Stress management health centre

Four stress-reducing moves you can do anytime

Quick quiz: You're ready to scream after the end of a hectic workday, but a long list of holiday tasks still looms ahead. You fight traffic to get to the shopping centre -- where someone grabs the last parking space. You need stress relief and you need it NOW. What's your best option?

A. Gobble up the box of chocolates you've been saving for just such an emergency.
B. Go home and melt into a hot bath.
C. Head to the spa for a pampering massage.
D. Go to the gym and work out 20 minutes on the treadmill.

The answer: D. We don't recommend such intensive chocolate therapy. Plus, while massages and long soaks in the tub may feel great, exercise is the best de-stressor over the long term, experts say.

Along with the well-known physical benefits, exercise has been shown to "increase one's sense of well-being, mood state, self-esteem, stress responsivity (and) body image, as well as decreased depression and anxiety", says Jesse Pittsley, a spokesperson for the American Society for Exercise Physiologists.

Just what is it about exercise that makes a person feel good (other than being toned)? What are the best moves to do when you're feeling stressed, especially when time is precious? Three experts provide some answers.

The stress response

"The human body has evolved over the centuries. While we were designed to use our large muscles in difficult environments - hunting, defending ourselves against enemies, enduring the harshness of weather, the problem is we don't live that way any more", says C Eugene Walker, a professor of psychology at the University of Oklahoma in the US. "We are very sedentary, and our problems are more mental and social rather than physical".

So when we encounter stressful situations, the result is pent-up physical reactions, says Walker, author of Learn to Relax: Proven Techniques for Reducing Stress, Tension and Anxiety - and Promoting Peak Performance.

"It's like driving a Ferrari in a 20 miles per hour speed limit", says Walker. "When (we are) presented with a stressful situation, adrenaline is released into the bloodstream, our muscles get tense as we prepare to react, blood pressure is increased and breathing becomes shallow and rapid".

"Essentially, we are stressed mentally, which doesn't require a physical response. We are stepping on the petrol and the brake at the same time, producing fatigue, tension, stress and over time, chronic diseases like heart disease".

The solution: regular exercise.

"Basically, when we exercise we get back to what our bodies were designed to do", says Walker. "We increase our heart rate, take in more oxygen, our blood circulates better and faster".

Relieve stress with cardio

Exercise can mean anything from vacuuming to running marathons, but which kind is best for reducing stress?