Relieve Stress And Anxiety With These Simple Exercise Tips
When it comes to anxiety and stress relief, exercise is the best medicine. So follow these exercise tips to get the max out of your anti-stress workouts.
Stress and anxiety are rampant in our culture. The average person’s stress level today would have been enough to put them in a mental health facility 50 years ago – that’s how bad things have become.
But you don’t have to rely on medication to overcome the tension that it brings. Sometimes a good workout routine will do the trick.
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Exercise Tips For Stress Relief
According to Green Residential, one of the top property management companies in Houston, “Stress is your body’s natural way of responding to the demands or threats you face – whether real or imagined. In early centuries, stress was what helped our ancestors run in order to avoid getting mauled by a tiger in the middle of a hunt. Today, it’s evolved into more than just a response to physical danger.”
In today’s world, stress can actually lead to prolonged emotional issues that overwhelm your nervous system and release a flood of hormones that wreak havoc on your body.
The negative health effects can include:
- depression,
- sleep issues,
- physical pain,
- autoimmune diseases,
- heart problems,
- weight problems,
- and even cognitive deficiencies.
Thankfully, exercise allows you to fend off stress.
Here are a few exercise tips to help you gear your workouts towards stress relief:
1. Try Yoga
For some reason, a lot of people don’t like yoga – particularly men – but perceptions aren’t everything. Yoga isn’t as strange as it seems.
It’s a popular mind-body practice that helps bring your physical and mental capacities into alignment. This makes it the perfect stress reliever.
“Anyone of any age or fitness level can practice and benefit from yoga,” health and wellness expert Alan Kohll writes.
“Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be flexible or strong to hit the mat. Another perk of yoga? There are many different styles, forms, and intensities, so you’ll never get bored of this powerful mind-body workout.”
2. Elevate Your Heart Rate
There’s nothing wrong with trying to max out your bench press or do some heavy leg presses, but aerobic exercises are best for stress relief.
They accelerate your heart rate, which helps your body release endorphins (natural opiates that fight pain without negative side effects).
Some of the best high-energy aerobic activities include running, dancing, swimming, spinning, and even roller-skating.
If you have trouble motivating yourself, try taking a group class with an instructor.
3. Keep It Simple
Stress is generally tied to a busy schedule. Whether it’s professional or personal obligations, you probably don’t feel like you have a ton of time for exercise.
In order to push past this hurdle, make your workouts extremely simple and convenient.
Choose exercises that don’t require you to pack a bunch of extra clothes or drive to a specific location across town.
Quick and easy is the name of the game.
4. Combine Your Exercise With Other Elements
Exercise shouldn’t be viewed as something you have to do. When it’s a dreaded task, it may actually increase your stress level (as opposed to lowering it).
The objective is to make exercise enjoyable by combining it with other elements that allow you to relax.
Some people prefer to listen to peaceful music while they exercise. Others like listening to podcasts on subjects that interest them.
For certain individuals, exercise is just as much social as it is personal, so they’d prefer to work out with a group.
Figure out how you like to exercise and make it a point to incorporate as many of these elements on a regular basis as possible.
This will make exercise something you look forward to, which will increase your chances of doing it on a daily basis.
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Don’t Neglect Stress And Anxiety
“According to some studies, regular exercise works as well as medication for some people to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and the effects can be long lasting,” the Anxiety and Depression Association of America explains.
“One vigorous exercise session can help alleviate symptoms for hours, and a regular schedule may significantly reduce them over time.”
Most people live with chronic stress and anxiety for years before they do something about it. Don’t become one of these people.
Tackle stress right away by following these exercise tips and caring for your body. It’ll have an enormously positive effect on both your physical and mental well-being.
