Fitness Over Pills: Why Physical Training Crushes Anxiety, Depression, and PTSD
Introduction
The fire service is no stranger to mental health struggles. Depression, anxiety, PTSD—these are battles many firefighters fight in silence. The traditional approach? Pop a pill, take a drink, and/or sit on a couch and talk about your feelings. But what if there was a more effective solution? One that didn’t just manage symptoms but actually rewired your brain for resilience?
A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine dropped a bomb on the mental health world and yet I'm pretty sure nobody felt it. It found that physical activity is 1.5 times more effective than counseling or the leading medications for treating depression and anxiety (Singh et al., 2023). You read that right—exercise outperforms antidepressants.
It’s time to rethink how we approach mental health in the fire service. Let’s break down what this study found and why every firefighter should be prioritizing physical training as their first line of defense against mental health struggles.
The Science: Exercise vs. Medication
The study analyzed data from 97 reviews, covering over 1,000 trials and 128,000 participants. The verdict? Physical activity had a significantly larger effect on reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and psychological distress compared to traditional treatments.
🔥 Depression: Exercise had a medium effect size (-0.43), compared to medications which average around -0.30 (Singh et al., 2023).
🔥 Anxiety: Exercise showed a strong impact (-0.42), outperforming therapy and pharmaceuticals (Singh et al., 2023).
🔥 Psychological Distress: Physical activity had the largest effect (-0.60), reducing symptoms faster and more effectively (Singh et al., 2023).
The most powerful effects were seen in high-intensity exercise and in people with major depression. But here’s the kicker—every mode of exercise worked. Strength training, endurance work, even walking—it all contributed to better mental health.
Why This Matters for Firefighters
Firefighters don’t have the luxury of waiting six weeks for a prescription to kick in. The job demands mental toughness, resilience, and the ability to perform under extreme stress. Exercise isn’t just about staying fit—it’s about staying in the fight when the job and life throw punches at you.
1. Exercise Rewires Your Brain
When you train, your brain releases endorphins and serotonin, chemicals responsible for mood regulation. But it doesn’t stop there—physical activity stimulates the growth of new neurons, improving cognitive function and emotional control (Singh et al., 2023).
2. Stress Resilience on the Fireground
Your body reacts to stress the same way, whether it's a structure fire or a mental health crisis. Regular high-intensity exercise teaches your body to handle stress more efficiently, keeping cortisol (the stress hormone) in check (Singh et al., 2023).
3. Better Sleep, Better Recovery
One of the biggest contributors to mental health issues? Poor sleep. Firefighters already operate on garbage sleep schedules, but regular training improves sleep quality, helping regulate mood and reducing the effects of PTSD and anxiety (Singh et al., 2023).
4. Strength Training Builds More Than Muscle
Lifting heavy doesn’t just make you stronger—it makes you mentally tougher. Strength training has been shown to reduce depressive symptoms by improving confidence, focus, and emotional regulation (Singh et al., 2023).
How Firefighters Should Train for Mental Health
The study confirms that any type of physical activity helps, but some methods are more effective than others. Here’s how firefighters should structure their training to get the biggest mental health benefits.
1. Prioritize Strength Training
3-4 days per week of resistance training.
Focus on compound movements: squats, deadlifts, presses, and rows.
Train heavy (3-6 reps) for strength and moderate (8-12 reps) for resilience.
2. Get in Some High-Intensity Work
2-3 days per week of interval-based training (hill sprints, sled drags, metcons, etc).
Short, brutal bursts of effort train your body to handle high-stress situations without the mental crash afterward.
3. Incorporate Zone 2 Training for Recovery
1-2 days per week of low-intensity, steady-state cardio (rucking, cycling, rowing).
Helps regulate cortisol levels, prevents burnout, and enhances overall recovery (Singh et al., 2023).
4. Make Movement a Non-Negotiable
Even on rest days, move. Take a walk, do some mobility work, or hit a sauna. Sitting around breeds stagnation, unless it's in a cold plunge.
Why Aren’t More Firefighters Doing This?
Despite the overwhelming evidence, most mental health treatment still defaults to medication and therapy. Why? Because it’s easier to write a prescription than it is to get someone to change their habits.
The fire service has to do better. We need to start treating fitness like a prescription. If a firefighter walks into a station struggling with anxiety or depression, their first treatment shouldn’t be a bottle of pills—it should be a well-structured training program.
🚨 Firefighters train for the worst-case scenario—why aren’t we training for our own mental health? 🚨
Final Thoughts: Train Like Your Life Depends on It (Because It Does)
The evidence is clear—fitness isn’t just for performance, it’s for survival. Not just on the fireground, but in the battle against mental health struggles. If exercise is 1.5 times more effective than medication, why the hell wouldn’t you make it a priority?
If you’re serious about your performance, your career, and your mental resilience, then training isn’t optional—it’s mandatory.
🔥 Sign up for the Firehouse Strength & Conditioning program and start training like your life depends on it. Because it does.
🚒 7-day free trial. No excuses.
Works Cited
Singh, B., Olds, T., Curtis, R., Dumuid, D., Virgara, R., Watson, A., & Winser, S. (2023). Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 57(3), 123-134.