Benefits of Physical Exercise on Stress by Nick Smith

Let’s not beat around the bush, life can be tough! Especially when you’re in the middle of a global pandemic and it feels like there’s negativity everywhere. The last year or so has been really hard: our normal way of living was turned upside overnight. We haven’t been able to do things we’d normally take for granted like seeing family or friends, popping to the local pub, heading to the gym or wandering around the shops.

A study by the UK government that analysed data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study found that average mental distress was 8.1% higher in April 2020 than it was between 2017 and 2019. It also suggested that mental health and wellbeing may have worsened further between October 2020 and January 2021.

With all of that change and loss of control, it’s no wonder we might be feeling a bit more stressed than normal. We’ve certainly felt that way. Being active and social is a massive part of our lives at CrossFit Volentia, so to have that dramatically changed has been a lot to handle.

But one thing we’ve been able to rely on is physical exercise. It doesn’t only improve your overall health and wellbeing but it also has some amazing stress relieving benefits, like:

Getting those endorphins (your brain’s feel good neurotransmitters) pumping. This gives you that feeling of pure joy or invincibility that you get when you’ve been active.

Reducing the negative effects of stress on your body. It does this by helping your body’s systems to practice their response to stress. This can then have positive effects in your body including your cardiovascular, digestive and immune systems.

Shedding your daily tensions by acting as meditation in motion. When you’re being active you’re (hopefully) only focussed on what you’re doing, which is great for your mind as well as your body.

Improving your mood, self-confidence and helping you relax. It can also improve your sleep, which can be disrupted by stress.

Exercise doesn’t necessarily have to be a super intense workout in the gym, although that’s what we live for! Any type of physical activity can help to reduce your stress levels whether it’s walking around your local park or doing a gentle yoga session in your living room.

It’s always best to start slow, especially if you’ve not worked out properly for a while. There’s no point in going from 0 to 100 too quickly and injuring yourself. That just leads to even more stress! So make sure you take some advice from your doctor if you’ve not done anything for a while.

If you’ve been building up your fitness during lockdown then maybe it’s time to try one of our classes and take it to the next level. Our coaches will take the time to understand where your current fitness levels are and we even have a Beginner’s Membership. This is where you can join three dedicated classes a week for people in the same boat as you. We’ll take more time explaining the movements to ensure you feel confident and have the right technique. Then you’ll be ready to join our other classes or train in the open gym.

Hopefully we’re heading back to normal life but that doesn’t come without stress, so make sure you’re showing up for yourself by keeping active. Whatever life throws at you it’s easier to handle when you’re feeling fit and healthy. That’s all we want for our members: to lead a full, fit and healthy life!

If you want to start or maybe enhance your active journey then get in touch with one of the team: