Aerobic ExerciseĪerobic exercises (aka cardio or endurance training) increase both your heart rate and oxygen consumption. However, balance and flexibility exercises like yoga and Tai Chi also offer significant mental health benefits. They recommend that all adults get at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise and complete muscle-strengthening activities for all major muscle groups twice a week. For substantial health benefits, the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) focuses on aerobic and strength activities. All four can help with stress, but some may be more effective than others. There are four different types of exercise: aerobic, strength, balance, and flexibility.
Choose your Exercise for your type of Stress Studies show that exercise can also serve as a means of distraction from stressful events and make you feel more capable and in control of your life. But physical activity also releases monoamine hormones like serotonin and dopamine that can further boost your mood. The most common belief is the endorphin hypothesis: exercise improves your sense of wellbeing by releasing pain-relieving and pleasure-increasing hormones called endorphins. There are several explanations for the positive impact that physical activity has on mental health.
What exercise can doĮxercise can’t reduce the presence of stressors, but it can help you manage your stress by reducing feelings of anxiety and depression, diminishing fatigue, and improving overall cognition. So, before you grab some junk food and fire up your Netflix, let’s look at why exercise, and different forms of exercise, might be just what your body (and your brain) need. Yet only 26% of men and 19% of women met the US Department of Health and Human Services’ physical activity guidelines. Moving the body.Įxercise is widely referred to as the most effective but most underutilized form of antidepressant and anti-stress remedies. One of the best ways, and proven time and time again, is exercise. We need to help our bodies manage stress better. But long term, these pressure states raise your stress hormones – and that chronic condition can harm your overall wellbeing. They aren’t often life-threatening – it’s driving in traffic, work pressure, family commitments, etc. But in the modern era, we don’t often have short term, or acute stressors – we have long term, low level stressors. Stress can be helpful when it’s a catalyst to help you survive immediate danger (running from a predator, say). When faced with a difficult task, your brain can release hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, to help you overcome obstacles this process is sometimes called “fight or flight” - a survival mechanism we developed to avoid danger. Stress is your body’s reaction to physical, mental, and emotional challenges.