When things get stressful, my first instinct is to crawl under the covers. There are certainly times when that is a useful response—many of us don’t get nearly enough sleep. However, I am learning that it is often better to push back on the stress by doing some cardio.
On one level, this might just be caving in to some kind of instinctual pressure. A bad thing is happening; I should run away (or bike or swim or whatever. Hmm… anybody know if I can Zumba away from predators?). Sure, my stressors don’t happen to look like wolves or bears, but how different can they be? Fine. Really different. Still, if it makes my primordial brain feel better to run away, who am I to argue?
Or maybe cardio works because instead of lying there suffering, I am Taking Action. The action might not have anything to do with what is stressing me out, but I am doing it so vigorously that I am clearly accomplishing something and so I am capable of accomplishing other things, too.
Yes, of course I am making things up here. As far as I know, the science hasn’t gotten around to saying WHY cardio tends to make people feel better; the studies so far just indicate that it does improve mood and brain function.
So, if stress, then cardio.
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