | always been a mental state degauss button for me. Doesn't
         | matter how many problems you have before you walk up to that
         | bar, you'll barely remember them when you're done.
        
           | eudamoniac wrote:
           | Note: deadlifts do not "annihilate" joints. Resistance
           | training strengthens and improves joints. Repetitive impact
           | behavior like running on concrete does annihilate joints
           | though.
        
             | marginalia_nu wrote:
             | This is from a context of "4 plates used to be pretty easy,
             | then I took several years off lifting". I know no faster
             | way to get injured in the gym than to try to grind a new
             | 1RM after a lengthy break.
        
               | eudamoniac wrote:
               | Okay great, but that has nothing to do with your joints,
               | unless you meant vertebral joints, but that is not the
               | common parlance. You might injure a muscle belly.
        
             | reducesuffering wrote:
             | Note: running on concrete does not "annihilate" joints
             | either.
             | 
             | https://www.uhhospitals.org/blog/articles/2023/08/running-
             | do...
             | 
             | https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/will-continuing-
             | to...
        
         | cryzinger wrote:
         | Not saying "cardiorespiratory fitness" and "heart rate" are
         | 1:1, because they're certainly not, but beta blockers are a
         | known treatment for certain kinds of anxiety. I can attest that
         | taking low-dose propranolol twice a day (without pulling any
         | other levers related to lifestyle, stress, etc.) has helped me
         | mellow the fuck out, which I sorely needed lol. So I would
         | wager that cardio fitness is _itself_ correlated with anxiety
         | and anger, although in practice it 's tangled up with many
         | other factors.
         | 
         | In addition to baseline heart rate, there's also some
         | interesting stuff related to anxiety and heart rate
         | variability. My understanding is that certain types of
         | breathing exercises improve HRV in the short term, which is
         | good for calming down if you're riled up, but people with good
         | cardio health have a better baseline HRV in the first place.
         | (Also, this has always been unintuitive to me, but _higher_
         | variability is better for anxiety, not lower variability.)
        
           | PaulHoule wrote:
           | I've been doing my own personal research on HRV and getting
           | to the bottom of it.
           | 
           | The literature is bewildering because of course there are
           | many ways to measure it. If you measure it over the course of
           | the day it is influenced by things like the activities you
           | do. Of course your HRV is going to be higher if you alternate
           | intense activity that raises your heart rate with rest and
           | since activity is so important in it I don't think it is fair
           | to look at a whole day trace.
           | 
           | I think the most important phenomenon is
           | 
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayer_waves
           | 
           | which are associated with the metric RMSSD as described here:
           | 
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rate_variability
           | 
           | This is called "SD1" in my app
           | 
           | https://gen5.info/demo/biofeedback/
           | 
           | You can use that app to increase the amplitude of your Mayer
           | wave, what you do is breathe in when you see the wave going
           | down and breathe in when you see the wave going up. It is a
           | little tricky if your Mayer waves are initially weak and you
           | might feel light-headed and think "I can't breathe" but once
           | it settles in it is a very strong effect.
           | 
           | I have read a number of patents for HRV biofeedback and they
           | all involve much more complex things that you might think
           | would work if you hadn't tried it but that I don't believe
           | would work having tried it.
           | 
           | Funny I have been taking Nebivolol, another beta blocker, and
           | found that it drastically lowers HRV-inferred stress as
           | measured by my Garmin watch -- I can't really say how it
           | affects my app because I wrote it after I started on the
           | drug.
        
             | the_pwner224 wrote:
             | For those of us who don't have a Polar strap, can you
             | explain at a high level how your app works? Based on what
             | the page says, seems like something about using R-R
             | interval to estimate where you area on the Meyer wave
             | cycle?
             | 
             | I have a different heart rate monitor (Amazfit smartwatch,
             | mine has their latest sensor that matches the higher end
             | Garmin watches for accuracy, it can be used as a Bluetooth
             | device or you can develop software to run on it directly).
             | What topics/keywords should I look into if I want to
             | develop the equivalent application for my hardware?
        
       | engineer_22 wrote:
       | My final year of college I lived 2 miles off campus and would
       | daily bicycle to school. In previous years I would commute via
       | car as I lived too far to make the trip conveniently. I perceived
       | greater emotional well-being during the 1 year period of moderate
       | daily exercise. My grades also improved dramatically and I was
       | more resilient during periods of sleep deprivation or intense
       | study. As an adult with a family it has been more difficult to
       | establish a pattern of daily physical activity. Going to the gym
       | is very boring for me.
        
         | mertd wrote:
         | > Going to the gym is very boring for me.
         | 
         | Try group exercise studios, if you have one available. The
         | classes are usually one hour. It makes planning very easy. Same
         | time, every week. All you need to do is to show up.
        
         | tylerflick wrote:
         | You could try signing up for a race. 5k's are a good intro if
         | you're new to running. Plus it's a nearly free hobby.
        
       | Havoc wrote:
       | Fitness or the exercise to get there?
        
         | SJMG wrote:
         | You get the fitness from the exercise. They didn't subject
         | people to exercise, they surveyed them on what they already do
         | and found a correlation between exercise and emotional
         | resilience.
        
       | small_model wrote:
       | Would a stressed out Amazon/Uber eats delivery person who is very
       | fit from working 10 hours a day, but with barely enough money to
       | feed their family going to be less angry/anxious than a rich
       | person lounging at his villa with zero worries? This is looking
       | at one variable which isn't very useful.
        
         | 0_____0 wrote:
         | working != working out
         | 
         | if you don't believe me, take one look at a construction site
         | and the workers on it.
        
           | small_model wrote:
           | But the article mentions cardiorespiratory fitness, not
           | working out vs working.
        
             | 0_____0 wrote:
             | My point is that physical labor won't grant you cardio
             | fitness.
        
           | seizethecheese wrote:
           | Diet is the main driver of obesity, not exercise. These folks
           | are often in great shape under a layer of fat.
           | 
           | More apropos, have you ever met an anxious construction
           | worker? I haven't.
        
             | 0_____0 wrote:
             | I renovated my house over the course of two years, so I've
             | had a lot of close contact with tradespeople. Carpenters,
             | demo, electricians, hvac, plasterers... the young guys are
             | ok and buckstrong. By the time they're in their 40s, you
             | can tell the work is rough on them.
             | 
             | Having muscle is only one dimension of fitness. You're
             | entirely neglecting cardiovascular health, which is a
             | better predictor of longevity.
        
         | Angostura wrote:
         | > This is looking at one variable which isn't very useful.
         | 
         | It's a core part of the scientific process: "All else being
         | equal..."
        
           | small_model wrote:
           | It's not though unless they cloned the humans and put them in
           | a lab for 50 years.
        
       | sp1nningaway wrote:
       | I am 100% certain my resilience to stress and anxiety is directly
       | tied to my cardiovascular health. I'm prone to a heart-racing,
       | hot-eared flywheel of anxiety. When I've been running a lot I can
       | FEEL the vagal tone/HRV fitness that gives me an physical off
       | ramp for the mental space to take a fucking chill pill.
        
       | jerlam wrote:
       | Cardio is unpleasant and stressful, which is why most people
       | don't do it. Someone willing to do something that is not fun, on
       | a regular basis, is going to have stronger mental status that
       | someone who doesn't try at all.
       | 
       | As Calvin's dad says, misery builds character.
        
         | AstroBen wrote:
         | It's only unpleasant and stressful when you're unfit. I cycle
         | 4-6 hours a week and it's wayyy more pleasant than sitting
         | around at home
        
           | reducesuffering wrote:
           | Agreed, cardio is actually generally enjoyable, hence the
           | massive popularity of run clubs and marathons. It is
           | unpleasant for the first couple months of someone 20 years
           | sedentary and overweight going into 9/10 effort runs though
           | (when they should jog)
        
             | tredre3 wrote:
             | > the massive popularity of run clubs and marathons
             | 
             | A few hundreds/thousands members in cities of millions
             | doesn't equate massive popularity. Doing cardio is
             | unpleasant to most people, I don't understand why it's so
             | important to cardio enthusiasts to frame them as being
             | liars or unaware? That's not convincing anyone and your
             | energy would be better spent trying to find other ways to
             | entice people.
        
               | reducesuffering wrote:
               | How many yearly events are drawing tens of thousands in
               | cities? About 15% of the US runs regularly per stats,
               | cardio is even more because cycling is also huge.
               | 
               | Of course cardio is unpleasant to most people, 73% of the
               | US is overweight or obese. I'm saying for healthy
               | individuals with a small modicum of fitness (like their
               | bodies were evolutionarily designed to do, we are the
               | animal kingdom's top long distance runner after all),
               | cardio is generally enjoyable.
        
           | mhurron wrote:
           | People who enjoy exercise are in the minority. Literally
           | doing anything I find interesting would be preferable to
           | exercise, I exercise because I have to, not because it is
           | enjoyable in any way.
        
             | AstroBen wrote:
             | I think it depends. People should branch out more and try
             | different sports. I'm sure there's something most people
             | could find that just happens to be exercise
             | 
             | I was like that when I was into lifting weights. I wanted
             | the results, but found the process incredibly grueling
             | 
             | With running/cycling I like the activity, not that
             | interested in the results
        
           | jerlam wrote:
           | It's the "forcing yourself to do something unpleasant" part
           | which improves mental state, not the fitness itself. I
           | suspect that people who find exercise enjoyable, or are
           | forced to do it, don't get the same benefits.
           | 
           | This article is basically just the marshmallow test: https://
           | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experimen...
           | 
           | And 4-6 hours a week would be a low week for me =)
        
         | Aaronstotle wrote:
         | I used to feel this way until I discovered cycling, I started
         | running because I don't want to bike in NYC winter weather.
         | Highly recommending trying cycling since you get to make it as
         | hard as you want and it builds amazing cardio
        
         | scottious wrote:
         | Once you get over the hump and develop a certain amount of
         | cardiovascular fitness, it stops being unpleasant and
         | stressful.
         | 
         | The real problem is that most people don't feel like this is
         | true. It really takes a solid 6ish months of earnest effort (AT
         | LEAST 3x per week, probably more) to develop cardiovascular
         | fitness. For some people, it'll take even longer.
         | 
         | I run an average of 6 days per week for the past 10+ years. At
         | this point running is just about the easiest thing I do, it
         | doesn't take any mental fortitude at all to do it. It wasn't
         | always that way though, I used to dread it.
        
           | weatherlite wrote:
           | > It really takes a solid 6ish months of earnest effort (AT
           | LEAST 3x per week, probably more) to develop cardiovascular
           | fitness. For some people, it'll take even longer
           | 
           | I don't think people need to suffer through 6 months just to
           | start enjoy running. Yes when beginning running you suck (and
           | also prone to injury); you basically have no zone 1-2 since
           | your'e so out of shape, your zone 2 is basically a fast walk.
           | So for newbies who train like that all runs become a zone 3
           | or even 4 - when you're totally new to running. No surprise
           | they many time a) hate it b) get injured
           | 
           | I advise newbies to walk and run and try to keep HR very very
           | controllable until you build up fitness. That should be both
           | more fun and also more sustainable injury wise.
        
         | weatherlite wrote:
         | > Cardio is unpleasant and stressful
         | 
         | It can be, especially when you're only getting started and
         | completely out of shape (I advise mostly walking and a bit of
         | running if thats the case). But it can also be a beautiful,
         | relaxing, meditative and totally addictive thing - which is why
         | tens or hundreds of millions around the world do it. That
         | feeling of unlpeasant stress means you probably went to hard;
         | decrease the intensity. Walk if u have to, then run a bit, then
         | walk some more. I agree that when you're starting out - feeling
         | like you're suffocating / out of air is not a great feeling.
         | There's really no reason to train like that.
        
         | eYrKEC2 wrote:
         | Zone 2 cardio is pretty doggone easy. I notice that if I hit 50
         | minutes of zone 2, then it is a huuuge stress reliever for me.
        
         | efficax wrote:
         | when you're fit and make it a habit cardio is pleasant and
         | calming. and it doesn't take long to get there unless you have
         | health complications
        
       | Herring wrote:
       | Exercise is good, everyone knows. The problem is advising people
       | to exercise doesn't work and doesn't scale. Gyms are for people
       | who have plenty of intrinsic motivation _and_ money _and_ time.
       | 
       | To improve physical activity at the population scale and over a
       | lifetime, it literally has to be built into the design of the
       | cities, so people get enough exercise while walking to work or
       | grabbing groceries.
       | 
       | https://cs.stanford.edu/people/jure/pubs/activity-inequality...
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPUlgSRn6e0&ab_channel=NotJu...
        
         | gedy wrote:
         | I think it would also help to not have everyone working so damn
         | much.
        
           | amelius wrote:
           | Or maybe work harder in the physical sense.
           | 
           | AI will help by doing all the intellectual work.
        
             | m463 wrote:
             | talk to your ai while you walk?
        
               | amelius wrote:
               | treadmill that only outputs tokens while you walk it
        
           | devmor wrote:
           | RTO is also a factor for some... when I was working full
           | remote I had the time and energy to attend an HIIT class 4
           | days a week. I was in the best shape of my life.
           | 
           | Since starting a position that requires me in the office for
           | 3 or more days a week, I no longer have the energy (or
           | schedule) to attend since I spend ~120-160m in traffic.
           | Between that and the lack of proximity to my own kitchen
           | affecting my dietary choices, I've gained almost 40lbs in 2
           | years.
           | 
           | All of this is of course avoidable with self-discipline, but
           | self-discipline wanes as you get more exhausted from your
           | day.
        
             | CincinnatiMan wrote:
             | Why do you choose to live this way? Such a long commute
             | sounds life-sucking. Consider moving to a smaller city.
        
               | rickydroll wrote:
               | where you can get a job dictates what city you live near,
               | how much you are paid determines how close you can live
               | to that city, and how much distance you want to keep from
               | your neighbors sets the density you can stand.
               | 
               | Moving to a smaller city changes your job, which changes
               | how much you are paid, which changes how close you can
               | live to the city, and your neighbors may still suck. It's
               | likely that you'll end up in the same soul-sucking
               | commute life that you just left.
        
               | gedy wrote:
               | That's what a lot of people did when "WFH"
        
             | Aurornis wrote:
             | > since I spend ~120-160m in traffic.
             | 
             | You went from one extreme to the other. 2 to 2.5 hours of
             | commute each day is very unusual.
        
         | lenkite wrote:
         | I have found stair walking a good, zero-cost, easily accessible
         | and fast-to-execute means of exercise in urban areas. You can
         | also scale-up/scale-down intensity and duration to your heart's
         | content.
        
         | pigpop wrote:
         | or you can just buy a kettlebell and do swings for as long as
         | you can last
        
           | jjj123 wrote:
           | That requires intrinsic motivation, which is part of OPs
           | point. If you build a walkable/bikeable city, you raise the
           | exercise floor for everyone.
        
             | weatherlite wrote:
             | > If you build a walkable/bikeable city, you raise the
             | exercise floor for everyone.
             | 
             | That requires intrinsic motivation for people to want to
             | leave their house. I'm not kidding, if jobs are going to go
             | away we're all gonna become super fat. Thank god for
             | Ozempic I guess.
        
         | Aaronstotle wrote:
         | Yeah, during covid and little bit after I was in amazing shape
         | because I was able to go on nice long bike rides a few times a
         | week. It got me thinking what would our society feel like if
         | everyone was able to exercise?
        
         | noelwelsh wrote:
         | Hear hear! Exercise at scale is an urban design problem.
        
           | mojuba wrote:
           | You don't even need to reinvent a walkable city, just look at
           | any medieval historical town that is say ~500 years old,
           | almost untouched, and has restricted traffic today (possibly
           | with no public transport whatsoever). These towns are a pure
           | joy to live in, they are walkable with no other options,
           | quiet, pleasant and overall healthy to live in in all
           | respects.
        
             | Fricken wrote:
             | We keep rediscovering that we're happier and more fulfilled
             | when we live in ways that are more like how we've been
             | living for most of the last million years. Also we are
             | disgusted by our ancestors and look down upon them.
        
         | alentred wrote:
         | We lack basic education in fitness, really, we do! They don't
         | teach it in schools, but really just walking your 8-10k steps a
         | day + simple own-weight exercises at home do wonders! Gym is
         | fine for those who like it and can afford it (time, money), but
         | by far not the only solution. We need to educate ourselves
         | better. Plus, better cities, I am with you on that one.
        
           | nathan_compton wrote:
           | I find this confusing, but most people do not like to
           | exercise. I think most people know how.
        
             | Aurornis wrote:
             | For those people it's better to call it "being active" or
             | "moving" or just "not sitting all day".
             | 
             | There's way too much emphasis on gyms, workout programs,
             | PRs, and difficult fitness. Most people just need to move a
             | little more.
        
             | galleywest200 wrote:
             | There are a ton of ways to exercise that are fun, people
             | just fail to see that. Hiking (free), rucking (only
             | requires a backpack), climbing/bouldering (free outside,
             | money in a gym), sports (free minus ball cost), kayaking,
             | canoeing, walking your dog, etc.
        
           | ako wrote:
           | Education is not the problem. People know sugar is bad,
           | people know cigarettes are bad, people know alcohol is bad,
           | still millions use these substances every day.
           | 
           | What works best is to find some form of exercise that you
           | really enjoy. I will get up at 5 in the morning, skip diner,
           | skip appointments when i get a change to exercise, just
           | because i enjoy it so much.
           | 
           | In addition, what also helps is to ensure normal activities
           | require excercise. I will walk to the shop every day for
           | groceries, walk the dog every day, cycle into town, best if
           | you can cycle to work.
        
         | Aurornis wrote:
         | I'm all for walkable/bikeable cities, but that doesn't solve
         | the intrinsic motivation problem either.
         | 
         | I live in an area that has a lot of walkable and bikeable
         | things nearby. There are a lot of people who drive anyway. Some
         | because they're older, others because they have kids, others
         | because they have busy schedules, and some are just lazy.
         | 
         | So while I'm in favor of better city layout, I don't think this
         | would be a magic solution.
         | 
         | > Gyms are for people who have plenty of intrinsic motivation
         | and money and time.
         | 
         | There are a lot of ways to work out without a gym. You can go
         | for a walk or run around your neighborhood or even do a lot of
         | workout programs at home. There are many easy workout systems
         | that don't even take a lot of time and are easy to get started
         | if you're not in shape.
        
           | BrenBarn wrote:
           | > I live in an area that has a lot of walkable and bikeable
           | things nearby. There are a lot of people who drive anyway.
           | 
           | The less warm and fuzzy part of this urban-design approach is
           | that it can't just be about making things easier to walk to,
           | it also has to be about making them _harder_ to drive to. For
           | instance, by making parking limited and /or expensive. People
           | tend not to like that idea, although I think there's a good
           | likelihood they'd actually be happy with it if not for the
           | meta-awareness of having "lost" parking.
        
             | Aurornis wrote:
             | People don't like that idea because it's highly
             | exclusionary.
             | 
             | It only sounds good to younger people who don't have any
             | disabilities, kids, grandparents who want to come along, or
             | any number of other valid reasons to walk.
             | 
             | It's also highly indicative of the weather where you're
             | from. Forcing people to bike and walk everywhere sounds a
             | lot better if you're in a moderate climate where bad
             | weather means you need to pack a light jacket and wait for
             | the light rain to stop. Move somewhere with harsh winters
             | and the moralizing about people driving places stops making
             | sense quickly.
        
               | fusslo wrote:
               | When I was in SF, the coworkers who drove in were those
               | who lived outside of the city who were trying to save
               | money and raise family. Buying a home in the city is
               | impossible for these people (and me). Mostly less
               | prestigious jobs, like cleaners, technicians, office
               | managers. Not the App guys making 300k living in the
               | Marina.
               | 
               | It's often an unintended tax on the poor.
               | 
               | IDK maybe there's some middle ground where we beef up
               | public transport while beefing up parking at stations.
        
               | Herring wrote:
               | This might sound reasonable, but it's a solved problem in
               | Europe. They have plenty of old/disabled people and harsh
               | winters there too. Many parts are de-emphasizing cars.
        
       | mattlondon wrote:
       | I wonder if there is some underlying lizard-brain thing going on
       | here.
       | 
       | If you "know" you are physically unfit you are quick to anger and
       | aggression _because_ you potentially need to act like that to not
       | _need_ to rely on physical fitness if it came to needing it? I.e.
       | you need to deter others through your aggression rather than
       | relying on fitness if it came to a fight?
       | 
       | Or alternatively the other perspective if you "know" you are fit
       | you can keep the stress hormones low safe in the knowledge that
       | if it comes to it you've got the fitness to handle a fight?
       | 
       | ...Or perhaps none of that!
       | 
       | Interesting.
        
         | csours wrote:
         | Or even more lizard brain: if you have more cardio
         | capacity/fitness, your body actually FEELS better, so you feel
         | better emotionally and cognitively.
         | 
         | If you have lower capacity, your body feels bad and this is
         | reflected in your emotional and cognitive state.
        
         | vjk800 wrote:
         | I've had the same idea. Especially regarding anxiety. You start
         | getting anxious and scared of everything, because your brain
         | knows that your body is out of shape and incapable of dealing
         | with stuff if anything happens. If you can't deal with any
         | problems, then you must constantly be on lookout for them so
         | that you can avoid them.
        
       | jihadjihad wrote:
       | "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy
       | people just don't shoot their husbands. They just don't."
        
       | agjmills wrote:
       | Linguistics question: the title says "[...] is associated with
       | lower anger and anxiety" I read it as _people who have lower
       | anger, and people who have anxiety_ Am I broken? (I am a native
       | English speaker but that doesn't mean that I speak English
       | correctly)
        
         | devmor wrote:
         | The title is grammatically standard to the title of other
         | scientific studies of this nature and communicates the intent
         | succinctly to those who know they are looking at a psychology
         | study.
         | 
         | A descriptive rewording for general understanding could be
         | something like "We measured an association with lower anger and
         | anxiety and higher emotional resilience in individuals with
         | higher cardiorespiratory fitness rates."
        
       | seydor wrote:
       | sample size and methods do not inspire confidence about such
       | broad generalizations
        
       | disgruntledphd2 wrote:
       | This study seems both wildly underpowered, chooses relatively bad
       | methods for analysis (splitting between below average and above
       | average, really?) and has far too many comparisions (they claim
       | to have used bonferroni corrections where necessary, and then
       | don't mention it again).
       | 
       | All in all, it's a pretty good example of modern psychological
       | research. Bad statistics, hyped up findings and (probably) wild
       | over-generalisation about what this tiny study means for
       | society/the world/my research funding.
       | 
       | I think the biggest flaw here is around the measurement of VO2
       | max. So they first ask people how often they exercise (cos no-one
       | ever lies) and then use a linear equation to map that to VO2 max.
       | Granted, the equation has lines for age and sex, so it's not
       | entirely useless, but if you're only going to sample 40 students
       | then why not try to measure things a _little_ better?
       | 
       | The most unintentionally hilarious thing about their methods
       | section is that age was not normally distributed (according to a
       | shapiro test). They sampled students, so of course it's not going
       | to be normally distributed. Students have a well-known bias in
       | age.
       | 
       | Ultimately, regardless of whether or not this finding turns out
       | to be true (I like the idea of it, myself) this study provides
       | absolutely no evidence for the effect.
       | 
       | Note: I have a PhD in psychology, but left the field a decade
       | plus ago. I'm both horrified by this study, and also having a lot
       | of fun poking holes in it, maybe I should try to get back into
       | reviewing? ;)
        
       | m463 wrote:
       | read1 the book "Spark" and a school instituted a daily exercise
       | program. Kids were happier, fought less and got better grades.
       | 
       | https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316113514
       | 
       | [1] well, listened to the audiobook while walking
        
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