“Ready-to-use” two-week home exercise program targeting depressive symptoms: pilot study

Exercise is an evidence-based treatment for depressive symptoms, yet it often requires specialised knowledge, equipment, or professional supervision. Lay people in certain contexts, example remote locations under pandemic restrictions, lack these resources and thus cannot use exercise to manage their symptoms. We developed a two-week home program that bypasses barriers tested university students during restrictions. In online study, we recruited 49 participants complete week of baseline symptom monitoring then follow the 2 weeks (6 sessions) at home. The involved aerobic resistance training; each session lasted approximately 45 min. After intervention, reported lower (standardised β = −0.71 [−1.05, −0.38]) anxiety ( id="M2">β −0.87 [−1.19, −0.55]) Although make causal conclusions, our results suggest brief may have potential reduce symptoms young adults.