The Gender-Stress Gap: Women Benefit Most From a Daily Workout

For those looking to lower stress levels this year, hitting the gym — or going for a brisk walk — might be the best strategy, especially for women.

A new report from the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index reveals that women experience a more dramatic “stress-busting” effect from exercise than men do.

The results, based on surveys of nearly 17,000 U.S. adults last year, found that women who exercised for 30 minutes at least six days a week reported significantly lower levels of stress than those who didn’t exercise at all.

Specifically, 56% of inactive women reported feeling a lot of stress, but that dropped to 45% for women who moved their bodies daily.

In other words, they lowered their odds for experiencing stress by 20%.

In contrast, the benefit for men was much smaller. Men who exercised daily saw only a 3 percentage point drop in stress compared to those who didn’t work out (43% to 40%). That translates to 7% lower odds of stress.

Researchers suspect this gap exists partly because women often report higher baseline stress levels, giving them “more room to improve” through physical activity.

(The study showed similar workout habits between genders, with 14% of men and 12% of women exercising six or seven days a week and 26% of men and 28% of women not exercising at all.)

Age also played a major role.

For women between 18 and 44 years of age, the probability of feeling stressed dropped from 68% for non-exercisers to 54% for daily movers.

Similarly, women over 65 saw a 12-point drop in stress through exercise (from 39% to 27%), while older men saw almost no change at all (25% to 24%).

The connection between a sweat session and a better mood relates to the body’s chemistry, according to the report.

Exercise helps regulate hormones by flushing out cortisol — the body’s primary stress hormone — and replacing it with “feel-good” chemicals like dopamine and endorphins.

Gallup researchers also suggest that social factors might be at play.

Women are statistically more likely to exercise with friends or in group classes, which adds a layer of social support that can further melt away anxiety.

They also note that women tend to report more struggles with sleep compared to men, and the added benefit of better sleep from exercise thus could help explain why women report more stress-busting effects from exercise.

“Other factors, such as hours worked per week, could also play a role for both genders, with individuals who work much heavier hours carrying more daily stress while simultaneously having less time to exercise, compared with their counterparts with more manageable workloads,” pollsters said.

Overall, both U.S. men and women reported high levels of stress, with 46% feeling high stress the day before. But the trend was clear: The more days of exercise reported, the less stress reported.

More information

The National Institutes of Mental Health offers detailed guides on managing stress through lifestyle changes and physical activity.

SOURCE: Gallup, Jan. 1, 2026