Research has proven that relieving stress with exercise is one of the best ways to improve your overall health. Regular exercise provides an amazing array of anti-stress benefits to the human body -- including reduced muscle tension, improved cardiovascular functioning, increased blood oxygen levels, and reduced cholesterol and triglyceride levels, just to name a few.
Relieving stress with exercise also, of course, burns calories and helps to reduce body fat. Since most other anti-stress 'remedies' (especially pharmaceutical drugs, alcohol, and overeating) cause you to gain weight it's obvious that exercise is the best option.
Control Cortisol, Lose Weight
But, besides burning calories, there's another reason relieving stress with exercise helps you to reduce body fat. Exercise produces chemicals that help to lower cortisol production. Cortisol is a "stress hormone" that has gotten a lot of press lately because many new diet products claim to block it.
While the effectiveness of these products has yet to be proven, there is little doubt that controlling cortisol levels is a very important factor in weight loss and long-term weight control -- not to mention optimal health and fitness. Relieving stress with exercise is an absolutely fool-proof way to lower cortisol in the body.
Elevated cortisol levels are fully or partially responsible for everything from sugar and carb cravings to overeating to low energy levels... and more. Experts also believe that high cortisol production increases the amount of "toxic fat" stored on your body -- this is the abdominal fat that may trigger cardiovascular disease and inflammation-related health problems.
Summary
Relieving stress with exercise is, without a doubt, the best way to deal with your physical and mental tension. Not only will regular exercise reduce stress levels, it will also help you control how much cortisol your body produces. This, in turn, will help you to avoid food cravings, reduce dangerous abdominal fat, and basically feel much better. So, next time you feel stressed out, get up, get out, and start relieving stress with exercise!
