If ever there were proof that exercising, and doing it on a regular basis instead of just when you feel like it or when you feel you have time to work it into your schedule, in other words, exercise as a way of life and a habit, like brushing your teeth in the morning, is vital to those of us that may suffer stress frequently in our lives.

Or if we have frequent stress because of our jobs or our livelihoods, it is vital that to maintain not only a working life without debilitating levels of stress and total lack of focus and ingenuity thanks to that stress, that we work out.

When I say I’m going to work out some stress and angst at the gym at my place of work, I mean it quite literally. I feel the stress melting off as I pedal faster on that recumbent bike or “run” faster on that elliptical machine or treadmill. When I’m stressed out, one of my most common side effects is shortness of breath. I feel like someone is standing on my chest and it becomes much harder to breathe at a normal pace when I’m under a lot of duress, and when I’m done working out, I literally feel like that weight has been lifted off of my chest.

Working out to prevent stress does seem counterintuitive, because you are actually putting stress on your body when you work out, but just sitting still actually places more stress on the body when you are filled with anxiety since you are not channeling that nervous energy elsewhere, it literally makes you feel like you’re going to implode.

I’ve experienced this myself so many hundreds of times that I know it’s real. I can see the difference in the way I look – healthier, a better color, more well rested, more spry, then when I am not working out, I look puffier, more tired, more haggard, and my skin doesn’t look so good – all biproducts of stress and a lifestyle that is full of anxiety.

Working out is truly a lifesaver for me when it comes to stress. It unwinds that telltale tightness in my body like nothing else, and I know that what I’m doing is good for my body because I feel myself growing stronger every day that I work out. It’s a great gift that we’ve been given, so I encourage everyone to take advantage of it – feel alive, and stress free!

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 12:35 pm and is filed under Fitness Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.