Being active throughout the day can add up to provide health benefits. For instance, if you can't fit in one 30-minute walk, try a few 10-minute walks instead. Even brief bouts of physical activity offer benefits. As an added bonus, these kinder, gentler workouts may enhance your running while also decreasing your stress.Įxercise in short bursts. If you've always been a competitive runner, take a look at other, less competitive options that may help with stress reduction, such as Pilates or yoga classes. And friends can make exercising more fun! Working out with a friend, co-worker or family member often brings a new level of motivation and commitment to your workouts. Try making plans to meet friends for walks or workouts. Knowing that someone is waiting for you to show up at the gym or the park can be a powerful incentive. Or, if needed, find a babysitter to watch your children so that you can slip away to attend a cycling class. If your primary goal is to reduce stress in your life, your specific goals might include committing to walking during your lunch hour three times a week. Aim to include exercise in your schedule throughout your week. But carving out some time to move every day helps you make your exercise program an ongoing priority. In your schedule, you may need to do a morning workout one day and an evening activity the next. Take a walk with the dog, try body-weight exercises or do a yoga video at home. Examples include walking, stair climbing, jogging, dancing, bicycling, yoga, tai chi, gardening, weightlifting and swimming.Īnd remember, you don't need to join a gym to get moving. The most important thing is to pick an activity that you enjoy. Almost any form of exercise or movement can increase your fitness level while decreasing your stress. Greater amounts of exercise will provide even greater health benefits.Īlso, aim to do strength training exercises for all major muscle groups at least two times a week.ĭo what you love. Examples of moderate aerobic activity include brisk walking or swimming, and vigorous aerobic activity can include running or biking. After a fast-paced game of racquetball, a long walk or run, or several laps in the pool, you may often find that you've forgotten the day's irritations and concentrated only on your body's movements.įor most healthy adults, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends getting at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week, or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. This can also lead to positive effects in your body - including your cardiovascular, digestive and immune systems - by helping protect your body from harmful effects of stress. Exercise can provide stress relief for your body while imitating effects of stress, such as the flight or fight response, and helping your body and its systems practice working together through those effects.

It reduces negative effects of stress.

Although this function is often referred to as a runner's high, any aerobic activity, such as a rousing game of tennis or a nature hike, can contribute to this same feeling. Physical activity may help bump up the production of your brain's feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins. But exercise also has some direct stress-busting benefits.

Exercise increases your overall health and your sense of well-being, which puts more pep in your step every day.

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