Exercise and Stress – How Exercise Relieves Stress

Stress is an integral part of modern life. Try as much as you can, there is no way in which you can escape daily stress. Stress follows us in the traffic, at work and even at home in relationships that may have gone sour. The stress response  the physiological change that it brings about  was intended to be a transient state to face stress and the body must return to its normal relaxed state. However, if you bundle up stress and do not relieve it in some manner, these very physiological changes are liable to cause various other problems that can be physiological as well as psychological in nature. Exercise is by far the simplest and one of the best tools for stress relief.

The physical changes that occur during stress response are directed towards building up energy within you so as to enable you to fight or flee from the scene of danger. The underlying idea behind exercise as a tool for stress relief is to release the energy that is blocked up within you. Exercise also allows you to give vent to your emotions.

Distraction

Exercise provides a change of scene, which allows you to take your mind off worries. We humans developed a biological response to physical threats that our ancestors faced in the Stone Age. Regardless of whether the need was to fight or flee from the scene, the body needed extra strength to accomplish it. To meet such threats there was a sudden surge in energy that was brought about by the release of specific hormones and neurotransmitters. Modern life, however, is more about psychological stress. But what is strange is that the human body has not been able to adapt to the changed reality. The best way of ‘fleeing’ from psychological stress is distraction.

Emotional Release

Adverse situations or annoyances lead to stress giving rise to anger or frustration. Exercise provides an outlet for these negative emotions. Give vent to your anger by simply boxing a punch bag and see the difference it makes to the anger that was flowing all over you just a moment ago.

Neurological Changes

Continuous workout, when the level of exercise is between moderate to high, causes the release of endorphins. Endorphins are released by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus and are body’s natural analgesics. These are responsible for the feel ‘good factor’ associate with a ‘runner’s high’. Exercise also lowers the levels of stress hormones like cortisol released during stress responses.

Better Health

The relationship between illness and stress is a two way process. Both are at the same time a cause and effect of each other. While stress can greatly affect your overall health, poor health is one of the major contributors to stress. Exercise promotes health. A healthy body is better prepared to combat stress.

It is not necessary that you join a gym or perform strenuous exercises. Mild forms of exercise like walking, jogging, a trek or biking can be equally effective when you are seeking to manage stress in your life. For that matter, any form physical activity, including some forms of dance, even gardening, helps to calm tense nerves.

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