Busy lives, early school runs, work deadlines, urgent emails, online classes, and working from home have all become a part of modern lifestyle, which is both chaotic and stressful. Everyone faces stress on a regular basis, but in order to live a happy and comfortable life, one must first recall the times when they reacted negatively to stress.
Anger, sobbing, panic, under/overeating, pain, sadness, smoking, or drug use are all possible reactions. Only once you’ve identified those reactions will you be in a better position to manage stress. We all know that exercise is a great way to improve our general health, but we never associate it with using it to relieve stress. Let’s now establish a healthy link between stress and exercise and examine their relationship in greater depth.
Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It can come from any event or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or nervous. Stress is your body’s reaction to a challenge or demand. In short bursts, stress can be positive, such as when it helps you avoid danger or meet a deadline.
Stress is how the brain and body respond to any demand. Any type of challenge—such as performance at work or school, a significant life change, or a traumatic event—can be stressful.
Stress can affect your health. It is important to pay attention to how you deal with minor and major stressors, so you know when to seek help.
Stress has been named the “Health Epidemic of the 21st Century” by the World Health Organization. According to the Mental Health Foundation, stress is the feeling of being overwhelmed or unable to cope with mental or emotional pressure. It is estimated that between 75 to 90% of primary care physician visits are due to stress-related illness.
Here are five things you should know about stress.
Everyone experiences stress from time to time. There are different types of stress—all of which carry physical and mental health risks. A stressor may be a one-time or short-term occurrence, or it can happen repeatedly over a long time. Some people may cope with stress more effectively and recover from stressful events more quickly than others.
Examples of stress include:
In a dangerous situation, stress signals the body to prepare to face a threat or flee to safety. In these situations, your pulse quickens, you breathe faster, your muscles tense, and your brain uses more oxygen and increases activity—all functions aimed at survival and in response to stress. In non-life-threatening situations, stress can motivate people, such as when they need to take a test or interview for a new job.
Coping with the impact of chronic stress can be challenging. Because the source of long-term stress is more constant than acute stress, the body never receives a clear signal to return to normal functioning. With chronic stress, those same lifesaving reactions in the body can disturb the immune, digestive, cardiovascular, sleep, and reproductive systems. Some people may experience mainly digestive symptoms, while others may have headaches, sleeplessness, sadness, anger, or irritability.
Over time, continued strain on your body from stress may contribute to serious health problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other illnesses, including mental disorders such as depression or anxiety.
If you take practical steps to manage your stress, you may reduce the risk of negative health effects. Here are some tips that may help you to cope with stress:
You should seek help right away if you have suicidal thoughts, are overwhelmed, feel you cannot cope, or are using drugs or alcohol more frequently as a result of stress. Your doctor may be able to provide a recommendation. Resources are available to help you find a mental health provider.
When your body encounters a stressor (a threatening/challenging situation), the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine are produced by the sympathetic nervous system and endocrine glands. This prepares the body for fight or flight response to cope with the stressor. Cortisol production is increased if the stressor is perceived to be more of a threat than a challenge which causes energy production and suppression of immune function. The heart rate and blood pressure increases along with mental alertness and tension. Also, it can have deleterious effects contributing to diseases such as atherosclerosis, depression, and obesity.
Diverse psychological and physiological explanation exists for stress reduction effects of exercise which include the following
Studies have shown that people feel relatively calmer after a 20 to 30 minutes bout of aerobic exercise, which can last for several hours.
To help combat stress, 150 minutes of moderate to high-intensity aerobic exercise per week or 75 minutes of vigorous high-intensity aerobic exercise per week is recommended.
Also, 60 to 90 minutes of Tai Chi and yoga performed 2 to 3 days per week is found to be effective in reducing stress and improving the feeling of wellbeing.
In addition, to understand the role of exercise to manage stress, it is also important to understand common barriers that might affect exercise participation. Lack of time and motivation in addition to fatigue, poor sleep, and dietary habits may negatively impact exercise compliance and adherence.
The idea of motivating workout partners through group workouts is a great way to give a support network.
People who are stressed out from work or family duties may find that exercising alone is relaxing.
To increase adherence, a range of exercises such as dance, yoga, tai-chi, zumba, cycling, or any other pleasurable exergame can be included in the workout regimen.
Whatever you do if you are too busy to exercise, moving more can help you cope with stress better. Instead of driving or riding your bike to work, go for a stroll or a bike ride. Even focusing on moving your bodies for 10 to 20 minutes can be beneficial.
So get moving and let go of your worries! The path to happiness is right in front of you; all you have to do now is start exercising and you’ll be on your way to a happy, stress-free life.
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