Designing an aerobic exercise training in water as an alternative treatment for depression

A highly disruptive emotional disorder is major depression, characterized by abnormal regulation of feelings of sadness and happiness. Traditional treatment for depression was pharmacological treatment. One alternative that has been shown to be effective in alleviating depression is physical activity. Previous observation and interventional studies have suggested that regular aerobic exercise reduced symptoms of depression. Moreover physical activity and exercise in water may have some beneficial effects on mood. However the purpose of this investigation was to design an aerobic exercise pattern in water and evaluate the effects of this pattern on depression. Two hundred and forty-nine male undergraduates allocated for this study. The Beck Depression Inventory was used to measure the presence and degree of depression. Fifty –two males (body mass, 67.8  9.3 kg; height, 1.73  0.04 m; age, 22.26  2.4) who obtained a depressive score more than 18 participated in an aerobic exercise program. The aerobic exercise program included unstructured water- polo sessions, 60 minute duration, three times per week for seven weeks. The participants trained at 60-70 % of maximum heart rate. The Beck Depression Inventory was administered before aerobic exercise training, at the first, twelfth, and twenty- first sessions. Analysis of variance with repeated measures (ANOVA) showed that levels of depression score were significantly higher pre-treatment than in middle-treatment (P<0.05). A significant change was observed between the pre-treatment and post-treatment (P<0.05), the level of depression score was lower in post-treatment. Comparison of Beck score in the depressed samples at the first day (25.19), twelfth (15.08), and the twenty-first (11.64) of session, after performance of the practice, was significant (P<0.05). The results in control group at pre and post training exercise unchanged significantly.