Beat Stress through Exercise!

According to a 2004 survey by the American Psychological Association (APA), 45% of Americans say they exercise to help reduce stress. Exercise is one of many healthy behaviors that can help people deal with stress and is part of one of the steps to building resilience, taking care of oneself. ACE offers the following tips to help individuals cope with stress and anxiety they may feel after the hurricane:

Exercise can help you feel less anxious.

Exercise is being prescribed in clinical settings to help treat nervous tension. Following a session of exercise, clinicians have measured a decrease in electrical activity of tensed muscles. People have been observed to be less jittery and hyperactive after an exercise session.

Exercise can help relax you.

One exercise session generates 90 to 120 minutes of relaxation response. Some people call this post-exercise euphoria or the endorphin response. We now know that many neurotransmitters, not just endorphins, are involved. The important thing is not what they’re called, but what they do - they improve your mood and leave you feeling more relaxed.

Exercise can help make you feel better about yourself.

Think about those times when you’ve been physically active. Haven’t you felt better about yourself? Those feelings of accomplishment and greater self-worth contribute to stress relief.

Exercise can encourage you to eat better.

People who exercise regularly tend to eat more nutritious food. And it’s no secret that good nutrition helps your body manage stress better.

IT’S TIME TO GET STARTED

Now that you know exercise can make a big difference in controlling stress, make some time for regular physical activity. To help you get started, we have listed three activities to choose from:

1. Aerobic activity. All it takes is 30 minutes, three to five days a week. Thirty minutes won’t carve a big chunk out of your day and will significantly improve your ability to control stress.
2. Yoga. In yoga or mind/body activities, your mind relaxes progressively as your body increases its amount of muscular work. Recent studies have shown that when large muscle groups repeatedly contract and relax, the brain receives a signal to release specific neurotransmitters, which in turn make you feel relaxed and more alert.
3. Recreational sports. Play tennis, racquetball, volleyball or soccer. These games require the kind of vigorous activity that rids your body of stress-causing adrenaline and other hormones.

NOT JUST ANY EXERCISE WILL DO

Don’t try exercising in your office. Outdoors or away from the office is the best place to find a stress-free environment. Stay away from overcrowded classes. If you work surrounded by people, a big exercise class may be counterproductive. Solo exercise may be more relaxing for you. A lot depends on your personality and what causes stress for you.

Don’t skip a chance to exercise. Take an exercise break every 90 minutes and you’ll be doing yourself a favor. Ninety-minute intervals are a natural work-break period. And four 10-minute exercise breaks at this time will burn about as many calories as a solid 40-minute session. Work-break exercises can be as simple as walking or climbing stairs, stretching or doing calisthenics at your desk.

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• Tip of the Month

  June 2010

  Abdominal Workouts: Frequency, Intensity, and Duration

  Over the past 15 years, there has been countless advice on how to “properly” train your abdominals, or core.  There isn’t a fitness magazine out there that doesn’t publish a different abdominal workout each and every issue.  Opinions and research may change over time, but there are a few things you should look at before you alter your workout with each Fitness Magazine you read!
  First of all, it is important to know what your overall fitness and health goal is before designing a strength program for any body part, especially the mid-section.  For overall fitness, it is smartest to treat your abdominal muscles as you would any other muscle group.  The tried and true guidelines for most exercise programs is to work specific muscles to fatigue within a 30-60 second set time limit (intensity and duration,) while giving the worked muscle group at least 24-48 hours of rest (frequency) before working it again.  The amount of sets you do in a given workout (frequency again) can vary from as little as 4 sets to up to 12 for the average workout.  The science behind these theories is sound.  While exercising, pushing your body significantly past the 60 second mark without fatigue generally incorporates aerobic energy, thereby not stressing the muscles most efficiently.  And rest is necessary so that your body can properly rebuild the muscle fibers that you have broken down.  Additionally, you want to be at 100% energy levels for your next workout!

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• Recipe of the Month

  June 2010

  Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

  This healthy update of a traditionally rich ham-and-cheese breakfast strata is made lighter primarily by losing a few egg yolks and using nonfat milk. Gruyère cheese has a delicious, nutty aroma and flavor, which means that with the relatively small amount in this recipe you still get a big impact. To finish the makeover use nutritious, fiber-rich, whole-grain bread instead of white. The results: plenty of flavor, half the calories and one-third the fat of the original.

  4 large eggs
  4 large egg whites
  1 cup nonfat milk
  2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
  1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  5 cups chopped spinach, wilted (see Tip)
  4 cups whole-grain bread, crusts removed if desired, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 1/2 pound, 4-6 slices)
  1 cup diced ham steak, (5 ounces)
  1/2 cup chopped jarred roasted red peppers
  3/4 cup shredded Gruyère, or Swiss cheese
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