Can Exercise Help Reduce The Work–Related Stress?

In today's busy world it's a challenge to keep your peace and stay relaxed. Doing long-hour work shifts and having responsibilities and obligations in any kind of ob can make you feel stressed and overwhelmed. It's important to take care of yourself and your health to escape burnout caused by lots of work-related stress. There are various ways that you could do that will help you get rid of the stress. You can go for a walk with friends, read a good book, watch a movie or do some exercise. The decision is yours, depending on your preferences. But in the next few following paragraphs, we'll talk about the importance of exercise and its impact on reducing work-related stress.

Why People Exercise?

Exercising and taking care of your body isn't just about muscle size or aerobic capacity. It's more than that. Exercise and being active can help you improve your physique, your physical health, your sex life and libido, and exercise can even prolong your life. But what motivates people to be active? Is it just about having a slim waistline or there's more than that? It seems that most people who exercise regularly do that because it gives them a sense of well-being, a sense of feeling good and comfortable in their skin. They tend to feel more awake and energetic during the day and have better sleep at night. It also seems that those who exercise regularly have better memory, feel positive and better about themselves and their surroundings.

Exercise and Mental Health Benefits

Exercise and being active is a powerful medicine for mental health. If you exercise regularly it's highly likely that will have a positive impact on your moods-exercise will reduce symptoms of depression, feeling anxious and more. The reason for that is because exercise relieves stress and boosts your overall mood. But what does it mean 'regularly'? Don't worry, because you don't need to be a fitness fanatic and exercise twice a day every day. Even modest amounts of exercise will have an effect on your mood and body. Being active and exercising isn't restricted to any age, profession or fitness level. The most important thing is to have a will to make some changes in your life to make it better and healthier. Be smart and use exercise as a helpful tool to reduce the stress caused on a daily level.

Stress and Exercise

It’s quite inevitable to feel stressed in today’s world and society. You’re exposed to stressed situations on a daily basis, from home scenarios to work problems and obligations that may make you feel stressed out. Your body also reacts when you’re under stress, not just your mind. You may feel your body’s response in the tension of your face, neck and shoulders. This can leave you with neck pain, headaches or even worse migraines. But the effects don’t stop here. You can also feel a stronger and faster pulse, tightness in your chest or dizziness. If you’ve been under stress for some time and you haven't tried to get rid of it, it can also cause you insomnia, diarrhea, stomachache or heartburn. The thing is, this is not just an uncomfortable and unpleasant feeling. These symptoms can cause you even more stress because you notice some changes in your health and you’re not sure what it is. These problems can lead to more serious and chronic health issues of your mind and body. To get rid of stress and prevent these horrible things from happening, make sure you do some exercise that will improve your health and leave you calmer. Being active helps you relieve tension in your brain, get rid of the negative thoughts that annoy you, and it helps you relax the muscles of your body. Body and mind are linked, so taking care of one of those two will improve the conditions of the other one.

Types of Exercises that Will Help You

You may wonder know what type of exercise and physical activity you should choose that will help you deal with stress. The good news is that you don't need to be a fitness fanatic or an athlete to experience the effects of exercise when feeling stressed. Another good news is that almost any type of exercise can be a helpful tool to deal with stress. Some of these physical activities can include taking a walk, running, dancing, biking, swimming and the list goes on. Even simpler things such as gardening can help you get rid of stress and feel relaxed. If you need adrenaline and these exercises seem too slow, maybe you could get a cool mountain bike that will take you into the woods or skate parks where you can ride a bike freely. The best thing is that you can choose which type of bike you want and for what purposes, eg. jumps and tricks on skate parks.
No matter which activity you choose, it's important to choose the one that you'll enjoy. If you don't enjoy the water, avoid swimming. If you enjoy being active alone rather than with a group of people, choose running alone. The best thing you can do is to try lots of activities until you find the one that makes you fulfill and that helps you deal with stress. The more fun you're having, the more likely you'll stick to that physical activity and your workout routine.

Depression and Exercise

It's shown that exercise can have a positive impact on mild and moderate depression. The effect of exercise is almost the same as taking an antidepressant, but when you exercise you don't have side-effects as when taking your medicine. Even going for a walk for a few minutes a day can reduce the risk of symptoms of depression. In case you already have depression symptoms, keep in mind that exercise will only benefit you since having an exercise schedule can stop the possibility of relapsing. An exercise is a powerful tool in fighting depression. There are various reasons for that – it makes changes in your brain (eg. neural growth, new activity patterns) which make you feel calmer and relaxed. Also, exercise reduces chemicals in your brain called endorphins which are responsible for making you feel good and energized. Last but not least, exercise is a great way and a helpful tool that can serve you as a distraction. When you exercise you get a chance to take some time off for yourself and keep away from all the negative thoughts related to depression.

Anxiety and Exercise

Feeling anxious is not a pleasant feeling. It's also not something you can easily control. To control it you'll need some tricks on how to avoid it or reduce symptoms of it. One of those solutions is exercise because that's a natural anti-anxiety treatment. The effects are pretty much the same as with depression – it improves your well-being thanks to the release of endorphins, it improves your mental and physical energy, and helps you get rid of stress. When you're feeling anxious it's advisable to pay attention to your breathing and the rhythm of your breathing. Adding this kind of element (mindfulness) into your exercise will help you calm yourself faster and it will help you improve your physical condition, which is less important in this scenario. Being mindful helps you stay focused and present instead of paying attention to thoughts and worries that keep on running through your head. So, the best kinds of exercises when you're feeling anxious are those that keep your body and mind busy, one of the exercises that represent the combination of these two is yoga. If you’re new at this and if you haven’t tried it before, don’t worry, because there are lots of tutorials, studios or books where you can see for yourself if this will help you.

Reasons Why People Don’t Exercise at Work

Being active at work sounds great because whenever you feel under pressure you can take a few minutes off and exercise to avoid feeling overwhelmed. But, sometimes and in most cases, it's not possible to exercise at work. The reason for that is quite simple – not so many companies have that kind of luxury where you're given space and time to dedicate to yourself and your well-being while doing the actual work. Let's look at the most common reasons why people don't exercise at work.
No time – probably the most common reason people use is saying they don’t have time to exercise. But the truth is that is doesn’t take you longer than 30 minutes. You can take a short break of 15 minutes and stretch out a bit or do a few pushups that will make you more energized and productive.
Boss says ‘no’ – Most companies and its bosses are not that happy with the idea of you exercising at work. And the reason for that is quite simple – you're not doing your job and therefore, you're not contributing to the company and its financial sources in those few minutes. If there's an HR team in your company, try suggesting to them the idea of exercising at work. Because, there are proofs that exercise improves collaboration and productivity at work, besides reducing your stress. Speak to the HR or directly to your boss, ask for a chance to do a small experiment at work so they can see the results and hopefully implement this idea in every day's work so that employers are happier and more satisfied.
Messy Hair – It takes some time to prepare yourself and get ready for work if you're a female. You need to take a shower, do your make up and fix your hair. So, for those who put too much effort in their appearance exercising at work doesn't sound tempting since you’ll sweat and your hair and makeup will lose its look. But this shouldn't be a reason to neglect your well-being over a look that you can definitely fix after your work out.
CEO or Manager doesn’t believe in physical activity at the workplace – Exercising in the workplace shouldn't be a threat to any CEO or boss because it's more likely they'll gain in employee engagement and in recruiting. It's also highly likely they'll reduce absenteeism when they implement exercise in the workplace. Plus, your company will seem cooler than before which will reflect its reputation.
There are other reasons and factors of not working out at work, of course. But, don't forget that the ability to do physical activity at work is both beneficial and a privilege that you shouldn't abuse. Just because you have perfect working conditions (eg. a fitness center or a boss who says ‘yes’ to an idea of exercising at work) that doesn’t and shouldn’t mean that you can escape an actual work and getting it done. The work still has to be done properly. Otherwise, if you abuse this privilege and opportunity, it’s likely a manager or a boss will take away that from you and your co-workers. And it shouldn’t come to that, because exercise programs are a great tool that can improve the quality of employers’ work-life and their overall well-being.

Summary

Being active and exercising has quite some benefits for people and their health. Being active can be a stress reliever and it can boost your mood and confidence which will have an impact on your behavior. Working 5 days a week or even more can be stressful, so being able to exercise at work or after it, is probably the best and quickest solution to get rid of all the tension and stress that’s work-related. It’s shown that regular engagement in physical activity can decrease your levels of tension, increase your mood making you happier, improve your sleep habits and boost your self-esteem. No matter if it's a 10-minute workout or an hour-long workout, you'll definitely see and feel changes and exercise's effects on your body and mind. So, to have a peaceful and stress-free life, choose a physical activity that you enjoy the most and stick to your exercise schedule.