But I’m Too Stressed and Tired to Exercise!

I’m betting if you’ve used this excuse (who hasn’t… let’s face it) you also sometimes turn to the home remedy of cups of coffee and chocolate or energy bars for pick-me-ups. 

Alas, excess coffee in the afternoon, or wine in the evening, will likely disrupt your sleeping patterns and is one cause of insomnia. 

If you’re stressed, you particularly need oxygen to your whole body. “Aerobic exercise can have an anti-anxiety effect”, according to John B Arden (author, ‘Rewire Your Brain’). Studies have proven that physiological changes after exercising can overcome the negative effects of anxiety. One study showed that a 12-session aerobic exercise program reduced some symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, quite a significant thing. 

(Aerobic exercise meaning “brisk exercise that promotes the circulation of oxygen through the blood and is associated with an increased rate of breathing” (Medicinenet.com), not “bouncing up and down in a bright leotard”). 

Exercise contributes to stress reduction in many ways: 

• Provides a distraction from the day’s events 
• Reduces muscle tension 
• Increases serotonin (pleasant mood chemical naturally occurring in body) and GABA – an inhibitory brain neurotransmitter (basically giving us an anti-depressant effect) 
• Improves resilience and self-mastery. (Source: Rewire Your Brain). 

While some people rely on artificial methods like anti-anxiety medication to improve mood (E.g. Valium, Aitvan), which help increase GABA and serotonin, these can only work while you are taking them and they may even cause depression and other nasty side effects. This is why a new breed of doctors may first suggest an exercise program for stress, tiredness, PTSD, and depression. 

What About the Tiredness? 

While exercising might make you feel tired, “that’s a good thing”, says Dr Arden. It means you’re pushing your body beyond its comfort zone so as to strengthen it - all in a natural stress-and-recovery process. Exercise actually makes our repair mechanisms go to work and promote recovery and strength in the body, while raising the stress threshold of our brain’s neurons. 

I’m sure you’ll agree that exercise-induced tiredness is also a much nicer experience than working-at-computer-all-day tiredness. 

So next time you go to use the excuse, “I’m Too Stressed Out” or “I’m Too Tired to Exercise”, you’ll know just where to head… Dolphins Health Precinct. 

- Article submitted by Jen Lancaster (Dolphins Health Precinct member).