Stress Busting Exercises

Stress Awareness Month has been held every April, since 1992 to increase public awareness about both the causes and cures the modern stress epidemic.

According to the Mental health Foundation 74% of UK adults have felt so stressed at some point over the last year they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope.

What is stress?

Stress is the body’s reaction to feeling threatened or under pressure.

^[1] As your body perceives stress, your adrenal glands make and release the hormone cortisol into your bloodstream. Often called the “stress hormone,” cortisol causes an increase in your heart rate and blood pressure. It’s your natural “flight or fight” response that has kept humans alive for thousands of years.

Normal levels of cortisol can help regulate your blood pressure and blood sugar levels and even strengthen your heart muscle. In small doses, the hormone can heighten memory, increase your immune system, and lower sensitivity to pain.

Too much stress over a long period of time can have a negative impact on how we feel. Experiencing long-term stress or severe stress can lead to feeling physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion, often called “burnout”.

What are the symptoms of stress?

Mental symptoms^[2] range from worry and irritability to restlessness and insomnia, anger and hostility, or sensations of dread, foreboding, and even panic. Mental stress can also produce physical symptoms.

Physical symptoms include ^[3]tense muscles resulting in fidgetiness, taut facial expressions, headaches, or neck and back pain. Intestinal symptoms range from “butterflies” to heartburn, cramps, or diarrhoea. A pounding pulse is common, as is chest tightness. Rapid breathing is also typical and may be accompanied by sighing or repetitive coughing.

Because the root cause of stress is emotional, it is best controlled by gaining insight, reducing life problems that trigger stress, and modifying behaviour. But stress control can and should also involve the body.

How does exercise reduce stress?

In a 2014 ^[4]study, researchers looked at 111 participants and compared the effects of a stressful task with those of a non-stressful task. They also analysed differences between people who exercised regularly and people who were sedentary.

The results indicated that stress caused a smaller decline in positive mood among regular exercisers. The sedentary individuals experienced a larger decline in mood. This suggests that regular exercise may increase resilience, helping people cope with difficult situations.

Stress Busting Exercises

Here are some exercises that help support stress relief:

Yoga

By combining a series of slow movements and held poses with concentrated deep breathing, Yoga is a mind-body exercise known for strengthening the body’s relaxation response and assists in finding your central balance both mentally and physically.

Yoga postures are a form of strength training, making you more resilient and flexible, which in turn relieves physical tension. It also uses deep breathing, which triggers the body’s relaxation response.

Studies have shown that yoga reduces blood pressure too.

But perhaps yoga’s biggest benefit is the mental focus it promotes. Focus is key to stress management.

Pilates

Named after its creator Joseph Pilates, Pilates consists of a series of controlled movements devised to strengthen tone and increase endurance and flexibility. It is an anaerobic exercise rather than aerobic, meaning short duration high intensity activities: great for relieving stress. Pilates is also known for reducing back and neck pain, another side effect of stress.

Tai Chi

With its roots in martial arts and sharing qualities with Yoga, Tai Chi is known for calming the mind as well as conditioning the body with its flowing, slow-paced body movements.

Tai chi also increases flexibility and boosts energy, which result in an improved sense of well-being.

Other benefits include better balance, more restful sleep and increased cardiovascular fitness.

Boxing

When you get really stressed or mad, do you ever want to hit something? Well, if you have a boxing bag or a sparring partner, boxing can be a wonderful way to burn off stress, anger and other intense emotions while providing a fabulous heart-pumping workout. Itprovides a great release of energy and endorphins.

Martial Arts

Many activities come under the broad umbrella of martial arts including karate, Tae Kwon Do and Judo. Whilst actively helping you release tension and energy these exercises contribute to your understanding of self-discipline and self-defence techniques both in a mental and physical way.

Team Sports

Why not organise a game of football or a tennis match with your friends or family? Not only are you socialising AND exercising, but you’re also gaining a double dose of endorphin release from participating as part of a team. Adding a sense of competition is also great from motivating and pushing yourself a little harder!

Walking

Walking frequently can reduce the incidence of many of the stress-related conditions, including cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes.

Walking releases tension from the major muscle groups, deepens the breathing and quietens the nervous system and it gets us out into nature, which is relaxing.

Circuit Training

Circuit training alternates weight-training moves with cardio, with short rests in between. The result is a high-intensity workout that offers the same benefits of longer exercise sessions in less time (30 minutes or less). It’s short, sweet and pumps up your body’s endorphin level, which improves your mood. Better yet, you don’t have to stress about finding lots of time to fit a workout in.

Strength Training

Strength training will boost the production of your brain’s feel-good hormones – your endorphins. Endorphins reduce your perception of pain and can promote feelings of euphoria, like that feeling when you smash your workout and finish on an absolute high.

Back pain, neck pain, headaches and other tension-related problems can be improved by using these muscles in strength training. Having a regular strength training program will improve posture, give you closer control of the muscles that you’re carrying tension in, and help alleviate these physical stress symptoms.

Stretching

Even just a gentle stretching program can give you the option to move within mobility limitations and focus on your physical health to alleviate stress and anxiety.

Almost any form of exercise or movement can increase your fitness level while decreasing your stress. The most important thing is to pick an activity that you enjoy. So next time the pressure is getting to you and your stress levels are rising, take some time out of your schedule to do some stress busting exercises. Get those muscles moving, those heart rates racing, and those endorphins flowing and just feel the tension start to melt away!