Stress and Exercise
How exercise can help reduce your stresHOW IT
WORKSPeople who exercise regularly will tell you
they feel better. Some will say it's because chemicals
called neurotransmitters, produced in the brain,
are stimulated during exercise. Since it's believed
that neurotransmitters mediate our moods and emotions,
they can make us feel better and less stressed.
While there's no scientific evidence to conclusively
support the neurotransmitter theory, there is
plenty to show that exercise provides stress-relieving
benefits.FOUR WAYS EXERCISE CONTROLS STRESSExercise
can help you feel less anxious. Exercise is being
prescribed in clinical settings to help treat
nervous tension. Following a session of exercise,
clinicians have measured a decrease in electrical
activity of tensed muscles.
People have been less jittery and hyperactive
after an exercise session.Exercise can relax you.
One exercise session generates 90 to 120 minutes
of relaxation response. Some people call this
post-exercise euphoria or endorphin response.
We now know that many neurotransmitters, not just
endorphins, are involved. The important thing
though is not what they're called, but what they
do: They improve your mood and leave you relaxed.Exercise
can make you feel better about yourself.
Think
about those times when you've been physically
active. Haven't you felt better about yourself?
That feeling of self-worth contributes to stress
relief.Exercise can make you eat better. People
who exercise regularly tend to eat more nutritious
food. And it's no secret that good nutrition helps
your body manage stress better.
IT'S TIME TO GET STARTED.Now that you know exercise
can make a big difference in controlling stress,
make some time for regular physical activity.
We'll help you get started by listing three activities
you can choose from:
1. Aerobic activity. All it
takes is 20 minutes' worth, six to seven days
a week. Twenty minutes won't carve a big chunk
out of your day, but it will improve your ability
to control stress significantly.
2. Yoga. In yoga
or yoga-type activities, your mind relaxes progressively
as your body increases its amount of muscular
work. Recent studies have shown that when large
muscle groups repeatedly contract and relax, the
brain receives a signal to release specific neurotransmitters,
which in turn make you feel relaxed and more alert.
3.
Recreational sports. Play tennis, racquetball,
volleyball or squash. These exercises can help
control stress games require the kind of vigorous
activity that rids your body of stress-causing
adrenaline and other hormones.
Not just any exercise will do. Don't try exercising
in your office. Outdoors or away from the office
is the best place to find a stress-free environment.
Even a corporate fitness centre can have too many
work-related thoughts for some people.Stay away
from overcrowded classes. If you work surrounded
by people, a big exercise class may be counterproductive.
Solo exercise may be more relaxing for you. If,
however, you work alone, you may enjoy the social
benefit of exercising in a group.
A lot depends
on your personality and what causes stress for
you.Don't skip a chance to exercise. Take a break
every 90 minutes and you'll be doing yourself
a favour. Ninety-minute intervals are a natural
work-break period. And four 10- minute exercise
breaks at this time will burn about as many calories
as a solid 40- minute session.Work-break exercises
can be as simple as walking or climbing stairs,
stretching or doing callisthenics. Controlling
stress comes down to making the time to exercise.Gavin
Walsh is a Personal Trainer and Fitness Expert
based in London, UK.
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