We know that exercise has many benefits for physical health. It’s a healthy habit we should aim to incorporate into our lives, no matter our fitness level. Exercise can also have a positive effect on our mental health. In particular, it can help relieve stress!
How Does Stress Make You Feel?
You can usually tell when you are under a lot of stress because your body will tell you. Your muscles will be tight and tense, particularly in the shoulders. Some people experience that tension in their face and neck as well. You may experience neck and back pain, as well as headaches. Another common symptom of stress is tightness in the chest and rapid heart rate.
Stress can cause physical symptoms such as heartburn, diarrhea, and other stomach discomforts. You may have trouble sleeping, which can also cause its own physical and mental symptoms. The effects of stress can make you feel sick and tired, which impacts your quality of life and your ability to focus. Your productivity at work goes down. You may start to experience more anxiety and even depression.
Exercise Can Produce Feel-Good Endorphins
One of the best benefits of exercise is that it can make you feel better mentally and physically. When you exercise, your brain releases endorphins, which are hormones that produce a feeling of euphoria. It is often referred to as “runner’s high.” This may be why some people find it addicting! When you have endorphins running through your body, it can impact your mood and outlook on life, which can help you manage your stress better.
Take Your Mind Off Of Your Worries With Exercise
When you exercise, your mind will focus more on your body rather than your worries. When you exercise, focus on the rhythm of your movements and your breathing. Exercise is a great way to relax your mind, similar to meditation. If you exercise outdoors, you will experience even more benefits for your mental health. Listening to the sounds of nature and taking in the beauty of nature has a calming effect. Often when people experience stress, just taking a walk or running outside can reduce stress levels.
Exercise Promotes Optimal Health
Since stress can cause many physical symptoms in the body, getting those stress levels down through an exercise routine is important. Regular physical activity improves the quality of life and relieves stress, tension, anxiety, depression, and much more. Chronic stress can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease. It’s important to protect your cardiovascular health with exercise for the physical health benefits and keep your stress levels down.
Exercise Improves Sleep
Another way exercise helps when you are stressed is that it improves sleep. We often experience periods of insomnia when we experience times of stress. This can create a vicious cycle of even more stress because the lack of sleep will leave you feeling miserable both physically and mentally. When you are active during the day, it can help your body’s sleep drive, which helps you to fall asleep easier at night.
Exercise Improves Productivity
If stress impacts your ability to focus at work, exercise can be a great tool to boost your productivity. It gives you more energy and stamina and can help clear your mind of anything weighing you down. When your body and mind feel better, you can focus on your goals without being bogged down with anxiety and depression. When you can focus and be productive at work, you can reach your deadlines easier.
Ways To Incorporate More Exercise
A common reason people don’t exercise enough is that they feel they don’t have enough time. You don’t have to go to a gym or spend a lot of time exercising. Set a small goal to incorporate just ten minutes a day of some type of physical activity and then increase it as your fitness level improves. You don’t need to overdo it and injure yourself, which can lead to more stress!
Make exercise fun by finding physical activities you enjoy. Take your dog or kids on a daily walk. If you like to dance, this is a fun way to get moving and relieve your stress! You can join a dance club or take dance lessons, or simply turn on music and dance around your house.
The goal is to make exercise a consistent healthy habit. Your body and mind will thank you for it!