The effects o f exercise on clients in a psychiatric rehabilitation program were investigated in three studies. In the first study, a structured interview revealed that a high percentage o f the 11 clients (82%) reported that participation in exercise sessions was associated with consistent antide pressant and!or anxiolytic effects, higher levels o f energy, and improved participation in other rehabilitation treatment modalities. In the second study, a time-series analysis showed that 5 clients randomly assigned to an aerobic exercise group had significant reductions in depression (BDI) scores (p<0.05), along with increases in aerobic fitness (p<0.01); 5 clients random ly assigned to a non-aerobic 12-week training group did not improve in aer obic fitness or BDI scores. In the third study, 15 clients who were not involved in form al exercise therapies at the time o f assessment demonstrat ed a negative correlation (r= -0.731; p<0.005) between aerobic fitness and level o f depression. This association indicated that the higher the level o f aerobic fitness, the lower the level o f self-reported depression in these clients. The overall evaluation o f exercise therapy indicates the feasibility o f establishing such programs in a wide variety o f psychiatric settings with sig nificant client benefits.The focus for the majority of research on exercise has been the relationship between exercise and health. It has been well established that exercise is an important factor in reducing the risk of many physical problems (Hanson, 1986).

Further research is warranted to elucidate the factors surrounding the relationship between physical activity and BMI in children and youths.

To determine whether the concomitant effects of pregnancy and exercise yield substrate and endocrine patterns different from those expected during exercise alone, we compared the responses of glucose, lactate, free fatty acids, insulin, epinephrine (EP), norepinephrine (NE), human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), human placental lactogen (HPL), estriol, and progesterone (P) in nonpregnant women (NP; n = 7) and pregnant women in the second (TR2; n = 6) and third trimester (TR3; n = 8) of pregnancy, before, during, and after 30 min of bicycle ergometer exercise at heart rates of 130-140 beats/min. In general, all substrates and hormone concentrations increased with exercise (P less than 0.05), except insulin, which decreased (P less than 0.05), and HCG, which did not change (P = 0.08). Differences in selected hormone concentrations (P, estriol, HCG, and HPL) among groups were already present at rest because of the different stages of pregnancy. Differences among groups at rest were also found in insulin and NE (P less than 0.05). Significantly different responses to exercise (i.e., group x time interactions) were as follows. NP vs. TR2:P, estriol, HCG, HPL, EP, and NE (P less than 0.05); NP vs. TR3: glucose, EP, and NE (P less than 0.05); TR2 vs. TR3: lactate, EP, and NE (P less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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