Hit the gym to reduce stress and feel better

Feeling stress in your life? It’s totally natural if you do. From relationships to finances, from work to personal health, there’s a lot of stress points in our lives and sometimes there’s a little more than we can handle. Fear not though, as someone who works out and builds muscle, you’re on a good path to reducing these stress points and being an anti-stress warrior.

What are the signs of stress?

What one considers to be a normal stress and anxiety level is unique to each individual. However, if you spend a combined total of 50 minutes or more thinking about stressful subjects or feeling stressed a day then you are stressed.

In addition to feelings of stress - being overwhelmed by targets or deadlines or a mountain high pile or tasks or other pressures, stress will manifest itself physically. Here’s some ways in which you might feel stress in your body:

Acne
Headaches
Pain
Lowered immune system i.e. more colds and bugs
Lethargy
Problems sleeping
Reduced libido
Upset stomach
Changed appetite
Depression
Increased heartbeat
Sweating
Tension in the shoulders and chest

What are the long-term effects of stress?

There are serious consequences to long-term, untreated stress. Chronic stress leads to cardiovascular issues including increased blood pressure, heart palpitations, and can lead to heart damage. This depends on other factors including diet too.

The physical ailments can be extraordinarily tough, but stress impairs you mentally too. Feeling stressed can make decision making more difficult, can lead to self-isolation, antisocial behaviors, and is linked to addictive behaviors as faux solutions are found in alcohol or worse.

How does exercise affect them

For many people, talking to someone will help alleviate some of the problems related to stress. In addition to this, improving routines, putting mental health first, eating regular meals, and going back to basics are some good tricks for reducing stress.

However, for many, especially men, talking about it can make it worse. These people instead find exercise more cathartic. Whether you’re a talker or not, exercise is going to help you. Here’s a few reasons why:

It pumps your body full of endorphins
Improves your mood
Improves mental clarity
Is a form of meditation in motion

What are the best exercises and workouts to do

The best exercises for beating stress range from a good long walk to a full workout. Start with a brisk walk. Studies have shown even just 20 minutes of walking a day (in a non-stressful environment) can improve your health immensely.

Consider the inclusion of meditative exercises including:

Breathing focused meditation
Qigong
Tai Chi
Yoga

These are the basics. From there any solo exercise can help. Team exercises too, but the idea is to treat your workout as meditation in motion. That does not mean you can’t have a workout buddy of course. Find the best workout for you be it running, cycling, swimming, or lifting weights, and focus on that.

Before you start any exercise routine to beat stress it is a good idea to consult with your doctor first; especially if you’re in poor health. Furthermore, remember the old adage to walk before you run. Oh and one final bit of advice - do exercises and workouts that you love and look forward to.

Conclusion

Working out and exercising will not solve the origin of your stress. However, it will improve your body’s ability to cope with stress and it will clear your mind. Thus you will be able to think more clearly and to find a solution to the cause of your stress.

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