Like everyone else, I’ve been feeling a lot of angst over the current financial downturn we find ourselves in. Not only am I worried about my job, but I’m also worried at a more global level, about the future of this great country of ours, the downfall of the great capitalism that made our country rich with opportunity, and the poor people who have thought they were going to be able to retire and have had to put their retirement plans on hold indefinitely or for a few years because their retirement plans, largely filled with stocks and mutual funds, have been slaughtered.

Never mind my own angst about keeping up with the mortgage payments and even being able to buy gifts for my family this year, it’s also a global concern, for everyone, not just myself. I worry for my parents who are close to retirement age, and for those that are getting laid off, and for the further domino effects all these 2009 layoffs will have, and for how long it is going to take us all to recover and return to the economic prosperity we had grown fairly used to here in the US.

So, how do I deal best with stressors like this? I turn to the almighty elliptical machine and work out my angst and anxiety and feelings of hopelessness, and I go to my yoga DVD’s to restore those feelings of power and graceful peace that don’t come so easily when you are feeling like the world is going to collapse.

Some people cope by eating more or less, or by smoking, or by doing something else that, in the end, is really not good for their health, but there is an abundance of research that shows that exercising is one of the best stress busting things you can do to ensure that you are going to live a peaceful and manageable life. Working out seems to make everything better, and best of all, it’s free.

I got a bug up my butt a few nights ago, on the weekend, and decided that I was going to finally paint our guest bedroom with the Harbor Mist blue color that I had purchased from Benjamin Moore paint over 6 months ago. I was actually starting to get worried that the paint would have gone bad and would not be usable since it had been so long, but alas, the paint was fine, I just had to work up the ambition to actually tackle the room all by myself!

So, I taped all the trim, which took a good hour to do, of solid work with no breaks. Taping doesn’t really require too many muscles or a lot of endurance, it’s just an awkward and tedious task that has to be done before you paint so that you don’t get paint on the trim or on the ceilings. It still sucks, but this part isn’t the part that physically taxing – it’s the actual painting and rolling that can be, especially when you’re short like me, and have to constantly stand on your tiptoes to get the paint on the wall as high up as you can.

Not only do you really use your upper body strength when painting in a house (or outside a house for that matter – that’s our goal for next summer, to paint our outside garage), but when you climb up and down, and up and down the ladder, you tend to get a lot of exercise on your lower body, including your butt and thighs, mostly your quads, since you are hoisting yourself up time and time again.

I can’t even count how many times I went up and down the ladder, but it was quite a few. the room actually isn’t that large, but it took me a while to maneuver around the furniture that is in there, and also took me a while because I had to constantly move the ladder around, set it back down, and get back up on it to continued to paint or roll.

By the way, it turned out very lovely. It’s a light blue color, and it really brightens the room up and makes it look bigger and more cheerful. I switched from a neutral off white shade that was completely flat, so much so that writing on it would be like writing on a chalkboard, and I’m not a fan of that look. It’s a nice room now, now we just need to buy new furniture for our guests!

It’s no secret that running produces endorphins if you do it for long enough, producing what many runners claim is what keeps them on the running circuit, called a “runner’s high”. This is where if a runner is at it long enough, they experience a rush of endorphins, the feel good happy chemical that is released by the brain by certain events and sometimes even certain foods, usually after they are already exhausted, making the whole experience worth it. So, is this so called runners high the reason why runners have been pinpointed as enjoying longer lives and less serious health problems?

Well, that’s debatable, but the fact is that most runners do happen to enjoy a longer life span and get sick less than the average non-runner. There is new research that strongly suggests that running actually slows the effects and symptoms of aging, such as slowing energy, less libido, aging of the organs and all those other lovely things that most of us who live a healthy and active lifestyle try to avoid by living that way.

The results of the study were quite amazing, although admittedly they were not done on a huge group of people. They found that runners had less injuries, less life threatening disabilities and diseases, and also were about half as likely to die an early death as their non-running (but they don’t specify if they also did not exercise at all, this may be key), counteraparts. Does this mean you should go out and get a treadmill right away?

Well, sure it does, but it also suggests you can gain the same benefit from doing any strenuous exercise that works the whole body and acts in a cardiovascular capacity such as running does, to help the body fend off illness and disease and quite possibly an early death, such as elliptical machines, bikes, and any other piece of home workout equipment that can help stimulate the heart rate and build muscle at the same time, both of which are good for heart health (a major cause of early death is heart related problems), and also stimulate the cirulation and keep the brain healthy by helping the body be a good conductor of oxygen, which is vital to the health of the brain, heart and other vital organs.

Man, I’ll tell you what. I’m a regular excerciser by nature. I started working out at the tender age of 14 years old, when most of my friends were just worried about boys and starting to wear makeup. I was already buying the Cindy Crawford workout tapes and doing them religiously every day. That and The Firm tapes were my favorite. Granted, I had some body image issues, and I attribute this early age of starting to frequently work out as part of my psychosis over my body changing, but I’m glad that I started to yearn for exercise at a young age, or else it may not be as embedded a need in my mind at the age of 34 today.

That is why, when I get so insanely busy that I can’t find time to work out (I know, it’s an excuse, but sometimes I just don’t have the energy to think about it when I get busy), I start to go out of my mind without that regular exercise that I’ve grown so accustomed to. Take right now for example. I should be working out in our basement right now, but instead I have a group of people downstairs that my boyfriend is entertaining while I write this blog to keep up with my readers!

Don’t worry, I’m heading back down soon. But I’m also working on a class I’m taking now to work toward my bachelors degree, plus I have several other initiatives I want to start in my personal life that don’t leave a whole lot of time to get downstairs on the elliptical and thigh machine like I’d like to, and that includes my belly not getting enough situps. Which (finally) leads me to my point.

I’m suffering from a bit of the jelly belly lately. I’ve almost always, my whole life, had no problems with my abdominal muscles. I’ve always been able to easily maintain a flat, smooth belly. Then I started to over commit myself to other projects, and started to find that I was not able to do my situps as frequently as I should be, along with my other exercises that I frequently do when I’m downstairs doing my full workout, and have found that I’m starting to get those little “belly rolls” that tend to roll up on you when you sit down.

I can feel them right now, and honestly it’s driving me crazy that they’re there! I know that I can diet and exercise and get rid of them, but nonetheless I feel their ominous presence every time I sit down if I’m not using all my might to suck them in. By the way, one of the best things you can do to prevent getting tummy rolls is to suck you belly muscles in when you sit down. This will prevent the muscles from getting lax, and you will start to notice that your stomach automatically sucks in when you sit down after a little while.

I’ll often go out for a walk or a run/walk or jog on the days when it’s still nice enough to go out in the fall, or even in the winter when we might get a little winter thaw here in Northeast Ohio, and I see the same women oftentimes, pushing her stroller, jogging. I always think to myself, now see, that’s dedication!

And she looks fantastic, very athletic and in shape, and there’s a reason for that. Even with a newborn, you can still take care of yourself and your body, and make sure you’re still getting the exercise that you need to stay healthy, mentally happy and maintain a healthy, ideal weight for your height, weight and body type.

You can do what she does, which is suit up in your sweats or running gear, swaddle your little one up so they don’t get cold, and go out in to the great outdoors and push the stroller with you. You can fast walk, which is probably easier and less jarring to the stroller, or if you have a great smooth stroller, you can jog. I think it may be difficult for some women to jog pushing a stroller, but they may find it easier if they have a lighter, smaller stroller that isn’t so bulky.

You can really burn some calories, and get your baby out for some fresh air as well. A lot of babies find motion very soothing, so you may even be providing your baby with some therapeutic benefits as well that you didn’t even think about. Your baby can look up at the trees in their pretty fall colors and fall asleep if they want to, or they can just sit there and relax and take in the views which should be stimulating and interesting to their young eyes.

Triathletes tend to be one of the leanest, meanest types of people. They’re usually the type who never miss a workout and who are very conscientious about what they put in their bodies. You may find things like nutrition bars and proteing supplements in the lunch pale of a triathlete rather than pure carbs, and some fruits and veggies for better sustainable energy. Triathletes are even more serious sometimes than marathon runners.

Since the triathlon has been around, people have looked at competing in a triathlon as the ultimate test of your spirit and endurance. They have thought of it as a true measure of a person’s heart and willpower, and with good reason. Triathlons are extremely trying. They consist not only of a marathon, which is running, but they also add in two more (the tri in triathlon), which are swimming and biking. We all know how many calories and how much energy expenditure swimming takes, so that one alone is enough to burn most people out, but triathletes usually train long and hard for the opportunity to prove they can do it to themselves.

One celebrity who just competed in a triathlon, and not too terribly long after having her twins, is Jennifer Lopez. The pictures said it all about how training for and competing in made Jennifer feel. She looked exalted and proud of herself, fresh and pretty, and luminous and natural at the near end of the race. I’ve thought about some day enrolling in a triathlon for the heck of it.

I figure, what do I have to lose? I could train for the event of my life, the most trying physical endurance test I could ever take, and take that knowledge that I toughed it through that for the rest of my life. I think triathletes come back feeling like they’ve accomplished something that they can take with them for the rest of their lives.

My boyfriend just recently had a group outing with his company where there were many different outdoor sports played. One of them was football, which of course had him in all his glory since he loves the watch football and knows a lot about the sport to begin with. He said he scored the most touchdowns on his team and I was having Al Bundy flashbacks lol. Just kidding.

My point is, there are so many outdoor activities to do that actually act not only as a fun recreational thing to do that doesn’t cost money (unless you’re in a professional organization or do fundraisers), but it also acts as a completely different physical activity that you’re body isn’t used to, working out parts of the body that never have the opportunity to get worked out because you’re using your body in ways that you normally don’t need to during a normal workout or say, household chores for example.

He said that he felt fine right afterwards, but the next day he could barely lift his head up to get out of bed. He said that all across and down his back, up his sides, and places in his legs that he never even new he had muscles hurt. I bet he really burned a lot of calories, because when you activate muscles that you never use like that, it forces more oxygen and blood to those muscles which requires a lot of calorie and energy expenditure.

That’s why they say you should always switch your workout up, because if your body gets used to the activity and the same movements over and over, you are no longer getting the biggest bang for your buck with the amount of time you’re doing it. I try to switch my workouts up between using home exercise equipment and also doing DVD’s or yoga or some other form of exercise just to keep my muscles from getting too “used to” the same movements.

One of the main reasons that those of us who exercise our whole lives and feel lost without it, and pretty “yucky” when we go a while without making it to the gym or giving the old track a go, or however else we get our sweat in, is because exercising makes us feel good. It makes us feel more energetic, puts us in an instantly better mood, and improves our self esteem since our body image and self awareness escalates. Most extremely successful people exercise regularly, and that is part of the reason for their success, or vice versa, and it’s these types who are most drawn to the benefits of exercise.

Regular exercise rejuvenates and re-energizes us, and it even improves our libido. Studies have shown that in men, testosterone production increases as well as other energizing hormones, and men experience a heightened libido as well as many times a heightened sense of pleasure when they are regularly exercising. Women also experience this, since their blood flow has improved, and their self esteem and image of their bodies is much better usually when fitness is always a priority.

But what about the endorphin connection? You’ve heard of runner’s highs, where runners experience a type of euphoric feeling that comes from a combination of exhaustion and chemical releases that stimulate the sense and make them feel as though they are a natural, good feeling high? Well, regular fitness routines have the ability to keep that “high” going on and on as long as you choose to keep working out at least 4 times a week (this is my personal recommendation, but of course, the more the better).

Endorphins are the chemicals that are released by the brain that create a sense of pleasure and extreme well being. They are actually chemically polypeptide compounds, and they are secreted by the pituitary gland, which I believe is the same gland that is partly responsible for the growth of the human body during various developmental stages when the body is still maturing.

If you were to look up the effects of these endorphins on the human body, you would find that they create a heightened sense of being, and actually can relieve pain when they are secreted. They are often experienced during times of strenuous activity and also during sexual pleasure, and are one of humanity’s greatest treasures.

Working out regularly not onlly stimulates endorphins, but it also triggers whole series of events which lead to greater peace of mind, a healthier outlook on life, and even getting sick less, all of which, you guessed it, lead to a longer, healthier life.