Welcome back to this week’s edition of 2-Minute Tuesdays where we are talking about one exercise topic for two minutes and giving you three reasons why you should follow our advice. This week, we are giving you exercise tips if you are feeling particularly stressed. If you feel like you have a ton going on in life and you can’t seem to deal with the stress, how can you still exercise to make sure you are not furthering your stress but instead creating some relief from your stress?
1) Be Active, But Not Too Much
Tip number one – when you are feeling stressed, make sure you are still moving and staying active throughout the day but you’re not overdoing your exercise. Often times, when we are feeling really stressed, we like to go to the gym and take out our anger and our frustration on our exercise. But, we have to remember that those actions can have negative repercussions on our bodies. Make sure you are staying moving and keeping your body active, but don’t overdo it.
Action Step: Make sure to still get up and move regularly throughout the day (5 minutes out of every 25 minutes). You can also include some longer walks (20-30 minutes) into your day, as well!
Related: The Gold Standard Of Exercise
2) Include Isometric Resistance Training
Tip number two – include isometric resistance training within your exercise. The reason we recommend isometric exercises, in particular, is because those exercises get you to focus on what is going on within your body. A lot of times when we get stressed, we get very focused on everything that is going on around us. Isometrics allow us to bring our exercise back within our body.
Action Step: If you regularly lift weights, do the same exercises you would normally do but instead focus on not moving during the exercises. For example, if you normally do a biceps curl, instead of moving the dumbbells with the exercise, just hold the dumbbells with your elbows bent and your focus on squeezing your biceps.
Related: Why Your Workouts Aren’t Working
3) Focus Within Your Body When You Exercise
Tip number three – when you are stressed, make sure you are always thinking about the internal things that are going on while you are exercising. Just like in tip number two, you can apply this concept to all forms of exercise, whether you are moving or not moving during your exercise. For example, when you are doing a chest press, think about all of your chest muscles squeezing during the workout instead of moving the bar up and down.
Action Step: Take the internal focus of exercise and apply it to your entire workout. If you are going for a run, focus on your breathing. If you are lifting weights, focus on your muscles squeezing. Focus on what is happening within your body instead of what is going on around it.
Not sure where to start with your exercise? Download our newest e-book for an exercise plan that is customized for your body!