Does Exercise Make You Happier Than Money?

The old adage “money can’t buy happiness” might not be true if you buy a treadmill, hire a personal trainer or sign up for a gym membership.

一个新studypublished in The Lancet explored the connection between exercise and mental health. The researchers analyzed data from more than 1.2 million adults and found that those who got regular exercise experienced less stress, depression and emotional turmoil than sedentary adults.

It’s the latest research to find a connection between exercise and happiness — but the study published in The Lancet had an interesting twist: Researchers found active adults were just as happy as sedentary adults who earned $25,000 more per year.

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调查结果导致了许多头条新闻，宣称运动使人们比钱更快乐。

他说：“我们从来没有说过锻炼使人们比钱更快乐。”

The more important finding, according to Chekroud, was the type of exercise and ideal duration and frequency that led to positive mental health outcomes. While all forms of exercise were associated with increases in happiness, the biggest boosts came from team sports. The amount of exercise also had a significant impact on mood and the largest associations were linked with exercising for 45-minutes between 3–5 times per week.

Although the connection between exercise duration and mood is not well understood, Patrick O’Connor, PhD, associate professor at the University of Georgia and Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, believes it could be a result of changes in the brain, including the activation of neurotransmitters like serotonin and norepinephrine that help decrease stress, anxiety and depression. Training too hard could have the opposite effect.

“At high levels, physical activity can produce depression,” O’Connor says. “Those are unusual cases; for most people, increasing the amount of physical activity will provide a nice psychological boost.”

The connection between exercise and happiness also works in the opposite direction: Exercise boosts happiness but happier people also tend to exercise more — a finding confirmed inresearchpublished in the journal PLOS One.

查普曼大学心理学助理教授朱莉娅·鲍姆（Julia Boehm），怀疑更快乐的人更容易设定和追求目标，包括健身目标。她researchfollowed more than 9,000 people for 11 years and discovered a positive mood was associated with higher levels of physical activity.

“Psychological and physical health are closely intertwined,” she says. “How we feel about our lives … and whether we think optimistically about the future can impact the choices we make, the behaviors we engage in and the health of our bodies.”

虽然可能没有强有力的证据练习可以使您比钱更快乐，但有研究认为，汗水有助于防止各种慢性健康状况，并与增加的幸福感相关。换句话说，运动可以使您感觉像一百万美元。