Here's
How It Works…
People who exercise regularly will tell you they feel better. Why is that?
There are two main reasons:
1) Exercise stimulates the release of certain hormones that help regulate your mood and make you feel more relaxed
2) Participation in exercise removes you from daily stressors, and helps clear your head from your problems and worries, which reduces feelings of stress and anxiety.
Four Ways That
Excersize Helps Manage Stress and Improves Mental Health
1) Exercise can relax you. One 20-minute exercise session at 70% of your
maximal heart rate can reduce stress emotions and produce a relaxation
response lasting
up to 2 hours.
2) Exercise can help
you feel less anxious. Researchers have shown that participating in a regular,
aerobic conditioning program over time helps reduce anxiety.
In addition, after a single exercise session there is decreased electrical
activity to muscles, which helps to decrease “jitteriness” and
hyperactivity.
3) Exercise can improve
your mood. Exercisers who participate in aerobic activities have more positive
changes in mood than non-exercisers.
4) Exercise can help
you feel better about yourself. Being committed to an exercise program
and
taking care of yourself can leave you with a feeling
of accomplishment.
Not to mention exercise can help you maintain a healthy, desirable
weight.
Say Goodbye To Stress
Now that you know that
exercise can have a positive effect on managing stress, it’s time
to get started. Try to find activities that you enjoy doing. Exercise should
not become just another stressor in your life. It should
be something you look forward to doing. Here are some ideas that might
help you get started in identifying activities that will help you manage
stress:
Aerobic activity. Find opportunities for as little as 10 minutes of exercise
to improve your mood and feel better. Walking, inline skating, dancing and
aerobic classes are all great activities that get you moving.
Yoga and Tai Chi. Eastern forms of movement focus on a mind-body connection,
breathing, stretching and meditation, which will help you feel better and
more relaxed.
Recreational sports. Play games: tennis, volleyball, whatever you enjoy doing.
Having fun, laughing and socializing can be therapeutic and help you take
a break from your worries while burning calories.
Staying Motivated
Choose activities that suite your personality. If you are shy and constantly
surrounded by people at work or class, you don’t need to subject
yourself to a crowded fitness facility to workout. You may prefer to go
for a walk
or jog. If you like to socialize, basketball or an aerobics class may be
good options. Again, choose activities that you find fun and enjoyable.
Get outdoors. Try to get outside to exercise if the weather permits. Fresh
air and sunlight can also improve your mood. By combining exercise and sunlight,
you can almost double the benefits. You will also remove yourself from the
stressors of school or work and clear your head.
Don’t skip
the chance to exercise. Take several short breaks throughout
your day. During these breaks you should try to get up and move around
by walking down the hall to a restroom that is farther away or taking a
flight
of stairs. You can offer to do the office mail run. Find opportunities
to fit in physical activity whenever you can to help manage stress.
Make it a routine. For more structured exercise opportunities find an exercise
partner, take a class, or join an intramural sports team or sports club.
Campus Wellness Center
M-TH 10a.m - 6p.m
F 8a.m - 3p.m
616.331.3659
wellness@gvsu.edu
