Exercise has many health benefits. It helps to keep the body strong and healthy, it makes us fit and trim, it increases resistance and endurance, and it promotes good mood and a sense of well-being.
Aside from these benefits, another very important benefit of exercise is its ability to reduce stress. Stress refers to your body’s physical or psychological response to situations or conditions, whether those conditions are perceived or real. It is an energy sapper, yet it accumulates a lot of negative energy inside your body.
Exercise is antidote for stress because it helps to make your body feel relaxed. It has the ability to fill your body and brain with oxygenated blood, it improves circulation, and it stimulates the brain to release endorphins, the pain relief and feel good hormones that can give you a feeling of relief and pleasure.
Here are some of the most common exercise can effectively reduce stress:
Cycling is a good exercise and stress reliever as well. Riding a bike on a silent road that offers a lot of relaxing scenes can surely help to keep you feel relaxed. It is also helps to exercise your heart and lungs for optimum circulation and oxygenation of the body. It is an effective stress buster for many people.
Swimming is a low impact exercise that reduces stress of the mind and body. It is also beneficial for exercisers who are suffering from joint pains and those who cannot indulge in rigorous exercises.
Jogging is one of the best ways to lift your spirits especially if you are feeling low and under stress. It is because this exercise can easily stimulate the brain to release endorphins that can make you feel high naturally.
4. Brisk Walking
This exercise is a good alternative for people who cannot indulge in heavy exercises like running or cycling. It is ideal for people who have high blood pressure or heart problems. For best results, you should do brisk walking along scenic roads to keep your mind and body relaxed and relieved from stress.
5. Weight Training
Hitting the gym for a 30-minute weight training workout can help you release stress and feel refreshed.
6. Cardio Workouts
If you are on a tight schedule and you cannot perform early morning jogs or cycling, hitting a treadmill or a static cycle is your best alternative to exercise beat stress.
Yoga is a combination of breathing exercises and exercise moves or poses, and it is proven to an effective stress reliever. The breathing exercise in yoga effectively supplies oxygen to the brain and allow it to relax. The poses involved in this practice also help to exercise your muscles and make them stronger and flexible.
8. Tai Chi
The gentle movements of Tai Chi can help you focus on the present moment. It can help to improve your concentration, improve your mind-body coordination, and relieve stress.
9. Outdoor Sports
Tennis, badminton, racquetball and basketball are examples of sports that can help to relieve you of stress. The exercise that you get from it combined with the enhanced circulation, oxygen supply, and your interaction with fellow players are solid reasons why they can effective relieve stress.
Laughter is a natural response to particular situations, but is is also an activity that exercises the heart and stimulates the brain to release feel good hormones.
Many people try to laugh on purpose to get the benefits of natural laughter.
These are the 10 most common exercises that help to reduce or beat stress. Engage in any of them and enjoy a happy, healthy, energetic and stress-free life.