Have you been trying to decide if exercise really could be the answer to your stress problems? Hopefully we're just about to give you the answer you're looking for. Is exercise the answer to all of your stress related problems? We will be looking at this, also if you should be exercising when stress sets in to have the best chance of relieving it, and, could a regular program of exercising help to prevent stress in the first place. Hopefully this article will have answered any questions you might have about whether exercise can reduce stress that might be happening to you at the time, and help to prevent it happening in the future.



Let's have a quick look at what happens to your body when stress begins to take a hold. When your body is feeling stressed it will be experiencing a release of a hormone called adrenocorticotrophic (ACTH) into the bloodstream. Your body then gets an adrenaline rush as the ACTH works on the adrenal gland by stimulating the cortex, your body then has to take time to bring itself back down to normal again after this burst of adrenaline. When you're in this state your body is ready to react to dangerous situations, this is also known as a ?fight or flight? state of awareness. This is actually a very good time to exercise because your body is in the right mode for some strenuous exercise, and that exercise is what's needed in order to stimulate both the hypothalamus and pituitary gland into producing endorphins, which pain relieving neurotransmitters, that are then circulated through the body via the bloodstream. Endorphins are the body's natural response to reduce pain, and the euphoric feeling they produce helps to combat the tenseness caused by the ACTH in your bloodstream.

With the processes mentioned acting on the body should we exercised when stressed? If you're able to do some form of exercise when you're put under stress, then yes, the sooner you can the better before the stress builds too much. It has been said that you need to do some form of strenuous exercise for a period of 30 minutes for the endorphins to start being produced and circulating through the body, however it has also been said that you do not have to do the full 30 minutes in one session. You can makeup the 30 minutes from three sessions of 10 minutes each, but the exercise does need to be strenuous enough to get you out of breath.

Based on what we now know, would exercising regularly help when coping with stress in general? If you're able to do some form of aerobic exercise on a daily basis it can help you to reduce your stress levels. Exercise alone is not the answer, however. You should take the time to plan your day in advance, put a healthy diet in place and find that all important time when you can spend a few minutes relaxing. The act of exercising can have stress relieving benefits that don't link directly to the physical workout you're giving your body. These benefits can be something as simple as taking your mind off of the problems your having and giving your brain time to come up with solutions ?behind the scenes?. When you add this to the positive affect of the endorphins it's possible to see things from a more positive angle.

So, can exercise help to reduce stress? Yes - but it works best if done at the time of the stress, and if you also some other forms of stress management such as the diet, relaxation and planning ideas. Prevention is always better than cure but not always possible, so if you can't avoid the situations then exercise can be a major step in the direction of alleviating the stress when it arises.