Fast tempo of life and various situations make us experience stress every day. Just imagine how stressful a life of a busy adult can be, from typical workday dosed with stress (traffic jams, deadlines, your boss...) to planning your finances and dealing with the unexpected.
No matter what you do in your life to avoid stress, it will be there, every day. So, what can we do about it?
There is one excellent way to deal with stress and improve one's health at the same time: exercise
Any form of physical exercise will increase your overall health and reduce stress, the only important thing is to exercise often and start after a stressful workday.
Stress relief benefits
• More endorphins. Physical activity greatly increases the production of endorphins, the feel-good neurotransmitters in your brain. Endorphins help reduce stress by making you feel better, often called a runner's high.
• Feels like a meditation. During your training session, you will forget about the day's irritations and stressors by concentrating on your body's movements.
• Improving your mood. Regular exercise increases levels of self-confidence, lowers symptoms of mild depression and anxiety. Exercise will also improve your sleep which is often disrupted by stress.
All of these benefits can relieve your stress levels (at least after your stressful workdays) and provide you with a sense of control of your body and your life.
Get exercise to work for you
Successful training program starts with a good plan and can be achieved with the following steps (you can find great tips and training programs in our blog under Fitness category):
• Consult your doctor. If you are new to exercising and you may have some health issues, ask your doctor which exercises you can do and how intense they can be.
• First walk, then run. Build up your fitness level by gradually increasing intensity and volume. Overdoing can lead to injury and poor results and even more stress. When you get your new training program, start lightly, then over time increase the intensity.
• Do what you love. Virtually any type of exercise can increase your fitness level and decrease your stress. If you love swimming, then go to a local pool and swim, if you like to run, go run outside or buy a treadmill, if you like to weightlift, go to the gym or get yourself a set of dumbbells.
• Master it. Your exercise program becomes your new priority. Stick with it whether that means waking up earlier or exercising late afternoon. Motivation will never cease as long as you have the goal in your mind.
• Find an exercise buddy. Exercise with your friend, it will be much more fun and social interaction by itself paired with exercise will help reduce your stress levels even more.
All in all, exercise is the way to go for dealing with stress, there is no better natural stress relief. Whatever you do, do not think of exercise as one more thing on your to-do list, you can avoid that by finding a form of physical activity you enjoy the most. Remember, all of us experience stress and the most important thing is dealing with it. Less stress, better life.