The study found a direct link between women’s mental health and exercise levels

Lack of exercise has been proven to have a detrimental effect on women’s mental health.

The ASICS Move Her Mind study, which involved 26 focus groups and a survey of just about 25,000 participants worldwide, found a clear correlation between women’s mental health and activity levels. People Magazine reported.

Notably, women who exercised often reported significant improvements of their mental well-being, feeling 50% more energetic, 48% more confident and 52% happier than after they weren’t lively.

Women also reported feeling 67% more anxious and 80% more frustrated after they didn’t exercise often, indicating that the workouts helped them cope with negative emotions more effectively.

However, greater than half of the ladies surveyed said they didn’t have enough time to exercise.

“Regardless of activity level, women face barriers that prevent them from being as active as they would like to be,” said lead researcher Dr. Dee Dlugonski.

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The most typical barriers reported by women regarding exercise were insufficient time (74%) and too many other responsibilities (76%).

Having children also had a significant impact on a woman’s ability to exercise often; over 60% of ladies said that motherhood was the most important reason they stopped going to the gym often, with their activity levels declining as they spent years giving birth and raising children.

However, moms didn’t all the time resume physical activity as their children grew older; over 50% of ladies said their exercise levels decreased as they aged, with some even stopping altogether. The two most important reasons for stopping are work and lack of time.

“Many women have reported that they experience gender-based expectations that impact the time they have off to exercise or play sports,” Długoński said in People magazine. “Caregiving roles, such as caring for children, elders, and performing other household duties, were particularly significant barriers reported by women in the quantitative and qualitative data.”