Health Guide Plus: Weight Lifting and Stress Management

Stress. We all deal with it day to day. Most mental health and other healthcare professionals agree that one of the best ways to deal with and overcome stress is to raise the endorphin level in the brain and stimulate the “pleasure centers through rigorous exercise. The so-called “natural high”. And there is none better that I can think of than the one you get after pumping up from weightlifting. The very term “pumping up” and feeling pumped after weightlifting refers as much to your state of mind, as the state of your muscles.

Lifting weights reduces stress in many esoteric and practical ways. Physiologically there is no doubt that a heavy duty workout with weights raises the levels of dopamine and serotonin – two chemicals in the brain known as neurotransmitters. These are the two that are most related to depression. In fact most antidepressant medications work by increases the level of both of these chemicals in the brain.

A good weightlifting session can accomplish the something, without the side effects, and has so many more additional benefits to both your physical and mental health. Stress relief though weightlifting is more then just the high you get after a work out, and a good way to let off steam and release the tensions of a heavy duty day. The additional benefits one gets from being a weightlifter can go along way to reduce and manage stress.

Better health, the ability to be more active, improved self-image and confidence all come from weightlifting -and can do a lot to fight stress and depression. I know of many people who began a weightlifting program strictly to “get in shape”, and then found how it improved so many other aspects of their lives. One of the great things about weightlifting is unlike with many other types of training you can see results almost immediately.

Many people who never lifted before in just a few weeks of weight training see a dramatic improvement in their strength and stamina, and even start to see a difference in the mirror in a short time. This leads to improved self-esteem, which can and has led to all sorts of positive changes in ones life. Now certainly I am not suggesting that weightlifting is some magic genie in a bottle that will immediately improve you life.

But, with increased self confidence and self esteem that comes from improved health and self image from a regular weightlift routine, people have gone on to find partners and even find better jobs. In other words you have so much to gain with weightlifting and so little to lose, except some flab! And speaking of meeting people, if you workout in a gym, weightlifting is an inherently social activity, many weightlifting routines require spotters or partners, and lifting is a great way to meet people. Being active socially is also a great way to relive stress.

Now I have primarily been talking about weightlifting and relief of mental stress. But muscles also suffer from physical stress. This is when trainers and healthcare professionals refer to “tension” in muscles. Or when you yourself say your lower back, neck, or shoulders feel “tense”. This is a great time for a lighter work out with weights, the simple warm-ups and stresses that must be done before a weightlifting session could start to loosen up this “muscle stress”, followed by a workout with lighter weights and it will melt away, and those endorphins will also get going and the rest of your stress will start to fade along with it.

Health Guide Plus

Friday, June 19, 2015

Weight Lifting and Stress Management

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