Exercise is My Prescription for Stress

I recently read online that “...63% of people in the UK are stressed at least weekly.” I knew our mental health as a nation had taken a hit these past few years, but I didn’t realise just how much! I dug deeper into the stats and found that this percentage had nearly doubled from just six years ago.

Stress and anxiety are very complex emotions and unique to us as individuals. Only so much of the issue can be captured in nationwide stats, which can at times, feel a little far removed from us as individuals with busy lives. But, I feel it’s important to share our own experiences of stress and how we’ve managed it, successfully or unsuccessfully. I think this helps break down the stigma surrounding the topic of stress awareness, and more importantly, starts to open up the conversation for the tools and solutions we can use to help ourselves going forward.

I’m someone who, from an early age, has always put a lot of pressure on themselves to achieve big things. This can be a strength in some ways but as I’m sure you can imagine, it has it’s downsides. I often get negative thoughts of “Am I doing enough?”, “Should I be working harder?” and so on. These thoughts are deeply rooted in my DNA and have resulted in me going through periods of having high levels of stress and anxiety. To the point where it’s impacted my sleep, skin and hair.

Stress is clearly one of the biggest threats to our mental wellbeing at present. However as a personal trainer I feel it’s my responsibility to share as much of my knowledge as possible on certain tools that can be a massive help for combatting stress and the strong grip it can hold over us.

Exercise is, unequivocally, one of the best things we can all be doing to improve our mental wellbeing and more specifically reduce stress and anxiety. The scientific evidence shows that regular aerobic exercise can consistently boost mood, decrease anxiety, depression, and hostility. Many of you will have experienced that acute mood boost after you’ve completed a stint of exercise. That is because our body releases endorphins, which are essentially opioids that act as pain relievers giving that ‘sense of euphoria.’

I get it though. It’s all well and good to say “exercise more” but what does that actually look and feel like in our busy schedules? In order to get the full and long lasting benefits from exercise we need to focus on making it part of our daily routine. This way it will more proactively help us manage our stress levels rather than in a reactive fashion. That means setting non-negotiables with ourselves, whether that’s before, during or after our working days to ensure we stay consistent with the habit. Don’t put pressure on yourself to be an early riser if it’s just not realistic and equally so - don’t convince yourself that you’ll “do it after work” if you know deep down that you’re exhausted after 5pm. 

There’s no coincidence that when I look back at the happiest chapters of my life, it’s also when I’ve been keeping those promises to myself to look after my physical and mental health. My clients also know this fact.

If you keep those promises to yourself, starting with regular exercise, I’d be confident you’ll be in a much stronger position than most to better manage your stress and overall well being.

Written for Iron Mill by Ryan Hamilton, Ex-Consultant Now Fitness Expert
https://www.yourphysiquecoach.com/

Written November 2024

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