Depressed? A first-of-its-kind mega-mega study shows that exercising with others may be the key
It's not only about exercise, but it's also about social connection.
Lazy Sunday in bed. As I sip my coffee, a newsletter hits my inbox, containing the headline “Exercise for anxiety and depression: New research reveals what works best”. Usually sceptical of sensationalism, I click the link instead of reading the magazine article. A few minutes in, I find myself thinking, “We already knew all of this”, until it hits me: “It's not only about exercise; it's about social connection”.
We all know exercise reduces the risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes. We also know it has a great impact on mental health. However, when your doctor recommends exercise, you listen; but what if your psychologist recommended joining a running club or a Zumba class? Would you take them seriously?
Well, an umbrella review published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine is the first to comprehensively isolate the effect of exercise on both depression and anxiety across clinically diagnosed and non-clinical populations, including children, emerging adults, older adults and perinatal women.
At first glance, the findings are largely what we would expect: exercise helps reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. But one result stood out: For depression, group exercise produced substantially greater improvements than exercising alone. Likewise, supervised exercise performed better than unsupervised exercise.
Reading that conclusion took me back to a period in my own life when exercise, and the people around it, helped me find my way back to myself.
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I earned my first fitness trainer certification in 2013. Exercise wasn’t just an interest; it was part of my professional identity.
Then COVID happened.
After months of confinement, we moved up the mountains here in Switzerland. Around the same time, I was working in one of the most enjoyable, exciting, and fast-paced jobs I'd ever had.
Leads would inundate our inboxes every Monday. I would connect with Australia at 5:30 in the morning, then stay late to catch up with the Americans at 7 pm. Together with my incredible colleagues, we were opening new markets, building something meaningful. I joined the extended leadership team and eventually built a small global team of my own.
I loved it.
I was also working at least twelve hours a day.
Emails came before breakfast, meetings filled the day, and I checked my inbox on weekends too. I ate poorly. I didn’t take care of myself nor my family, to be honest. I thought I was taking care of them by working hard and being a good provider.
I skipped meals; I skipped workouts… but burnout did not skip me.
I started losing my hair and eventually developed a large bald patch on the top of my head. I gained around ten kilos. Little by little, I suppressed my identity as a health professional in pursuit of becoming a high-performing executive.
At the time, I didn’t see it happening.
Looking back, it seems obvious. In trying to become successful at work, I was slowly abandoning many of the habits that had helped me succeed in the first place.
Once I was put on burnout leave, I started exercising again. In many ways, I was getting back to my roots.
This is the part where my neighbours became my friends. They knew what was going on in my life. We would make plans to walk to Zumba together. Then I got invited to join another workout class about twenty minutes away. Every Wednesday, three of us would carpool to a local school gymnasium for a “Strong” workout.
I started filling in for the Zumba teacher whenever she was on holiday. I started getting invited to apéros after class. My Strong teacher became my nutritionist. The local Fédération Suisse de Gymnastique gave me my own class to teach on Thursday mornings. My Zumba teacher became one of my best friends.
I don’t know how my life would have turned out if it weren’t for this group of people.
When I read the study's conclusion that “greater reductions in depression were associated with exercise in group and supervised settings”, I couldn’t help but think of that period in my life.
The exercise mattered, of course. But so did the people.
Sport gave me a reason to leave the house. It gave me structure. It gave me something to look forward to every week. More importantly, it connected me to a community when I needed it most.
And even today, one of the things I love most about sport is its power to bring people together. Some of my closest friendships have started with a spin, dance or yoga class.
My experience, of course, is just one story.
What makes this paper interesting is that the data points in the same direction.
Why is this study relevant?
First, it provides strong evidence that exercise can help reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety across a wide range of populations. Second, it helps answer a more practical question: what works best?
For health professionals, that matters because it allows us to move beyond simply telling people to "exercise more". We can better understand which types of exercise, intensities and settings appear to produce the greatest benefits.
But what I found most interesting was something else: The study suggests that the social side of exercise may matter more than we realise. That is important for health professionals, but it is also something every one of us can apply immediately.
If you're struggling with your mental health and wondering where to start, the findings suggest that joining a class, a sports club, a walking group, or any form of organised activity may be more effective than trying to do it all alone.
For depression:
Group exercise: SMD = -0.71
Individual exercise: SMD = -0.38
And:
Supervised exercise: SMD = -0.69
Unsupervised exercise: SMD = -0.46
As the authors themselves conclude, “social components have a crucial role in the antidepressant effects of exercise”.
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Exercise is never just exercise.
A spin classmate can become a friend. A workout partner can become part of your support system. A fitness instructor, a mentor. And your gym class, your community.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons physical activity appears to have such a powerful impact on mental well-being. Not only because we are moving our bodies, but because movement creates opportunities for connection, routine, accountability and belonging.
Reading this study, I found myself thinking less about exercise and more about the conditions that help my clients stay healthy over time. Movement is one of those conditions. Community may be another.
For me, they arrived together.
Study referenced in this article: Munro NR, Teague S, Somoray K, et al. Effect of exercise on depression and anxiety symptoms: systematic umbrella review with meta-meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2026;60:590-599.
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