How to Reduce Stress with Exercise

August is National Wellness Month, a perfect time to focus on our overall wellbeing and consider how to reduce stress through healthy habits that support both our physical and mental health. In today’s fast-paced world, stress has become a constant companion for many of us. While stress can be a natural response to challenges, chronic stress can take a toll on our bodies and minds.

In this article, LifeSpeak expert Tom Toth, a movement specialist and fitness expert, explores how exercise can be a powerful tool for managing stress and promoting overall wellness. Discover the science-backed benefits of physical activity, practical tips for incorporating exercise into your routine, and strategies for overcoming common obstacles.

Our world has changed tremendously in the last few hundred years, and so have the types of stresses that are dominant in our society.

We used to worry about physical stresses such as finding food, conflict (“fight-or-flight”), and surviving the winter. Now we worry about deadlines, promotions, and getting to soccer practice on time in crazy traffic.

While many of us accept this type of mental stress as part-and-parcel of modern life, it can negatively affect your body and mind.

Stress is (Somewhat) Normal

Stress in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. It helps your body prepare for difficulties. The problem is that our nervous system has evolved to handle shorter bouts of stress, not the constant, grinding load that many of us experience. Being constantly stressed has many negative side-effects: feeling overwhelmed, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, a less active immune system, digestive issues, and others. It also increases the risk of heart disease and cancer, our biggest killers.

Stress also manifests in sore muscles and bad posture, which unfortunately leads to a negative feedback loop. Studies show that adopting a bad posture (slumped shoulders, slouching) can negatively affect your thoughts and mood. The worse your mood is, the more likely you are to slouch, and so on.

Stress produces adrenaline and cortisol, hormones that in times of danger help us survive. However, long-term exposure to elevated levels of these hormones is not good for us, and managing them is really important. If you’ve ever had too much coffee, you know that uncomfortable feeling of jitteriness and anxiety. That’s what stress does to you, day in and day out, but at a lower, more insidious level.

“Exercise produces a group of chemicals called endorphins that make us feel good and act as a natural counterbalance to the stress hormones.“

How Does Exercise Help With Stress?

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you how to make your daily stresses go away, but I do know that exercise helps tremendously in managing them. Bouts of intense movement have several great benefits. For one, they help you focus on something other than your stressors. This is really important because your body and mind need breaks so they can recover from the adrenaline- and cortisol overload to which we subject them non-stop. Exercise produces a group of chemicals called endorphins that make us feel good and act as a natural counterbalance to the stress hormones.

As a personal trainer, I’ve observed something interesting over the years. I found that many of my clients enjoyed exercise because it was their time, and their time only. Most of our stresses revolve around other people: our bosses, co-workers, families, and others. It often feels like you have no time left for anything personal! Taking time to do something that is only about you can be a powerful mood booster.

“Start small: short bouts of exercise are easier to incorporate into your schedule than planning on a full hour, and can be just as beneficial.“

Pick the Exercise Modalities Right for You

People often start exercising and then stop, thinking they don’t like it, or “it’s just not for them”. More often than not, the problem is one of two issues. Either they aren’t sure what they are doing, (and need some direction), or they did not match the exercise with their personality. If you fall into the first category, the solution is to educate yourself on fitness. It’s easier to do this now than ever, with the proliferation of online fitness content such as blogs and YouTube videos.

It is also important to make sure the types of exercise you are doing matches your personality. I’m primarily talking about the introvert/extrovert dichotomy. Introverts need time alone to recharge, while extroverts are energized and de-stressed by socializing.

As an introvert, I often find group activities stressful. For exercise, I prefer lifting weights with a partner, doing yoga videos by myself, or going for a jog. I find some of my best creative ideas pop into my head while running by myself and thinking about nothing. For people like me, peace and quiet are restorative. If this sounds familiar, try to find times in your schedule to exercise by yourself or with just one or two people. This might require getting up earlier, before your family wakes up, or taking time during lunch to go for a 20-minute run or bike ride.

Extroverts are the opposite. They love group activities and being around other people. They are the mainstay fitness classes and have suffered the most during the pandemic and the closure of gyms. The good news is that online exercise classes, both live and recorded, have become ubiquitous over the last year. Whether you are into CrossFit, spinning, yoga, or belly-dancing, chances are there is a class being streamed from somewhere right now.

If you love group activities, find a class you enjoy and get some co-workers or family members involved. Studies show that being accountable to other people helps tremendously with sticking to a workout plan.

What Kind of Exercise and When?

Here are some of my best tips:

• Start small: short bouts of exercise are easier to incorporate into your schedule than planning on a full hour, and can be just as beneficial;
• Try to mix it up: while all exercise is going to be beneficial for stress relief, a good mix of strength training (also known as resistance training or weight-lifting), cardiovascular exercise, and mobility work like stretching or yoga is ideal;
• You can do more than one modality in one workout session: 20 minutes of resistance training followed by a short yoga class is a great way to be efficient;
• Come up with a plan and stick to it: look over your schedule and see where you can fit exercise in; block off those times as busy;
• Get help if you need it: consult with a trainer or other fitness professional to get a good program.

What If Exercising is Another Stress You Have to Deal With?

Unsurprisingly, I often hear that exercise is just another thing to schedule and it causes people more stress. My recommendation to my clients is to change how they think about exercise: instead of it being something that you have to do, think of it as something you get to do for yourself. I’m not a cardio person myself, but I look forward to getting in a spinning class because I know I need it, and it is good for me.

Again, doing shorter bouts of the types of exercises you like (or at least can tolerate) with a group of people you like can go a long way toward making sure you stick to your routine. The beginning of an exercise program, like everything else, is the hardest part. This is when things are at their worst: your schedule isn’t settled, things hurt, other people in the class are veterans and look better, etc.

In my experience, many people quit their routines around the 3-week mark. If you can push past this while maintaining your program, you have a good chance of getting into a positive, upward spiral when it comes to your health. The opposite option is not so great: more stress, more neck, and shoulder pain from sitting all day, more insomnia, and anxiety.

How to Reduce Stress with Exercise: Your Action Plan

1. Go over your weekly planner and figure out 3 spots where you can do 30 minutes of exercise, including changing and showering if necessary;
2. Book those times off from work and family;
3. Figure out what kind of exercise you want to do in those spots: lifting weights, yoga, walking, running, spinning, stretch classes, circuit training are all good options;
4. Figure out how to get good at those exercises: watch videos, talk to friends who are good at them, hire a coach or trainer, buy equipment like small dumbbells or a yoga mat;
5. Get going!

With a good plan in place, the chance of failure is much lower. Try to find a balance where you are challenged, but not overly ambitious. Some people trip up by starting out too intensely. If you have read my beginner’s running guide, you know how little load you need to start out with to avoid injury. Happy sweating!

Looking for an effective way to help your employees keep up with their personal fitness goals? LifeSpeak Inc.’s Wellbeats Wellness is on demand fitness, nutrition, and mindfulness solutions that fit into any lifestyle.

Interested in learning more about how Wellbeats Wellness can help your organization?

Contact us for a demo and see the difference for yourself. 

About the author, Tom Toth, Movement Specialist and Fitness Expert

Tom Toth is a strength coach, movement specialist and fitness educator from Toronto, Canada. Since graduating from the University of Waterloo in 2003, he has accumulated over 15 certifications, including in strength and conditioning, Olympic weight-lifting, sports nutrition and medical exercise. He has dedicated his career to making people move better, feel better, and live better. His primary specialties are helping people with injuries and medical conditions, as well as training high-level athletes.