It might be a more luxurious experiencing crying in a Maserati compared to a Skoda but scientists have confirmed that there’s something more important than wealth when it comes to making people happy.

In a study published in the psychiatry journal The Lancet, researchers at Yale and Oxford University have analysed the mental mood of 1.2 million Americans in conjunction with their physical output.

According to Business Insider, the scientists behind the investigation concluded that people who exercise regularly have, on average, 35 bad days a year compared to those who don’t exercisehaving an additional 18 days of feeling low.

Another interesting slice of information revealed that people who were consistently active "felt as good as those who earn $25,000 or more a year" – which suggests that asking for a pay rise ~won’t~ give you the same rush of endorphins as an extra hour at the gym.

This is far from the first time scientists have analysed the positive effects of exercise on people who suffer from anxiety and depression. The feel-good hormones that are released when your heart-rate starts pumping can work wonders on a low mood.

Of course, over-exercising isn’t the right answer either. Researchers have suggested that people should ideally train three to five times a week in fairly reasonable time slots of 30 to 60 minutes.

The study claimed that people who exercised more than 23 times a month in longer sessions actually experience worse mental health than those who didn’t do anything at all. As with anything, moderation is key.