It’s Official, Exercise Makes You Happier Than Money

Olga Pavuka for DeepH
2 min readFeb 1, 2022

We all know that a good workout releases endorphins, giving us that happy, post-exercise buzz. That’s why, when you get into a good gym or workout routine, it’s hard to stop, and many people find it addictive.

It’s clear that exercise has both physical and mental health benefits but, what if it proved to be more critical to your happiness than money? Well, research carried out by Yale and Oxford universities and published in The Lancet Medical Journal has shown precisely that.

The researchers asked over 1.2 million US adults how many times they felt sad, stressed, or had experienced other emotional problems in the past 30 days. They also asked them about their income and physical activities.

The results showed that people who stay active are usually happier. For example, people who don’t exercise feel bad for 53 days a year, on average, while those who do exercise only feel bad for 35 days a year.

The study also found that physically active people are as happy as people that don’t exercise often but earn around $25,000 more per year.

Too much of a Good Thing

Exercising too much can have the reverse effect on happiness. Interestingly, the mental health of those participants who exercised for longer than three hours a day reported…

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Olga Pavuka for DeepH
Olga Pavuka for DeepH

Written by Olga Pavuka for DeepH

DeepH Founder. Feel Better. Sleep Deeper. Stress Less with the DeepH App. www.deeph.io.

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