The Positive Effects of Exercise in Stress Management

Work is practically the center of our lives in this generation. Simply speaking, if you donā€™t work, you donā€™t eat ā€“ and thatā€™s the truth. But despite our needs for basic commodities, too much work would often lead to stress that will affect us physically, mentally and emotionally; an imbalance that will render us incapable of making decision and will lessen our productivity whether to our career or social life.

Stress relief

There are plenty of techniques that will help us cope with stress. Some goes to their respective doctors and asks for medicines that gives temporary relief to their anxiety or regulate blood pressure. Some would resort to meditation and relaxation techniques to keep their mind in harmony using aromatherapy or music therapy to help them along.

Sweat it out

The most advisable tip for stress management is through physical exercise. Sweating it out with by doing something strenuous proves to be more beneficial than taking in drugs or vitamins that might have some side effects on your system.

Most therapist and stress management experts would agree that physical exercise is considered as the best stress reliever during this time and age. Aside from changing your focus from your problems to something productive, physical exercise will help your body function at peak efficiency.

Benefits of physical exercise to your body

Since physical exercise involves a lot of body movements, this will improve your cardiovascular functions and greatly strengthens your heart ā€“ this will practically free you from possible effects of stress like heart failure, stroke, high-blood pressure, and so on.

When your heart is attuned to the exercise regime, blood circulation will also improve which in turn increases oxygen throughout the body. Your cholesterol level and other harmful bio-chemicals will be reduced and will lessen the chance of your body breaking down due to the negative effect of these substances.

Physical exercise also helps you mentally aside from keeping your body in perfect shape. Indulging in various forms of physical exercise will provide an outlet to stress-related emotions such as anger, fear, frustration, depression and irritability. Since exercise improves the circulation of chemicals to your body and brain, hormones that elevates certain responses to your body will be reduces as well; keeping you relaxed and in control.

Tips in setting up an exercise program

Now that you know the positive benefits of physical exercise to your mind and body, all you need to learn is how to set up an exercise program that will not hinder your career or social life.

It is recommended by experts that a person should have a regular exercise 3 to 5 times a week, for at least an hour every session; try to budget your time to include a healthy dose of exercise. Wake up extra early in the morning to jog around the block or do some stretching in your own backyard. The fresh air will compliment your physical exercise since the fresh oxygen you breathe in would be healthy to your body.

A visit to your local bookstore, gym and stress management seminar may prove to be a treasure of information on different kinds of exercise you can do to take away your stress.

Give yourself a break and start taking care of your body before it breaks down ā€“ if it does, then youā€™re in big trouble. Avoid it!

Stress Management And Health

Stress always goes hand in hand with health. Depending to the stress level of a person, the impact of stress in the body can range from minor sweaty palms to death. Letting stress build can slowly deteriorate health and can cause major health risks. Managing stress and health are important ways to avoid health risks in the future. In order to manage stress and health better, a person must first be acquainted to the severe effects of stress in the body.

Physical And Behavioral Signs of Stress

Stressors can be either external or internal. External stressors involve situations in the workplace, death or illness in the family, or by simply becoming angry. On the other hand, most of the stress that people experience is self-generated or internal. A person usually creates his or her own stress, but this indicates that the person has the choice or doing nothing or something about it.

Stress can affect major body systems. When a person feels stressed, there is an increase in heart rate, elevation in the blood pressure. The continuous pressure in the heart can make a person susceptible to cardiac arrest and other heart-related problems.

The digestive system is also affected during stress. Some people can experience diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, dryness of the mouth and the throat. Almost every time stress can also cause sleeping disturbances, nausea, and in serious cases tightness of the chest, neck, jaw and the back muscles.

Changes in behavioral patterns are also noticeable in a person experiencing the duress of stress. Smoker’s experience increases in smoking pattern. Aggressive behaviors and hostility towards others and even inanimate objects are sometimes linked to a person being easily startled. A personā€™s diet can also be affected by the irregular eating habits caused by stress.

Some people who cannot handle stress usually resort to alcohol and drug use. Additionally, compulsive behavior, impatience and carelessness are also the behavioral effects of stress.

Long Term Implications

Exposure to stress in the long term can surely deteriorate a personā€™s well-being. During stress the body produces hormones that enable the body to cope with the current situation. Short term effects of adrenaline, noradrenaline, and corticosteroids include tense muscles, queasiness and an in increase in breathing and heart rates.

The long-term implications of these hormones include allergic reactions, digestive disorder, heart disease, fatigue headaches and migraine. Impotence and premature ejaculation can occur in men while erratic menstrual cycle for women.

When the body continuously releases the hormones, sleeping patterns can also be affected and can sometimes lead to insomnia. In severe cases, stress, in the long run, can cause eczema, ulcerative colitis, mouth and peptic ulcers and recurring muscular aches and pains.

Living Healthy

How a person identifies stress is important to overall health. When stress becomes too huge to handle, the damage to a personā€™s physical and mental well-being can be irreversible. Living a healthy life can help a person cope with stress easily.

Exercise is very important in stress and health management. Along with a healthy diet, exercise is the most effective way to lower stress levels. It improves sugar metabolism through efficient use of insulin. Exercise also aids in putting a stop in the nasty cycles of stress-eating, indulgence to alcohol, cigarettes and drugs.

A person can also consider taking herbs, and anti-stress supplements. Taking vitamins and avoiding alcohol are successful methods in improving health and help a person cope with stress better.

Managing Stress Through Enjoyable Games

Stress is the opposite of relaxation. It is not limited to the negative aspects of our lives. Even the most positive events such as: promotion, jubilation, the birth of a newborn, and the union of marriage, can be very stressful. Thankfully, there are enjoyable games in which you can experiment to relieve you of your stress.

Say Goodbye to Stress in a Flash

From shooting cows falling from the sky to fun word games, the possibilities are seemingly endless with Flash games available on the Internet today. There are thousands for flash games to relieve your stress and most are free to play.

The best way for you to fill your anti-stress game collection is by doing few simple searches for ā€œFlash Gamesā€ or ā€œFree Flash Gamesā€ and saving these sites in your bookmark folder. The next time you feel the urge to play, it will be easy as pie. Just look into some of your bookmarked Flash games and youā€™re ready to go.

To Connect or Not to Connect

If you do not want to connect to the Internet, there are a few built-in games that Microsoft Windows had included in their operating system. Solitaire, Minesweeper, Pinball, FreeCell, and Hearts are great ways to relieve you stress. These games do not require search engines or bookmarks and they are accessible anytime at your own disposal.

If you get tired of those games, several Internet sites offer computer games that are free time-trial versions. These games are normally shareware and may take a few minutes to download depending on your Internet connection. The variety of these computer games is virtually endless. You can choose from Puzzle Games, Word Games, Action Games, Shooting Games, Racing Games and many more.

The advantage of computer games downloaded from the Internet is that once you install them, they do not require Internet connection to play. Additionally, by the time your free trial is over, you have the option to either purchase the game or uninstall it to completely erase it from your computer by using the uninstaller included in the game.

In the world of Internet gaming, there are also several different online games called MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game). They combine enjoyable gaming experience and player interaction. This is a good stress reliever for the extroverts and some of them offer free registration and play. A few hours of monster-bashing and strategic questing will surely lessen the stress that you feel.

Why Online If You Can Go Offline

If you are sitting all day at a computer, or if the stress you are feeling comes from the computer, sometimes the best way is to get up and just walk away. Poor Internet connection and computer crashes can become sources of stress too. There are games that are fun, enjoyable and will not only relieve your stress but also stretch you brain muscles.

Get a deck of cards and play a quick game of solitaire the old-fashioned way. You might also consider purchasing a book about Solitaire Games or Card Games along with your deck. There are several books published for Solitaire-loving players and offers hundreds of game variations.

If you have a Slinky, use it and bounce it back and forth from hand to hand to put you focus on the toy and feel the stress and problems slip away. Playing darts can also be a good stress reliever. Hitting a target or even targeting a photo of someone or something that caused your stress can reduce the stress that you feel. Just make sure that you clear other furniture from the vicinity because damaging them may add to your stress.

Brain exercises will not only relieve your stress but also practice your spatial and non-verbal intelligence. The Rubikā€™s Cube has been available for decades. You only need to take a few minutes of your time to match the color on one side since trying to match the colors of each side of the cube can be stressful.

Crossword Puzzles are fun activities that can help you say goodbye to stress. Many crossword puzzle books include mazes, word-find games and other pencil puzzles. Purchase some that have puzzles ranging from easy to hard to engage in them according to your mood and stress level. Some newspapers and magazines also provide crosswords puzzles and sudoku games.

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