Can exercise really relieve stress? The prerequisite is to correct 4 major misconceptions first!

When you are under so much pressure that you are about to go crazy, can you put on your sneakers, run around in the playground and sweat a little and make the stress disappear? That’s not necessarily true! If you over-pursue the immediate stress-relieving effect of exercise, or exercise at the wrong time, you may become more tired the more you move, which will invisibly increase your physical and mental stress and cause counterproductive effects. Therefore, experts recommend that if you want to achieve the effect of stress relief through exercise, you must first correct these four misconceptions!

Modern people lead busy and stressful lives. Coupled with habits such as sitting for long periods of time and not moving much, and being obsessed with 3C products, these habits cause muscle tension, which can easily lead to physical and mental disorders in the long run. This vicious cycle makes stress continue to escalate! In recent years, many studies have found that exercise can relax muscles, reduce stress and promote health, making "exercise to relieve stress" a popular health science.

However, can exercise really relieve stress?

Psychiatrist Wen Minkai said that exercise can stretch the bones and muscles, relax tense muscles, increase the body's basal metabolic rate, and increase blood oxygen supply; from the perspective of brain neurotransmitters, exercise can also promote the secretion of endorphins (also known as "happy hormones"), serotonin (helps stabilize emotions and relax muscles), dopamine (can improve inattention, give people a feeling of relaxation and satisfaction, and is a "happiness hormone"), and norepinephrine (can keep the brain alert, increase self-confidence and a sense of accomplishment, and thus produce a feeling of relaxation), which does help reduce stress and prevent depression.

However, "exercise" is not a panacea for stress! Dr. Wen Minkai emphasized that in order for exercise to have a healthy effect in relieving stress, the following four misconceptions must be erased from the mind, and the correct instructions must be "re-entered". Only by practicing it and persisting in it can you become happier the more you move!

1. Can exercise immediately relieve stress? wrong!

There was a patient in the clinic who, in order to quickly overcome stress, walked from Shulin, New Taipei City to Taipei City every day, took a 2-hour yoga class, then pedaled on a flywheel for an hour, and finally walked back to his home in Shulin. However, excessive exercise had the opposite effect, not only causing lactic acid accumulation and aggravated muscle soreness, making the body more tired, but also increasing mental stress.

Stress relief through exercise cannot be achieved overnight. It must be done step by step and "regularly exercise" for more than half a year to see results. And this "regular exercise" does not mean doing a lot of exercise every day. After all, not everyone is born to make a living by sports and can complete more than 5 or 6 hours of sports training every day.

In principle, most people should choose "loadable" sports or physical activities based on their personal physical fitness, interests and personality, and proceed step by step, accumulating at least 60 to 90 minutes a day. Only by persisting can the stress-relieving effect be achieved. The so-called "loadable" refers to the intensity of exercise that reaches the point where you can breathe slightly, sweat on your forehead, and feel your heart beating.

2. "Run 5 kilometers every day", can having an exercise goal help relieve stress? uncertain!

In order to establish a habit of regular exercise, many people will set exercise goals, requiring themselves to reach a certain amount of exercise every day, and increase it day by day or month by month. Taking jogging as an example, the initial goal is to run 3 kilometers every day before resting, and after two weeks, you have to progress to 5 kilometers before resting.

Dr. Wen Minkai said that although this approach can motivate oneself, the effectiveness still depends on personal personality. If you are someone who is prone to anxiety and tension, you may set a goal at the beginning that exceeds your ability to handle. If you set too high expectations for yourself, it will increase your stress during exercise, making it difficult to achieve the stress-relieving effect of exercise.

In addition, some people may feel guilty about not being able to exercise because they had something to do or were sick in the past few days, so they take advantage of the holidays to "overdo" their exercise to make up for it. This amount of exercise may not only be excessive, but also increase their own stress. It is recommended that if you encounter a similar situation, do not have the mentality of "making up for it", just exercise normally according to your daily plan.

3. Does every type of exercise have a stress-relieving effect? wrong!

There are hundreds of types of sports, among which aerobic exercises, such as yoga, brisk walking, jogging, running, cycling, swimming or skipping rope, can increase blood oxygen content and cardiopulmonary endurance, reduce heart load, and help maintain body functions and reduce the accumulation of muscle lactic acid better than other exercises. Dr. Wen Minkai considers them to be the most helpful exercise for relieving stress.

If you are busy and tired at work and don’t have enough time and energy to do aerobic exercise, there is also a way to relieve stress by “stealing steps”! Taking advantage of your breaks at work, you can do some static stretching exercises, climb stairs, or walk in circles on the spot, etc. These can help divert your attention from work, relieve tense muscles, and relax your mood.

As for ball sports such as basketball, baseball, football, table tennis or badminton, except for a few people who play for fun and do not care about the results, most of the time they have a competitive nature of "must win". All players on the field focus on a small ball, and catching or hitting the ball requires instantaneous explosive power. The mind and body are often under great pressure, so ball sports may not necessarily relieve stress. However, strength training can easily lead to lactic acid accumulation, and its stress-relieving effect is worse than the previous exercises.

4. Can I exercise at any time? wrong!

Many office workers stay up late to work overtime, and their exercise time is often between 11pm and 1am. However, the temperature is low at night in winter, and you will catch a cold if you are not careful. In addition, night is the time when the autonomic nervous system should rest and relax. If you exercise at this time, it will make the autonomic nervous system excited and force the body's organs to work. In the long run, you are prone to overwork, which will lead to the opposite effect of increased physical and mental stress.

Dr. Wen Minkai suggested that the best time to exercise is "in the morning before work" or "before dinner", but in winter when the temperature difference between morning and evening is large, you should pay attention to the temperature before exercising. When a cold wave hits, change outdoor exercise to indoors, and always keep warm to prevent colds or sudden cardiovascular diseases.