Physical Exercise as a Relaxation Technique - Essay Example

Physical exercise as a relaxation technique & stress reduction Introduction The modern American population has been altered for the negative by the change of lifestyle which varies greatly from the ancient generations. Some of these lifestyle changes are caused by the demand of the world economy, and they end up affecting even the health of people. Stress for instance, is caused by factors such as working for long hours, getting overloaded at work, and being exposed to work pressures. Such disorders affect the working, lifestyle and health, but there exists a method of reversing all these; relaxation brought by physical exercise. Physical exercise, apart from helping to cut pounds, largely reduces stress levels, and is healthy for an individual. The following research text will discuss the role of physical exercise and expound on its relaxation cure. Methodology The research text will highlight the reversing abilities of physical activity by expounding on literature adapted from actual experiments conducted with regards to the effect that exercise has on the body, and particularly stress levels. The derivations from the experiments are accurate, and differ in the type of physical activity conducted. The featured physical activities include yoga, jogging, and in addition, there is the study of endurance in both genders during and after exercise. In addition, the research brings in evidence that stress and work-related health disorders can be reversed through physical exercise. Findings Jogging as a relaxation technique was experimented upon together with the Benson’s relaxation response, a control group, and group interaction. The participants were college students who had their Profile of Mood States, measures of social desirability, and a demographic inventory conducted and recorded prior to the experiment. After this, they underwent 12 weeks of stress reduction activities of which their Profile of Mood States were completed monthly before and after group meetings. The findings indicated that while all these relaxation methods proved to reduce stress in short terms, they varied in intensity. The results were that the control methods were least effective, while the relaxation response and jogging were the most effective. However, these were short-term observations and to obtain long-term results, one had to continue with the activities. This experiment is therefore sufficient to conclude that physical activities, represented here by jogging, are an effective stress-reduction and relaxation method (Berger, 1988). Lack of physical activity has been attributed as the leading cause of intense healthcare costs arising from health disorders caused by physical inactivity. Researchers therefore suggest that people should engage in more physical activity to reduce the disorders, thus save more. It is for this reason that they conducted an experiment to prove its effectiveness in not only improving physical body fitness but also increasing exercise adherence. The research was conducted in New Jersey on 27 adults of average 51 years who had not done any physical activity for the previous 6 months. There was also a control group which did not do any yoga exercises. The results indicated that the group undertaking yoga exercises manifested significant changes in terms of exercise self-efficacy and general well-being. The control group manifested a notable decrease in well-being. The yoga group had further revelations such as feeling more enthusiastic, improved exercise behaviours, better eating habits and decreased stress levels (Bryan & Parasher, 2012). Carter, Rennie, and Tarnopolsky (2000) conducted a research of what effects that exercise has on endurance in both male and females. The focus was on the whole body substrate, glycerol utilization at 90 minutes during exercise and at about 60% peak of oxygen consumption, and glucose concentration levels. The oxidation of the substrate was determined before a seven week training period, and after the seven weeks. The results indicated that the females oxidized less carbohydrate and more lipids than males while training. Although there were additional variations in some body aspects such as oxygen consumption and respiratory exchange ratios between males and females, there was a significant increase in the rate of glucose metabolic clearance rates in both. There were also high rates of lipid disappearance (consumption) and carbohydrate oxidation during exercise peaks. In translation, there were less chances of accumulating body fat and glucose flux, thus better body fitness and reduced health risks. Exercise for many years has been known to reduce psychological ill health since it brings about relaxation of the body. This is done by increased blood flow to the brain and the rest of the body as a result of the exercise. The cooling effect brought by the exercise will tend to create a solution to any psychological problems a person could have. During exercise most of the people tend to forget the intensity of the stress in their working environments and hence provide a panacea to any psychological problems they could have. Exercise, therefore will lead to low psychological ill health (Michie & Williams, 2002). Finally, as Guy & Hailer (2005) state, there is sufficient scientific evidence that all psychological processes are connected to one’s rate of physical activities. As such, the lifestyle that one lives through goes a long way in determining their psychological well-being. The already known cures that exercise can offer include; one, stress and anxiety in which case studies have proven that exercise offers a moderate anxiety-reducing effect. In addition, exercise even in short single sessions offers significant and notable reductions in state anxiety and also cut down short-term physiological reactivity to some psychosocial stressors. Physical exercise also reverses the effects of depression in that exercise has overall demonstrated an ability to limit and decrease depression levels. This exercise may be aerobic or resistance exercise, but both have been effective in treating moderate to severe cases of depression. Finally, physical activity is proven to enhance moods to positive, and never at any instant has exercise shown any negative side effects. Conclusion All the above findings sufficiently support that in exercising, one can maintain good health while saving themselves large sums of money. Exercise, which is a much ignored aspect of the human lifestyle, has been sidelined by the modern day lifestyles, and it is about time that it was revived. This is because its effects are both physical and psychological; affecting both mind and body. As the research directly states, lack of physical activity will lead to bad health, and a negatively-affected living. References Berger, B. (1988). Comparison of jogging, the relaxation response and group interaction for stress reduction. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 10 (4), 431-447. Bryan, S., Zipp, G. P., & Parasher, R. (2012). The effects of yoga on psychosocial variables and exercise adherence. ProQuest Research Library: Health & Medicine, 18 (5), 50-59. Retrieved from https://www.mercy.edu/academics/libraries/databases/subjects/ Carter, S. L., Rennie, C., & Tarnopolsky, M. (2000). Substrate utilization during endurance exercise in men and women after endurance training. American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism, 280 (1), E898-E907. Guy & Adrian. (2005). Exercise, Health and Mental Health. Taylor and Francis. Michie, S., & Williams, S. (2002). Reducing work related psychological ill health and sickness absence. Occupational & Environmental Medicine, 60, 3-9. Retrieved from http://oem.bmj.com/content/60/1/3.short Read More