My husband would rather be miserable. So he lays in his recliner like a slug.
Paul Krugman's recent article did a touch-and-go on happiness and 'the meaning of life:'
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/09/opinion/us-covid-mrna-vaccines.html?searchResultPosition=4
Unfortunately, the comments section was closed after only 20 comments (!).
I was going to mention Bhutan and the other recent wellness article about managing anxiety. The outside world isn't responsible for my anxiety, but my response to the outside world is. I'm not generally an anxious person, but I know it well.
Like its close emotional cousin, fear, anxiety can be expolored (i.e. the where, when and why). Anxiety can generate fear but I won't let the fear of anxiety stop me from exploring it, if that makes any sense.
Fear, as an emotion by it self, is a little more immediate ;)
1
Any doubts about the benefits of exercise out there, yet? For skeptics, physical activities may even revolutionize their mental prowess, thinking for themselves included. Hard to believe but true.
There have been studies that compare exercise vs medication for the treatment of depression. In one study there was no difference at 4 months, but at 6 months only 30% of the exercise group were still depressed whereas 50% of the medication group were still depressed.
1
The headline, unlike some others posting, does not bother me; it contains the qualifier "Might". I don't think everything in the world can be pinned down like an insect in an exhibit case.
I go to the gym one to five times a week, always get an hour on the stationary bike and usually lift weights and use some of the machines. This kind-of-routine exercise didn't start until I was in my 70s after several falls that were quite debilitating and required treatment and physical therapy. I am happy to say I've had no more falls—knock wood—and notice my legs are stronger and I'm steadier on my feet. Am I feeling happier because of exercise or because I'm not falling anymore? I don't know, but does it matter?
6
Folks, the trick is to get past your resistance threshold--then your body will crave exercise and the associated benefits. Bodies like to move.
7
Agree wholeheartedly. Just finished a strength training workout and my mood is much improved over previous. Occurs whether I’m working out solo or in a group.
6
How do you control for the fact that exercise often gets us away, if only briefly, from often dreary life activities that can be stressful, especially in these days of 24/7 bombardment of bad news that seems like it’s coming from everywhere (TV, radio, the internet, your friends and colleagues). For example a brisk walk, bike ride or ski run are great ways to clear the mind and come back to presence and balance. But so can be non-exercise activities such as watching a good flick or reading a good book.
9
Please work with your headline writers on the concept of correlation and causation. While the article acknowledges that the correlational studies cannot prove causation, the headline makes it sound like they can. The same thing happened with the article about standing desks in April. The NY Times should have a higher standard than clickbait headlines.
13
@J Crosby
Amen. Correlation may betoken causation, but never reveals which way the arrow of causation points. In addition, there are a great many other variables that may contribute to or detract from the correlation. Correlation/causation connotes that there are only two, which is rarely the case. The only way to measure causation more accurately, as far as I know, is to use multiple regression analysis, and I do not know how one could set that up for experiments like this one.
3
Worth mentioning that the "Journal of Happiness Studies" is not exactly the most prestigious journal out there. I work in a research field and had never even heard of it until today.
12
Perhaps you need to read more away from your research area.
It doesn't have a great impact, because believe it or not, happiness and wellbeing has not been seen as that important. Nevertheless, some outstanding has been conducted in many related fields, from clinical, individual difference, social and organisational, anthropology, epidemiology, and economics.
Wellbeing is one of my areas of interest. The literature is not huge.
Oh, there are thousands of journals. I am sure there are many many journals that I am not familiar with. It would be arrogant, and even delusional of me to assume that if I have not heard of it, then it is not worthy. And I don't even have a Phd, though, I spend 3 days a week among journals in different fields.
19
Really? My husband goes to the gym every other day and he is grumpy and ill-tempered. Well, perhaps without exercising he might be even worse, right?
22
Maybe he’s not really going to the gym? Lol
23
@Deborah
Exercise makes me tired and irritable, not happy.
3
This explains why chain gang members and the slaves rowing galleys were all so darn happy!
18
@Steve T
˙Ha! Context is everything here.
1
I wish the Times would take a more careful approach to writing headlines. The causality articulated in this one is really not supported. Public trust in science is falling in part because of a perception that studies are often wrong, when really the study's conclusions are much more conservative than how journalists articulate them.
"because most of the studies in this review were observational, she says, it is not possible yet to establish whether exercise directly causes changes in happiness". The researcher says all of the observational studies showed a link; if that is not true for the experimental studies, that's a strong suggestion that the causality is the other direction or driven by a third variable.
7
Maybe working less than 45+ hours a week, not counting housework and yard work might make Caffeinated Nation Americans happier. Just a thought.
8
And now we can explain Trump's state of mind.
5
Observational, meaning completely unscientific, studies underly this cheery can do story. The reporter did not and could have singled out the actual and valid experiments only mentioned in passing to that measured the impact of exercising vs a control group. More bad science reporting, even while admitting it is bad.
1
Hogwash! Coming back from the gym, i'm tired and cranky!
Some of us simply do not like sport. I exercise as medical treatment no more no less. And just stop telling me should find something I actually like doing...thank you
12
““Every one of the observational studies showed a beneficial relationship between being physically active and being happy,” says Weiyun Chen, an associate professor of kinesiology”
Well, they also showed that...
Being happy is related to being physically active!
1
The happiness comes from being able to stop.
18
@Phyliss Dalmatian The happiness comes from being able to do it, my friend.
The joy of reading this is unbelievable—- now if I’m real lucky I’ll be alive tomorrow morning...
Thank you so much...
3
Nothing “squishy” about it, any amount of exercise is brilliant.
As my daughter noted, “it lifts everything.”
Even a 2-minute walk.
6
May I courteously ask that as many people as possible try to get 2-7 friends to join you in doing daily exercises. If you are lucky, you will get 1-2. Keep asking the others as you do some moderate daily flexes each day as a warmup to the days that you will do full exercises.
As an incentive, I want to share with you my Flexercise(c) routine which consists of just practicing trying to flex all the muscles in your body that you can mentally control. Flex your arm biceps and triceps in opposition to each other while flexing all leg and abdominal muscles. The more you try, the better muscle control that you will gain. You will be amazed after doing this for 7 days and only 5 minutes a day, absolutely amazed at the new strength that you will have. If you can lift a knife and fork, you can do Flexercise(c).
4
I was sick in bed for two years with Lyme disease. I could lift a fork but I certainly could not exercise. I could barely get out of bed.
3
“Exercise might also remodel the brain, for example, by prompting the creation of new brain cells or inducing changes in brain chemicals, in ways that contribute to positive emotions.”
This is the most fascinating part of the study that’s linked to the endocannabinoid system. Anandamide increases upon physical activity leading to a range of beneficial physiological effects including euphoria (i.e., runner’s high) and promotion of BDNF resulting in neurogenesis.
5
Does the study account for health problems? People who *never* exercise (whatever that means) as a group are going to include, virtually by definition, people with health issues that make exercise difficult if not impossible. Is it not reasonable to assume that a group that includes people with issues that preclude exercise are going to on average unhappier than people healthy enough to exercise? Without controlling for that, the causation could be reversed.
11
I absolutely believe they have found causation rather than mere association. That's because I see this force acting every day in my life. I am not a cheerful person. I've had chronic PTSD since childhood. I've been depressed. Lots of bad things have happened to me. Exercise really does make a difference. It really does. The flock of analytical naysayers here should give it a try.
36
““I think the indications are strong that exercise can contribute to happiness and, while anything helps, a bit more is probably better”
Well, the other interpretation is just as valid:
“the indications are strong that being happy can lead to doing more exercise and, while any happiness helps, being a bit more happy is probably better...”
6
I disagree with the second interpretation. It's not just as valid, in my experience. I feel much worse after circumstances keep me from a planned workout. I wouldn't feel that way if being happy made me exercise.
I have read that people who suddenly stop exercising can experience an effect like going off antidepressant medication. I can see that. Keep me from a workout for more than two days and I get pretty cranky, impatient and negative.
But the negativity goes away when I can work out again.
15
"It could be that happy people are more likely to take up exercise and continue with it than people who feel sad."
Leaving aside the confusion of "depression" with "feeling sad" . . . Yes, indeed, it could be that depressed people who have trouble getting out of bed in the morning might not be inclined to take up any kind of exercise program.
There are a lot of "studies" that report a correlation between A and B, going all the way back to Aesop's finding of the cock who felt his crowing caused the sun to rise -- another perfect correlation.
4
I'm a lonely guy (48). Usually, my 7 mile run or 90 min lifting session is the high point of my day. I almost look forward to it, like it's a hot date. In ski season, I feel that way about skiing. If my legs could handle it, I'd probably run 1o miles every day. I can't seem (for whatever reason) to get any dates online. So, this is my sex substitute (skiing too).
19
I look forward to Pilates reformer classes with enthusiasm. It’s a nice mix of meditation and strength building. You might consider adding that to your routine. Not as many men in the classes. Might be good exercise and potentially good for your social life.
4
Does "exercise" and "working out" apply to just cardio? Or does it include things like Pilates, Yoga, free weights and other, non-cardio, regimens? If I engage in 2 1/2 hours of non-cardio exercise does that count for anything?
7
Recently I started going to the gym to only do weights. I do them as circuit training, meaning my heart rate is constantly up and I break a sweat. I leave the gym feeling great. But when I run before the weights I walk home feeling euphoric for the next 6+ hours - best mood ever.
I think the key is to move, and as vigorously as possible. The more vigorous, the happier you become.
8
NK,
If it gets you dates, it counts for something.
3
Personally speaking, I know I am very happy after having exercised. Of course my increased happiness is short lived and centers around the fact that I am done with exercising!
16
Here’s a suggestion for a desperately needed NYT article. How about a layperson’s guide to interpreting the true value of a published scientific study, as well as how to critique NYT articles about said studies? It’s frustrating seeing these studies touted in your paper with only brief mention of the fact that most of the data doesn’t actually support a causative relationship. Here’s a causative relationship for you. The media hyping of an unproven claim by researchers causes researchers to continue constructing bad studies and making unproven claims.
57
I strongly agree with this comment. The article could just as honestly have been titled "Even a little exercise might NOT make us happier."
12
I agree that teaching people how to read studies would be a great article or series in the NY Times, but I would also like to see articles on bias in research. What gets researched, and why? Who pays for research? Is it harder to get research funding for well-designed studies that will not result in some company making a profit, at least compared to years ago when there was more respect for government?
If being happy is a good thing, and exercising is a good thing, I'm glad a study suggests that maybe that 10 min. of exercise can help with happiness, and maybe being a little happier--perhaps changing one's automatic thoughts and my overall perspective--can get a person exercising a little more. Ten minutes of exercise is better than no exercise and can lead to exercising more often.
I'd say more research into mental and emotional health as it relates to physical health would be good for all of us, but I'm less cranky about this article than I am about funding for research for the public good.
9
I agree that the NYT article implies causation between exercise and happiness more than it should due to the number of sources in the review that used just cross-sectional data. However, if you look at the original paper found through the provided link, it shows that some of the studies used to investigate the relationship between exercise and happiness were indeed randomized control trials, the gold standard for establishing causation. And it seems that the cross-sectional studies were also high quality in that they adjusted for a lot of factors that might affect results, for instance BMI. Obviously there are limitations, but I think it is still worth further exploration, especially given low levels of happiness and well-being among Americans in recent polls (e.g. Gallup, Harris).
5
Sunshine and outside air? along with the endorphins???
A little sunshine prob makes us all happier. Exercise groups in the park (on the roof) at lunchtime...
Reinstate morning and noon recess for kids in school.
Yeah. I hope millions of $$ were not spent on this "study."
9
Even a yoga class a day is enough to keep me happy. It is also nice to feel like you are part of a community where you can go everyday and say hello to people.
7
All the negative comments notwithstanning, it seems perfectly reasonable that people who exercise feel better. I'd also wager that people who eat reasonably well also feel better. Being healthy feels good.
Perhaps it is the word "happy" that throws readers off. In our culture happiness is often conceived as a rather immature and certainly unrealistic sense of frictionless delight with everything. We've also been brain washed to believe that Happy Meals, Coca-cola, Friendly's ice-cream sundaes, and large SUVs will bring us to that ecstatic mental condition. Of course, they don't.
8
Maybe cheerful people are just more likely to exercise.
15
This is the blindingly obvious consideration which would do nothing to drive traffic to the NYTimes.
3
I see no evidence for this so-called blinding obviousness in my life. I feel bad if I can't exercise. It's after I exercise, not before, that I feel better. The conclusions of this study match my own experience. I believe that it is correct.
6
To the contrary, a story that demonstrated that cheerful people are more likely to exercise would draw an avalanche of readers.
But I agree with Patricia. Invariably, my sense of well-being is greater after exercising. I question defining anyone as "cheerful"; far too much depends on circumstance and degree. I have many good qualities, but being cheerful is not one of them. I know from experience the benefits of exercise on my mood.
2
If someone from a couple of hundred years ago visited a gym today and saw people hoisting chunks of iron repeatedly over their heads, they'd think it was madness. Exercise for people back then was synonymous with living; you couldn't perform any activity without exerting yourself. Running on a treadmill and getting nowhere pretty much exemplifies the absurdity of the modern approach to exercise, which is why so many devices end up either as clothes racks or folded up under the bed.
9
isn't "gymnasium" a word from the ancient Greeks?
10
Rumination is the true evil causing unhappiness, depression and related ills. Shoulda, Woulda and Coulda. Exercising, meditation, qigong, yoga and prayer will all make you happier if you'll only get out of your own head. Walking while brooding, not so much. Helping others is even better.
14
All the negative comments notwithstanning, it seems perfectly reasonable that people who exercise feel better. I'd also wager that people who eat reasonably well also feel better. Being healthy feels good.
Perhaps it is the word "happy" that throws readers off. In our culture happiness is often conceived as a rather immature and certainly unrealistic sense of frictionless delight with everything. We've also been brain washed to believe that Happy Meals, Coca-cola, Freindly's ice-cream sundaes, and large SUVs will bring us to that ecstatic mental condition. Of course, they don't.
3
Perhaps a better word than happy would be "bliss."
Don't understand how NYTimes can publish this gossip, from the "Journal of Happiness", providing no new information and not specifying what kinds of exercise work best.
I walk 3.5 miles every morning before going to work, when it's not pouring or the temperature isn't in single digits. 1.5 hours in hilly terrain. I am no less depressed and no more happier than when I don't do the walk.
As to exercise, my guess is that I'd feel less cranky, happier and more relaxed if the exercise were sex, not walking.
3
Is there some reason you don't jettison the walking in favor of daily sexual gymnastics, partnered or no?
3.5 miles is barely anything, my dog walks that much every day as a minimum just to go to the bathroom. Try running or more vigorous exercise.
I am 66. Pilates, 1 hour, once per week. Yoga, 2, 90 minute sessions a week, two 16 mile bike rides. They call me Smilesalot.
Even when I don't want to go...15 minutes after I'm there I am happy as bee in clover.
7
For me there is a definite causal relationship between exercise and happiness.
I am 5 years retired from a stressful job. I still often wake up anxious and not"happy," however that word is defined. On the days that I can go to the gym, those feelings resolve quickly. On the few days that I don't exercise they persist.
Even when working I would feel better after a brief period of sit ups with my office door closed. This did not occur by simply taking a quiet break.
Whatever works, do it.
8
I'm 58 and would agree. Nothing clears the mental cobwebs like a modest workout: 15 minutes of moderate stationary bike, 30 sit-ups, 30 push-ups and I'm as good as new. It's the only "drug" where the side effects are all positive.
14
I may be the exception to the rule, but working out doesn't make me happy. However, on days when I don't workout I am unhappy.
3
I've exercised ('cross train': swim, jog, bike, hike, weights, pilates, etc) much of my adult life, 30-45 mins/day, 5-6days/week), but have been a life-long depressive anyway. Likely would be even more depressed if I didn't exercise. I hate exercising, and do it not to ward off depression, but rather to avoid other health problems. Am terrified of becoming incapacitated (with advancing age seems inevitable, one way or another), and will bail out to avoid that, as soon as my dog - who still needs me - is gone. Anti-depressant meds all have terrible side effects (I've tried), and 'talk therapy' is useless.
17
I honor your commitment to your pet. You should volunteer as a dog walker at an animal shelter.
2
It would be nice if there were some mention about the difference between causality and association. It's entirely possible that "happier" people feel like exercising more than less "happy" people. It's even likely. That's a far cry from implying or hinting that exercise might make you happier. Exercise can release endorphins and that can certainly affect mood, but can we please have some rigorous science instead of anecdotal fuzzy thinking? What is "happiness" anyway? The Journal of Happiness Studies? Really?
39
The first sentence of your comment should be framed and put on the desk of every science reporter (and researcher). But of course, that would make the story less interesting. Sometimes the truth isn't all that interesting. Doesn't make it less true.
1
If you took the time to read the whole article, you'd notice that both of your gripes are explicitly addressed. Why comment when you've only read the headline?
1
100% agree with this.
1
I'm not sure what kind of happiness they're talking about. I mean if you gave a survey to people about whether going to a show or going to eat at their favorite restaurant made them happy, I'm pretty sure you'd get a positive response. And, as with exercise, to keep the happiness level up, these things need to be repeated often.
In a follow-up study, the researchers will need to show that there's a positive internal change in hormones or brain function or some other positive change that is unique to exercise. Otherwise, people will just find their happiness with other, easier-to-do activities (which is probably the case in reality).
5
I would be inclined to question whether exercise makes people happier vs exercise being something that positive, energetic people do. However....
I ran 5 times a week for about 45m to 1 hour, for years. You get a pretty solid endorphin high from running that kind of distance, but the downside is that if you can't run, for lack of time or injury, you can get very cranky.
When I was training for triathalons, I did not have the same feeling of withdrawal symptoms when I skipped swim practice or bike rides. Just with running. In my experience, the type of exercise has different effects, as does the intensity.
13
Look at the picture -- the impulse to be reawakened is to have fun, surprise, and joy; something that starts with a mindset that anticipates these emotions. I think what you seem to be after is competition, which even if it is against yourself, will evaporate any sense of freedom and glee. In fact exercise is not the right word -- those in the picture are NOT thinking about health benefits. They're out to explore; engage with nature. That, my friend is what we need to reconnect with -- something we ALL are born with but, alas, lose on way to adulthood.
9
Arif,
I feel like OSS said he's happy, and you told him he's happy in the wrong way. I fel like you policed his happiness.
I don't think children have child-like wonder. That's an adult invention projected back onto childhood. Children are sincere and purposeful. If they look at a fallen leaf, they study it and then ant to find a use/purpose for it (they put it with a drawing, etc.). Children yearn to be grown-ups and always practicing adult things (driving to cars, etc.). Puppies "play" fight.
Wilde famously said that "youth is wasted on the young." I think childhood awe is a mental state invented by adults and projected onto childhood. Most children I know love rules. they don't like free play. They turn all free time into games with rules. If you put five children together on a playground, within twenty minutes they will probably have invented some game with a bunch of rules that grown-ups couldn't understand. My sense is that adults daydream about escaping rules, and children yearn to have rules. Adult dinner parties are unruly. Children's tea parties are full of rules.
5
Always thought that was GB Shaw's quote, not Wilde.
1
I certainly am happy when I finish my (almost but not quite) daily exercise regime, preferably walking.
10
as a habitually-positive person I have been annoyed by 'everything is terrible' habitually-negative people
but then recently I read they can be useful - in avoiding risks and problems that happy positives might walk right into
I have been ripped off big time and my habitually-negative partner has since saved me many times - for which I am daily-thankful.
So - while I may stay habitually-positive - habitually-negative reflexes may prevent problems as well ...
6
I wish they'd pulled out the data on people who started exercise and whether they were happier afterwards. That would actually be what you need to answer the question.
5
Well, here is one data point, and I hope it helps. About a year ago, I read "Younger Next Year". It motivated me to exercise regularly. I feel much better as a result. Even when I have had a bad or stressful day, a round of exercise seems to make any low feelings diffuse and go away. Try it.
31
One data point is better than none, but doesn't prove much. :)
Glad you are feeling better.
1
What about thinking about exercising, even for a few minutes a day?
67
I guarantee you if you use my tried and true run-walk workout you will feel better, even only 2-3 times a week. Run one minute (slow is fine), walk one minute. Repeat ten times. 20 minutes. Done. Heartrate gets up in the 150-160 range by the end, maybe. Not too strenuous, and you feel much better throughout the week. The only change you make over the months is to pick up the pace a little when the runs become easier. That's it.
You don't even have to buy my book on it, which I will never write.
124
Thank you, John Krumm. Sounds good. I’ll give it a try.
1
Even just brisk walk intervals mixed in with slower walking is a great option!
1
I tried this delightful workout suggestion this morning and found it not strenuous enough - but I love the concept, so I'm going to increase it to 30 min. - simple and a great way to get the juices flowing.
2
Once again, read 2/3ds of the way down into a Times health story based on "research" and discover that the study doesn't actually prove anything. In this case either active people are happy, or happy people are active. In any case, surprised? Instead of cheerleaders, newspapers need reporters.
53
This was the first thing I thought of when I read the headline. I've never known a NYTimes article to understand the difference between causality and correlation, however.
2
The best part of exercising for me is when it's over. I feel virtuous. Endorphins have eluded me so far and I assume I am not working to aerobic capacity.
20
I am going to take my morning walk right now!
10
It doesn't make most people happier, otherwise everyone would be doing it to excess.
Most people do not like to excercise…why is it so hard for the medical and media establishments to grasp that?
32
Once you establish a good exercise routine, you might just find that you can't live without it. Even if it doesn't make you happy, it will almost certainly make you healthier, especially if you are an older adult who wants to stay as independent as possible.
14
My question is, WHY do so many of us dislike exercise? Or, more accurately in my case, why do we resist beginning a period of exercise? Once I am in it, and particularly after I have done it, I almost always feel better. It's overcoming my resistance to getting started that's hard. Each and every time.
100
I'm a 65-year old woman who swims regularly for 30 min. at a time. Once I'm in the pool and the workout is underway I am quite happy to be there and I invariably do a satisfying workout and feel great mentally and physically for the rest of the day. HOWEVER, frequently prior to the workout, say, while I'm driving myself to the pool, I will be in the WORST mood and feel certain there's NO WAY I am going to enjoy a swim. I have TRAINED myself to observe a moratorium in listening to my feelings pre-workout because rationally I know that once I'm in the pool I will be fine. I allow myself to have ALL the bad feelings and negative attitudes, I just simply do not take them seriously or as indications of how I should act. It never fails that once I'm in the pool I am fine. I think I would shrivel up and die if I couldn't swim laps four or five times a week! I love it! All the negativity prior to the workout means nothing! - it has been the wisdom of old age and much life experience and self-knowledge that has taught me these things.
84
It surprises me that doctors and science writers never consider a fundamental aspect of medicine: humans are not all born the same, not even mice. From the important ptho-physiological view-point, physical excercise ameliorates micro-flow motion in biological systems, acting positively on the redistribuition of adhesion points on the abluminal membrane of endothels.
5
The quirky thing is, statistics tell us a lot about a group, but little about the individual.
9
Dear Mike Y, I agree with you. Since 63 years I'm working to change Medicine, so that I have found the Single Patient Based Medicine. Sincerely
1
I am astounded how often facts keep getting redicovered, and although the worth of fitness, like many other things, needs to be repeated, this is truly not news. Ever since I started fitness, I read extensively, and at least from the late '80's there were studies usig the Profile of Mood States (POMS) that showed a variety of measures changed with exercise, reductions in anxiety and anger, increases in joy, etc. The current study might have more rigor, but it's definitely not new.
16
But rigor is a good thing, right? And given the skepticism even on this list, the message, and additional evidence, bears repeating.
5
I don't see this study having more rigor. A bunch of people were asked how much they exercised and how happy they were? I mean, did they pick the correct emoji or something?
13
This study does not have more rigor. And I fall into the camp of believing that exercise has many, many positive effects. I’m not skeptical of the claim that exercise is good, but I am bothered by lazy science and skeptical that this study has supplied any real evidence.
2