Training Your Body to Reduce Stress With Health and Fitness
Training Your Body to Reduce Stress With Health and Fitness
What Is Stress?
Stress is a feeling of mental tension or strain, and it's a part of everyday life for most people. Mild stressors can be things like traffic or a spilled cup of coffee, while major stressors can include things like the loss of a job or missing a loved one. Everyone will experience stress, and in and of itself, stress is not always a bad thing. The hormones released within our bodies as we experience stress help us to stay safe, motivated, and energetic when needed. Stress that is persistent, however, can be harmful to our health in many ways. Stress can cause physical, emotional, and intellectual deficits when it becomes a constant in your life. Stress can alter your moods and can contribute to feeling scattered, unorganized, distant, and depressed.
The Difference Between Good and Bad Stress
While good stress, or eustress, can be a good motivator, bad stress will result in negative changes in our health over time. Eustress can be caused by an adrenaline rush like entering your first race or riding a roller-coaster. Stress can motivate people to work toward success, like a student preparing for a big exam. Bad stress is caused by negative things happening to us, and this is the stress that can result in poor moods and overall poor health. Stress over time can even be somewhat contagious, as being stressed can cause you to take out your stress on your friends and family. These loved ones are often then stressed themselves over the fact that their loved one seems different.
Effects of Stress on the Body
Stress affects every system within the body. With the initial rush of stress hormones, your muscles tighten, your heart rate rises, your digestive system slows down, and your breathing speeds up. These effects are rooted in the past, when our ancestors needed these physiological changes to prepare them for a fight-or-flight response to threats. These reactions allow us to respond faster, run faster, and burn energy more efficiently. Over time, however, if these reactions become chronic, you can experience heart issues, digestive issues, and overall poor health as a result. Long-term stress can lead to issues with sleeping, weight gain, and a lack of ability to concentrate.
Activities That Can Help Reduce Stress
Luckily, there are many things that you can do to help relieve stress. These activities can release hormones within your body that counteract the effects of stress and help your body better regulate itself. Options to relieve stress include physical fitness activities like running, biking, or swimming as well as leisure activities like reading a book or sipping a cup of tea. The best stress relief strategies will vary from person to person, but there are definitely some commonalities. Stress relief should be something that makes you happy and does not lead to more negative stress. Dancing is an activity that many people find helps them relieve stress and improve their personal fitness as well. Spending time with loved ones can also be a great way to de-stress. Just beware of choosing activities that cause more harm than good: Drinking, smoking, or doing drugs, for example, might temporarily make you feel more relaxed, but they cause much worse effects over the long term.