Sport against stress - Why exercise has a stress-reducing effect

Everyday life can sometimes be stressful**. Do you often find it difficult to juggle everything and still find time to switch off? Did you know that *sport* in particular helps you to be more relaxed? We explain why sport helps to reduce stress and which sport is particularly suitable.

Stress occurs when we are exposed to too much strain. This causes your body to release stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which enter the bloodstream. Over a longer period of time, the excess of these hormones in your blood is not good for your body, as it is under enormous tension and your heart rate rises. This condition prevents you from resting.

The consequences of overexertion and constant stress include sleep disorders, fatigue and lack of concentration. Excessive stress also weakens your immune system so that you fall ill more quickly. In this way, your body tries to relieve the tension or let you know that you are overexerting yourself. These signs of stress are therefore a kind of defence reaction of your body.

After work or a long day, you are often exhausted and just want to lie on the couch, eat something and watch your favourite series. This may seem relaxing at first, but sport is an important balance to everyday life that distracts you - and does so sustainably. In addition, stress hormones are reduced more quickly** through sport.

Try to take the time for a short workout, even or especially on a busy day. After all, sport relieves tension. This is because sport and the associated exercise help your body to release happiness hormones such as dopamine and serotonin and thus reduce stress hormones. This increases your general well-being. Sport also provides distraction, which you urgently need in stressful phases. You take a break from your everyday life for a moment and leave your worries behind.

Exercise also stimulates your metabolism again, as your workout transports more oxygen into your body.

This means you are not only doing something good for your body during your workout, but also for your mind. Exercise helps to stop your thought carousel and focus on your own body.

It is important that you do all types of exercise at a moderate pace if you want to reduce stress with your workout. Always train in the aerobic range. Anything else would put additional strain on your body, causing the release of adrenaline to take precedence over the happiness hormones. A certain continuity in your training also helps to reduce the release of stress hormones in general. In this way, your body automatically becomes less susceptible to stress after a while. This allows you to stay calm in hectic situations.

In principle, the following applies: When doing sport, you should first have your personal interests in mind, which will make sport twice as much fun for you. This will make you more motivated to do sport right from the start. "Forcing" yourself to exercise would have exactly the opposite effect: Your body would be under additional strain.

Endurance exercise in general is the best way to reduce stress, as cardio training reduces your tension. Did you know that endurance training strengthens your body and mind? For example, it stimulates your metabolism, which is also affected by stress. Read more about this in our blog post on all the benefits of cardio training.

Outdoor sports in nature** are particularly popular. Fresh air is also good for your body and mind. Jogging, hiking, walking or cycling are particularly suitable.

**You can also train your *endurance* at home and take a break from everyday life. Popular endurance machines include cross trainer or ergometer. A workout with the rowing machine also has a stress-reducing effect. Row at a leisurely pace with not too many strokes per minute and low resistance. Take a look at our rowing machine training plans!

After the cardio session, you could also do a round of yoga or meditation to relax. This will help you to rebalance your mind and slow it down. The combination with breathing exercises relaxes you as you train your own body awareness. This calms your inner restlessness.

Doing sport with others will lower your stress levels. This is because you boost your self-confidence by working together as a team. This also releases happiness hormones. Typical team sports include football, handball, basketball and volleyball.

Remember: Sport against stress has a calming effect on your body. It takes your mind off things and releases happiness hormones. So consciously take some time for yourself to take your mind off the stress of everyday life. Make sure you exercise at a moderate pace and regularly.