How many people need exercise to help them feel better?

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I'm wondering how many people here need exercise (whatever it may be) in order to help them deal adequately with their ASD, depression, anxiety, or whatever. I know it helps me somewhat with all 3, but I've been on and off with exercise, and I'm thinking I may really need to commit to it and look at it as a necessary part of my treatment. Is this true for other folks? (I know about the exercise forum but I wanted to post here to get a broader assessment). If so, what do you find helps you the most?

I find if I don't go on my bike for at least an hour a day I get stuck in a depression cycle where my motivation completely dies and I end up in bed for weeks on end. I hate being like that, happy I'm doing much better these days.

Cycling in general is great cause it's low impact on your joints, like with running for example you can get more injuries as it's more intense on your joints. I'd put cycling next to swimming.

I find it gives me more focus cause I'm feeling better overall and I guess it's great to be obsessed with cycling right? lol

I blew out one of the tubes on my bike months ago, and since then I haven't exercised nearly as much as I used to. It gave me a hobby and an outlet, as well as an effective means of transportation. I live in a weird place because we're big enough to be a city, but we don't have public transport of any kind.

It's winter now, and I kind of wish I saved up for new tubes and tires. My bike's a piece of crap though, and I'd like to get a new one some day. I want something with a light frame that can handle rough terrain, and be useful for carrying cargo. Maybe I should get over this stupid phobia I have of driving, get my license, and get a car.

I get as much exercise as possible. During Fall term at my school, I visited the campus gym usually after class finished just to get some exercise. It was on a treadmill, a foot-pedal machine, or a stationary bike.

It certainly helps me, long cycle rides worked wonders, and when about to shut down when the requirements of a job pull me in many directions at once, a discrete bit of flapping (out of sight) seems to restore a bit of energy and determination.

I fell into a lasting routine of running most evenings since last year, and it's been a pleasure (mostly) slowly returning to but not quite reaching my previous level of physical fitness and performance. In fact, I'm seriously considering quitting smoking in the new year, partly because of this acting as a catalyst in my head for all the reasons not to do it. Also, having once been chased by a group of men at night, it is good to know I can likely outrun most people I'll encounter given the chance; not that I genuinely think about that on a day to day basis but it gives peace of mind.
For the past 6 months I've also attended yoga classes. It was hard in the beginning and I'm sure the other women who attend don't like me. (There are usually a scattering of male yogis but attendance is overwhelmingly female!) Anyway, think I might have offended some of them due to my silent ways and they consider me a snooty sod, but I admit having a bit of a brain-crush on my scarily adept and zen-like instructor.
Any who, I have found yoga likes to hide behind that gentle exterior but I reckon the only exercise that works more muscle groups is swimming. Strength wise, in full vinyasa flow it can be quite brutal, but the synchronicity of the moves and the meditative aspects of the final savasana (corpse) position have been extraordinarily effective.

Bicycling and dancing help me momentarily forget about the struggles I'm going through.

One of my favorite things about riding a bicycle is that it allows me to exercise and sit at the same time.

If you can't maintain a bike, a car will ruin your budget. A cheap bike is best for winter riding. I've always used my regular skinny tires, and ridden when even pedestrians were struggling. If you slip on ice, you just put a foot down and slide along as a tripod until you get it sorted out. The only thing I'd avoid is drifting powder over icy ruts.

For me, exercise, usually by bike, is essential to feeling good. I much prefer useful activity, but have found it is not a waste of time to just ride around. It can be calming to get away from the screens for a while, too.

It me feel like complete crap and after I exercise I usually vomit. I feel miserable and so I never do It and become extremely out of shape. Such is life I guess, I'm just me, and I'm a horrible person so honestly it's not too bad really.

I have severe anxiety tied to exercise, still take walks and ice skate, but nothing major. I do not take part of schools PE because of sensory sensitivities and severe anxiety

Usually, people only vomit after exercise if they have really overdone it. You can start an exercise program just by doing a bit more of your normal activities. Walk an extra lap around the block, or up and down stairs without making a long session out of it. Just make it a habit to be more active without expecting big results in a hurry. Healthy, unprocessed food can make a big difference too.
One guy made a new year's resolution to exercise at a gym and kept it up, but didn't think it was helping much. Then he mowed his spring lawn. The last year, it had taken two hours and left him exhausted. After changing his habits, it took 45 minutes and he was ready for more.

Like the OP, I have anxiety, and mi or depression. I found that running has really helped control my anxiety. I run about 5 miles a day four days a week. Mind wonders quite a bit and I found running to be a great way to help my mind do that.
I also found meditation to greatly relieve my anxiety.

In our climate (northern Alberta), a motor vehicle is more or less essential if you don't just want to stay home all day. Lately temperatures here have been around -20C (or -4F) before wind chill, and it gets even colder ESPECIALLY if you take wind chill into consideration. I may have lived in northern Alberta all my life, but trust me, I hate our winters. If they were only half as cold, then I'd probably be OK with them.

That's funny, I have some anxiety associated with exercise as well. I'm not fond of the gym atmosphere; I'm sure most here understand this. But it's got what I need to exercise sometimes. Other times I'll be outdoors, even just for a fast walk. I feel better afterwards, and I do a lot of thinking while moving, so it's a mixed bag of relief and focus. But I think I probably need to do it daily moving forward, as the endorphins must help.

The holidays are tough, though. Once I haven't exercised for a few days, I find it really hard to get back into it. If it do it routinely, then it's SO much easier to get to it.

Son, I'm 5 hours due east of you now, and I started winter riding in Winnipeg. Before that, I was in southern Ontario, shivering without exercising. It was my first big adult snowball fight that taught me that I could stay warm and have fun. It does take some getting used to in the fall, though. On a bike, you need good boots and gloves, and face protection if you can find something that works, but not so much on the torso.