The 30-Second Fix: Why Sprinting Is 2026’s Most Surprising Breakthrough For Panic Attacks

Multiple studies have found that exercise may help to alleviate symptoms of anxiety. 

And a new paper, published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, found that a 12-week brief intermittent exercise (BIE) program “was feasible and more effective” than relaxation training in reducing panic symptom severity and panic attack frequency, with effects sustained for at least 24 weeks among participants.

In this research, sprinting (the BIE in question) was used as a kind of exposure therapy known as interoceptive exposure.