Relaxation through sport, two birds with one stone!
Relaxation through sport! In this blog, we’ll tell you how you can get a little peace of mind alongside your busy work life and what ways there are.
Relaxation through sport! After working a whole day you are nothing but exhausted. Often you also feel stressed from all the work you still have to do and from worries or personal problems you are facing. Ideally, you would like to just relax. Did you know that it is precisely getting in motion and exercising that helps against all the unnecessary stress? A healthy body is a healthy mind! We learned that in one of our previous blogs. In this blog, we give you the golden tips you need to relax more in addition to your hard-working business life!
How do you unwind?
Of course, the first thing you ask yourself is, ‘’How do you get relaxation through exercise?’’ Exercise helps you against stress because certain substances are released during exercise that make you more relaxed. These include BDNF and endorphins, both of which support the Hippocampus in your brain.
When these substances are activated, your stress hormones are inhibited. It is important to keep stimulating the hippocampus with positivity. Also, your muscles become more flexible because you are moving, so this means you are loosening up your body.
It has been proven that you feel better after exercising: you not only get a better mood, but also more self-confident which makes you less likely to get irritated, stressed or angry. Your stamina is thus improved. A thicker skin against all external stimuli, who wouldn’t want that? In addition, you feel fitter in your own body and you probably look fitter too.
Another proven factor is that the risk of depression is reduced! In fact, depression can also be caused by means of too much stress or burnout. The effects you get from cardio or aerobic training are almost as strong as antidepressants. Just keep in mind that this involves 30 to 45 minutes of exercise in at least three sessions per week. I would also stick to this amount if you are exercising specifically to reduce your stress.
Besides relaxation through sports we also have other tips to reduce your workload. Check out the blog!
Relaxation through yoga and meditation
Yoga and meditation are the zen activities! These are methods that are specially made to relax, among other things. Yoga teaches you to let go of things, focus on your body and feel stronger in your shoes. It is not only good for your flexibility, because you are also busy making space for yourself against all tensions.
You come back to yourself quietly, explore all your feelings and create a relaxing effect. The beauty of yoga is that you are also busy with stretching.
This helps against your muscle pain and calms your muscles. You relax your muscles even more after you have stretched because your blood circulation is improved and therefore you are more resistant to stress.
Meditating is also a way to relax and not only because you take some time for yourself. You are more concerned with getting to know yourself better by going through your emotions, accepting your thoughts and you are busy bringing yourself into balance.
What about sports?
In order for you to fully unwind, you obviously need to exercise. There are different ways to go about this, because fortunately there is a variety of different sports. So is kickboxing just not for you? Then become the new Christiano Ronaldo by playing soccer or turn into gymnast Epke Zonderland! You can also take it easy by going to your local gym, as long as you exercise.
Preferably exercise at the end of the afternoon, because after exercise you still have a high level of the substances and you are likely to be fairly active due to the adrenaline. Sleep is very important to be able to unwind. After exercise you usually sleep deeper and better, so it’s best to exercise at the end of your afternoon. The reason for this is so you can slowly unwind after exercise. It takes time for all the substances, in addition to your stress and worries, to flow out of your body. At the end you get a satisfied and calm feeling.
Another tip is to put cardio training and aerobic exercise first. Look for sports where your breathing and heart rate go up for a long duration (running, cycling, skating, etc).
Of course, strength training can also help you, but the effects will be less. So if you exercise for relaxation, I would take this tip to heart.
