Research shows that “psychobiological responses” to psychological stress can be changed through regular, brief desk exercises like planks, push-ups, squats, and lunges. Decreases in blood pressure and cortisol and other stress hormone levels are among these alterations.
Another study indicated that a basic exercise routine consisting of lunges, lifts, squats, and crunches—sometimes with dumbbells—done twice weekly for eight weeks significantly reduced anxiety symptoms in young adults.