Wouldn’t it be great if there were a way to live a 100% stress-free life? Absolutely. Unfortunately, there is no such thing. Stress is part of the human experience. It comes with being alive. But that doesn’t mean we have to allow stress to be in control. It can be managed.
Stress management is not only possible, but it is also important. Stress is a leading contributor to all sorts of health problems. It affects both physical and mental health. When it is managed effectively, both the mind and body deal with it better.
So how do we do it? One way is to get regular exercise. Believe it or not, regular exercise can help manage stress in many ways. Below are just four of the possibilities as discussed in a piece published on the Mayo Clinic’s website.
1. Increasing Endorphin Production
Endorphins are among the many neurotransmitters that stimulate the brain. More importantly, endorphins are partly responsible for making us feel good. They stimulate positive emotions and thoughts. When you experience enjoyment of a particular activity for example, endorphins are in play.
Exercise can help manage stress inasmuch as it encourages endorphin production. Increased endorphins make you feel better mentally and emotionally. And when that’s the case, stress is relieved. The more endorphins active in your brain, the less stress you feel.
2. Helping the Body Overcome
When we talk about stress as a negative thing, we are referring to mental and emotional stress. But did you know that exercise puts physical stress on the body? Of course you did. Here’s the thing: exercise forces your body to overcome physical stress. As it does so, it also overcomes mental and emotional stress.
Think of exercise as a way of training your body to deal with stress in a positive way. The more practice it gets, the better it performs. Physical exercise is the perfect way to give your body the stress management practice it needs.
3. Taking Your Mind Off Stressful Things
Next up, regular exercise can help you manage stress by taking your mind off stressful things. Consider indoor cycling classes at Salt Lake City’s Mcycle studio. The classes are taught by trained instructors who know how to motivate. They are choreographed to music as well. A 30-minute class can go a long way toward getting your mind off stressful things.
An added benefit is that you feel good about yourself once the class is over. You are also tying everything together with a cardiovascular workout that’s good for your body as well as your mind.
4. Improving Your Mood and Confidence
Finally, regular exercise can do wonders for your self-confidence and your mood. Regular exercise is a confidence booster. Every time you complete a workout, you feel like you have accomplished something important. Knowing you can push yourself to run or ride your bike for 30 minutes might give you confidence to do something else that is difficult.
In terms of your mood, regular exercise releases anxiety. And despite the increased heart rate, exercise actually helps you relax. Regular exercise can even help you sleep, which is another terrific way to reduce stress.
We all have stress in our lives. We all have to manage that stress if we don’t want it to negatively affect our physical, mental, and emotional health. A good place to begin is with daily exercise. Just 30 minutes of exercise five days per week can do wonders for managing stress. Try it. You just might find that you are no longer stressed out by so many things.