Does regular exercise reduce stress levels, and thus reduce symptoms of depression?

There is a very complex relationship between stressful situations, our mind and body’s reaction to stress and the onset of depression. Some people develop depression after going through stressful events in their lives, such as the death of someone close, loss of job and other negative and traumatic problems that can cause large amount of stress (Prentiss, 2009). These problems make us experience a mixture of physical and emotional effects that can create stress as a positive or negative feeling. The human body is designed to experience and react to stress; it can be both a positive and negative influence. Positive stress can give a person the drive and
Methodology

The population for this study were adults over the age of sixteen, who showed signs of stress and led a mostly sedentary lifestyle. Using a sample of ten known subjects, the cooper 12 minute run test of physical fitness (see appendix 2) was carried out to make sure they could meet the demands of at least the beginner level of the workout. The test was carried out on a treadmill at the gym. The aim of the test was for the subject to run as far as possible within 12 minutes. It is used to measure the general condition of the subjects, and it is supposed to be run at a steady pace, they can power walk if necessary. The outcome is based on the distance the subject travelled, their age and gender. The subjects could only take part in the experiment if they scored a minimum of average for their age and gender. The average was worked out by finding the mean from the distance ranges of each age group on the comparison table. When the subjects were chosen they filled in the first part of the survey (see appendix 1), which asked how active was their occupation, their stress levels, why they felt they were stressed, how they sleep and how many hours, their mood, motivation, if they take part in regular exercise, if they didn’t exercise then why and any problems they had from a list of options. This was so that their background and their