Physical Activity Benefits Well-Being

Although it is widely known that exercise has a positive effect on health, many people do not get enough physical activity. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and international partners conducted a meta-analysis that, for the first time, exclusively included studies that repeatedly measured physical activity and emotional well-being in the participants’ daily lives. This resulted in a dataset containing more than 300,000 mood assessments. This makes it the most comprehensive study to date on the relationship between physical activity and mood in everyday life.

Different Patterns in Mood

Emotional well-being is generally positively associated with both preceding and subsequent physical activity. “Here, a distinction can be made between correlations within individuals – ‘if I exercise more than usual, I feel better’ – and between individuals – ‘if I generally exercise more than others, I feel better than others’,” explains Professor Ulrich Ebner-Priemer from the Institute of Sports and Sports Science at KIT. Only in terms of calmness did the opposite effect emerge: before and after physical activity, participants tended to feel less calm and relaxed in their daily lives.

According to the meta-analysis, individuals with low well-being benefited particularly strongly from physical activity, underscoring the potential of daily exercise for psychologically vulnerable groups. More than 95 percent of the individuals analyzed felt more energetic before or after physical activity. In the coming years, the researchers aim to identify person-specific and contextual factors to better explain the identified correlations. In addition to KIT, Ruhr University Bochum, University of Salzburg, and the Central Institute for Mental Health in Mannheim participated in the study.

era, May 18, 2026