EXERCISE AND STRESS

Overview

People who exercise regularly will tell you they feel better. Some will say it's because exercise stimulates the production of neurotransmitters, the chemicals in the brain responsible for mediating our moods and emotions.

Many of the great stress-relieving benefits of exercise include:

• Relief from anxiety - 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 which has the result of leaving people feeling less jittery and hyperactive.

• Relaxation - One exercise session generates 90 - 120 minutes of relaxation response, also known as post-exercise euphoria or endorphin response. The endorphins and other neurotransmitters involved in this process improve your mood and leave you feeling relaxed.

• Improved self esteem - 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.

• Better nutrition - People who exercise regularly tend to eat more nutritious food. And it's no secret that good nutrition helps your body manage stress better.

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Getting started

Now that you know exercise can make a big difference in controlling stress, make time for regular physical activity. Think about including:

• Aerobic activity - Just 20 minutes of aerobic activity, six to seven days a week will improve your ability to control stress significantly.

• Yoga - As your body increases its amount of muscular work in yoga-type activities your mind relaxes. 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.

• Recreational sports - Sports such as tennis, volleyball or squash require the kind of vigorous activity that rids your body of stress-causing adrenaline and other hormones.

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Exercise tips

• Choose a stress-free environment to exercise well away from the office!

• Take your personal stress triggers into account. For example, if you work alone, you may enjoy the social benefit of exercising in a group.

• Make time for work-break exercises. Ninety-minute intervals are a natural work-break period, and four 10-minute exercise breaks at this time will burn almost as many calories as a solid 40 minute session. Work-break exercises can be as simple as walking or climbing stairs, stretching or doing calisthenics.

Controlling stress comes down to making the time to exercise. You're worth it!

Reprinted with permission from the American Council on Exercise (www.acefitness.org)