Despite popular belief, shouting into a punching bag or running when angry might not help calm you down. A broad 2024 study analyzing over 150 research papers found that rage workouts often fail to reduce anger and may even exacerbate it, while mindful practices like deep breathing and yoga consistently soothe angry feelings.
- Vigorous exercise can prolong or increase feelings of anger.
- Calming practices like meditation and yoga reduce anger across ages and cultures.
- Ball sports may help reduce anger due to their social and engaging nature.
What happened
Researchers conducted a review in 2024 covering 154 studies with more than 10,000 participants to explore the effects of exercise on anger management. They compared vigorous physical activities such as jogging, cycling, and hitting punching bags with calming methods like deep breathing, meditation, and yoga to determine their impact on anger and aggression.
The findings revealed that while vigorous exercise offers many mental and physical health benefits, it is generally ineffective at reducing anger and sometimes even worsens it. Conversely, calming activities reliably lowered anger levels regardless of participants’ backgrounds. An interesting exception was ball sports, which appeared to alleviate anger, likely due to their distracting and social qualities.
Why it feels good
When a person is angry, their body enters a heightened state known as fight-or-flight, characterized by increased heart rate, muscle tension, and adrenaline release. Calming exercises such as meditation and slow-flow yoga work by interrupting this response, slowing down the heart rate and relaxing muscles. This physiological shift helps reduce feelings of anger and aggression more effectively than intense workouts.
On the other hand, vigorous activities often maintain or amplify the body’s arousal levels, keeping the person in that heightened emotional state. Activities that mimic fighting motions can even sustain aggressive feelings. The sociability and focus involved in ball sports may help distract the mind and reduce the mental replay of anger-inducing events, offering a natural emotional release.
What to enjoy or watch next
If calming down is your goal, integrating mindfulness-based practices like deep breathing or yoga into your routine can foster better emotional balance. These slower, focused movements can help lower physical tension and calm the mind, leading to lasting anger relief.
For those who prefer more active options, engaging in social ball sports could be an effective way to reduce anger while also enjoying movement and community interaction. Meanwhile, while jogging and similar intense exercises remain excellent for heart health, they are not recommended as a strategy for managing anger specifically.