Vote in This Week's Poll: What type of exercise helps you deal with stress?
You won't be surprised at where I'm going with this, especially when I point out how effective exercise can be when it comes to dealing with stress. Exercising doesn't necessarily change your stressful circumstances, but it's a great tool for getting things down to a tolerable level.
Cardio exercise can help you burn off some of that extra tension and some studies show it actually reduces stress hormones in the body and can improve your mood. Strength training is a great way to feel strong when other parts of your life feel out of control and yoga or stretching can help you relax and breathe - something we forget to do when stressed.
I'm curious about what activities help you manage stress. Do you prefer relaxing workouts or do you like to work hard and sweat to get rid of tension? Vote in this week's poll and then leave a comment - we could all use new ideas for managing stress.
More About Exercise and Stress Relief
Comments
taking a motorcycle ride
I lift a glass of Chianti, 10 reps with the right arm, 10 with the left. Repeat till the stress is gone.
chewing
Boxing. It really helps especially when I get dumped.
Tai Chi does it for me. I have lifted many tons of weight and it helps a little but Tai Chi Does it best!
actually its a package deal first the warm up, stretching, then 15 minutes of hard cardio normally burpees and push-ups at the end of which slow deep breathing (the relaxation) for another 15 minutes. Afterwards I feel like the zen master!
Hey, i like the yoga type exercises on your site…. these really help me relax.
The routine that works for me is, dong some body combat or some other full on activity.
Then I do some core strengthening exercises and stretches. womenshealth.com.au have some good stretches, and bodyessentialz.com have some good core exercises that are very simple to do at home. At this point i am feeling tired and have done my balancing and posturing correcting exercises.
Next I do some of the relaxation exerciese that are on this site…
and there we have it.
I personally combine all of the above. My routine includes cardio, strength training, and stretching. Skipping is a great way to warm up for weight training and provides great stress relief. But I would have to say that a boxing workout provides great all around fitness and in my mind is one of the best stress relief workouts you will find.
I think any activity that takes my mind off other things, even for brief intervals, is good. Since my retirement, I do most of the housework, and all of the lawn and yard work. These are a good form of mild exercise, and are therapeutic in that my focus is away from everything else, even if they are not sources of stress. But tasks that essentially run on auto-pilot, and require little concentration, will not allow me to set aside the high-stress things (the more stressed out I am, the more I worry and fret, and tightly cling onto the worry and anxiety).
The high intensity daily cardio workout allows me to shut everything out other than exercising. The first five minutes of getting my heart rate up to 85-90% max take enough concentration to where I forget about everything else without doing this consciously. It may take some time after the 45 min workout before the worry thing comes back, but I will most likely try to put it aside and forget about it for the time being. Regardless of whatever else might be going on, the intense workout helps me to keep things in perspective.
The key for me is to stay as physically and mentally active as possible. The household chores are good. Also, the intense daily workouts provide a feeling of self-empowerment, to offset some of the things beyond my control. These things help me keep a positive attitude, and a sense of balance and well-being.
Any exercise. All of the above.
My best stress reducer changes from day to day, really depending on the stress. But any exercise works, but mostly it goes this way:
Cardio for aggravated stress (your boss is a jerck)
Yoga for generally feeling overwhelmed
Weights/toning for mild the more mild I need to get away
I find that the type of exercise I want to releive the stress is dependent on how I feel that day. so while one day I will crave Yoga to just slow down, another day I want to do hard cardio to just work it off.
Working out for an hour or so and running at least 12 miles I think of the things that would make me happy like what I would do if I won the lottery ect.
Yoga, because it works physically and mentally. I feel very clear, collected, and calm afterwards. If I am angry, I tend to like to run, but not when I am stressed out.
anne
Swimming is the best, in an outdoor pool, as you swim, you can watch planes go over, clouds float by, and trees sway in the breeze. I like backstroke for those reasons.
I also run, bike, and lift weights, go to classes at the gym, they are good exercise, but not the same as swimming.
Vaccuuming floors and cleaning is also very theraputic. My house is super clean besides!
bikram yoga, it heals everything!
Any resistance training with fixed or free weights does it for me pretty much immediately, really. When I do cardio – long walks generally – it takes a bit more time to unwind, but it does happen eventually. Exercise is the the best weapon I’ve got for me to deal with the crazy stressful modern world.
Martial Arts forms. Not as intense as cardio or with the strength of weights. But the concentration required can be high and that helps you forget the other stuff.
I go for a run! No matter how bad life seems, running makes it all better. You’ve got to love endorphins!