Exercise and Anxiety

Exercise Pumps up the Good Hormones

Physical activity can pump up your feel-good endorphins and other natural neural chemicals that enhance your sense of well-being. Exercise can also refocus your mind on your body's movements, which can improve your mood and help the day's irritations fade away. 

Exercise Takes Down the Bad Hormones

Regular exercise boosts the happy hormones - they act like pac-man and go round eating up the bad hormones caused by stress. The happy hormones also boost your mood, will-power, self-esteem, confidence, drive, energy and sense of purpose.

In turn this elevates your feeling of contentment, security and improves your sleep quality, which improves focus and helps you achieve your goals. 

Exercise protects against Anxiety

A 2013 study Trusted Source found that people with anxiety disorders who reported a high level of physical activity were better protected against developing anxiety symptoms.

This could be for a variety of reasons. Exercise can divert your attention away from something that’s making you anxious.

Getting your heart rate up (cardiovascular exercise) also changes the brain chemistry to create more space for anti-anxiety neuro chemicals.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), regular exercise leads to an enhancement of concentration and willpower, which can help certain anxiety symptoms.

https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2013/exercise

Exercise Gets to the Heart

Cardiovascular exercise is also known as cardio training and is anything that raises the heart rate gradually to a certain level, maintains it there for a period of time and then gradually decreases it again. 

Exercise that includes HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is really beneficial. Consider walking, jogging, gardening, housecleaning, biking, swimming, weightlifting or anything else that gets you active and increases your heart rate (sex included!). 

The Ladies First Fitness workout is quick, good cardio that includes HIIT and also includes strength training at the same time. You get the benefits of both without having to spend double the time.

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is your body’s natural response to stress. It’s a feeling of fear or worry that could be caused by a combination of factors that researchers believe range from genetics to environmental to brain chemistry. 

Some anxiety is a typical part of life. It’s a byproduct of living in a busy world.

Anxiety isn’t all bad, though. It makes you aware of danger, motivates you to stay organised and prepared, and helps you calculate risks. Still, when anxiety becomes a daily recurrence, it’s time to act before it snowballs.

Symptoms of Anxiety and Stress?

Some common symptoms of anxiety include:

• increased heart rate
• rapid breathing
• restlessness
• trouble concentrating

However, it’s important to note that anxiety can present itself in different ways for different people. While one person may experience a butterfly feeling in their stomach, another might have panic attacks, nightmares, or painful thoughts.

Unchecked anxiety may greatly impact your quality of life. 

Whether it’s stress or anxiety you’re looking to reduce, the top tips for taking control are the same.

Social Connection and Laughter Reduces Stress

When you're stressed and irritable, your instinct may be to isolate yourself. Instead, reach out to family and friends and make social connections.

Social Contact as a stress reliever

Social contact is a good stress reliever because it can offer distraction, provide support and help you tolerate life's up and downs. So take a coffee break with a friend, email a relative or visit your place of worship. Or go for a double-hit and come down to Ladies First Fitness for some great exercise (including HIIT) and social connection at the same time.

Got more time? Consider volunteering for a charitable group and help yourself while helping others.

Laughter as a stress reliever

A good sense of humour can't cure all ailments, but it can help you feel better, even if you have to force a fake laugh through your grumpiness. When you laugh, it not only lightens your mental load but also causes positive physical changes in your body. Laughter fires up and then cools down your stress response. So read some jokes, tell some jokes, watch a comedy or hang out with your funny friends. Or give laughter yoga a try.

Breathe!

Shallow, fast breathing is common with anxiety. It may lead to a fast heart rate, dizziness or lightheadedness - or even a panic attack.

Deep breathing exercises — the deliberate process of taking slow, even, deep breaths — can help restore normal breathing patterns and reduce anxiety.

During meditation, you focus your attention and quiet the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress. Meditation can instill a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit both your emotional well-being and your overall health.

Guided meditation, guided imagery, visualization and other forms of meditation can be practiced anywhere at any time, whether you're out for a walk, riding the bus to work or waiting at the doctor's office. 

Exercise and Breathe - reduce Anxiety

Exercise encourages controlled breathing, so kill 2 birds with the one stone. Get your cardio and strength training done while focusing and working on your breathing.

You can practice meditation and also deep breathing anywhere – so include it at the end of your workout at the gym (particularly beneficial during stretching).