Men are consistently less likely than women to seek out mental health treatment — the stigma around "just talking about it" is real and well documented. What's less well known is how strong the research evidence has become for exercise specifically as a legitimate treatment, not just a mood booster.
The Evidence Is Bigger Than You'd Think
A landmark 2024 study in The BMJ, led by researcher Michael Noetel, conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis of 218 randomized controlled trials involving 14,170 participants, comparing different exercise types against each other and against standard depression treatments. Walking or jogging, strength training, and yoga all produced moderate reductions in depression symptoms — with effect sizes for walking/jogging (g = −0.63) and strength training (g = −0.49) that were comparable to or larger than the effect seen for SSRIs, a commonly prescribed class of antidepressant (g = −0.26), and in the same range as cognitive behavioral therapy (g = −0.55).
A more recent 2026 analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, led by Neil Munro and colleagues, pooled 57 analyses covering roughly 57,930 participants for depression and 24 analyses covering about 19,368 participants for anxiety. Their conclusion: "every type of exercise examined performed as well as, or better than, medication and talking therapies," with aerobic activities like running and swimming showing particularly strong effects — especially when done in group or supervised settings.
Why This Might Matter Especially for Men
Exercise as a mental health intervention has a few practical advantages that may make it a more accessible entry point for men specifically:
- It's action-oriented rather than requiring immediate verbal processing of emotions, which can feel like a lower barrier to entry than talk therapy for some men.
- It fits naturally alongside goals men already value — strength, physical performance, competition — so it doesn't require framing the activity primarily as "mental health treatment" to get started.
- Group and team-based formats (recreational sports leagues, training partners, gym communities) provide social connection alongside the exercise itself, and the Munro et al. research specifically found supervised/group formats produced stronger benefits.
An Important Caveat
Both of these studies come with real caveats. The Noetel et al. review noted that confidence in many individual results was rated low, largely because it's impossible to "blind" someone to whether they're exercising, which affects study quality. Exercise should be understood as a well-evidenced complement to professional care — not a replacement for therapy or medication in moderate-to-severe depression or anxiety, especially in cases involving safety concerns. If you're struggling, a conversation with a doctor or mental health professional is still the right first step.
A Practical Starting Point
Given the research, a reasonable, low-barrier entry point is:
- Strength training 2–3x/week — it showed a solid, well-documented effect and doubles as a physical goal many men are already motivated by.
- Regular walking or jogging, which had the single strongest effect size in the Noetel et al. analysis.
- Group-based activity where possible — a training partner, a recreational league, or a gym class — since the evidence favors supervised/group formats for larger effects.
The Takeaway
The evidence base for exercise as a treatment for depression and anxiety is no longer preliminary — it's built on hundreds of trials and tens of thousands of participants, with effects that in several studies match or exceed standard treatments. For men who may be reluctant to start with therapy or medication, structured exercise is a legitimately evidence-backed place to start — ideally alongside, not instead of, professional support when it's needed.
References
- Noetel, M., et al. (2024). Effect of exercise for depression: systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. The BMJ, 384, e075847.
- Munro, N. R., Teague, S., Somoray, K., Simpson, A., Budden, T., Jackson, B., Rebar, A., & Dimmock, J. (2026). Comparative effectiveness of exercise versus medication and psychotherapy for depression and anxiety. British Journal of Sports Medicine.
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