How Exercise Can Help Reduce Your Anxiety
January 6, 2022
Stress and anxiety at any level can be hard to manage. If you’re searching for relief, try turning to exercise. Even the smallest amount of physical activity can make a significant difference and reduce stress.
“Anxiety affects our minds and bodies. Exercise can serve as a natural antidepressant, boosting our mood at the same time it improves our health,” said Megan LaDrigue, ATC CSCS, an athletic trainer at Henry Ford Health System. “You don’t need to join a gym to exercise. The world is full of opportunities to be more active. You can add in short exercise sessions throughout the day to recharge your mood and energy.”
How Anxiety Impacts Your Health
If not addressed, anxiety can impact your mental and physical health. “Anxiety causes an imbalance in the chemicals and hormones that support our brain, immune system, digestive health and sleep,” said LaDrigue.
Chronic stress can lower our feel-good hormones – serotonin, dopamine and epinephrine. At the same time, the stress hormone cortisol increases when we’re under pressure or anxious. As a result of these shifts, you may experience:
► Trouble concentrating and loss of productivity at work or school
► Irritability and moodiness
► Difficulty sleeping
► Weight gain and digestive problems
► High blood pressure and increased risk for other diseases
How Exercise Can Break The Stress Cycle
“By adding exercise into your daily routine, you can begin to manage anxiety and improve your overall health,” said Ladrigue. Exercise offers many benefits, including:
► Shifting your focus: Focusing on your physical activity is a chance to take a mental break from daily tasks and recharge.
► Improving mood and confidence: When you exercise, your heart contracts more frequently, increasing blood flow to the brain and triggering changes in those feel-good chemicals. These changes improve mood and confidence. Over time, exercise can also help build resilience by increasing your ability to tolerate stress.
► Enhancing concentration and productivity: Exercise activates the areas in the brain that control how we think and act. For example, physical activity can improve your ability to plan, organize and monitor behavior and tasks.
► Improving sleep: Fatigue can increase feelings of stress and anxiety, which increase your risk for insomnia or poor sleep. Exercise improves your ability to get the quality, restorative sleep that you need to recharge your mind and body.
3 Steps To Starting An Anxiety-Fighting Exercise Routine
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends adults get 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. “But you don’t need to do all of that exercise at once. If you’re just getting started, gradually build exercise into your daily routine to create a healthy habit,” LaDrigue said.
Ladrigue recommends these three steps to build an anxiety-busting fitness routine:
- Make it fun: Whether it’s walking or weightlifting, if exercise doesn’t inspire you and make you feel good, it won’t help you manage anxiety. If being social helps motivate you, find a workout buddy and encourage each other to keep moving. Explore new types of exercise by taking an online or in-person fitness class.
- Create a flexible schedule: If finding time in your day to exercise adds to your stress, try working in shorter activity periods. Do some stretches while you’re waiting for the coffee to brew. Take a walk during lunch or while you’re talking on the phone. Use the stairs instead of the elevator. Park your car farther away from your destination and walk the extra distance.
- Set goals: Start by setting short-term goals for your fitness routine. Record your progress to stay focused and motivated. As exercise becomes a daily habit, set longer-term goals. For example, try a community walk or run, join a hiking club or participate in a local sports league.
Build An Effective Workout Plan
If you’re new to exercise or have an underlying health condition, check with your primary care physician before starting a fitness routine. Had an injury in the past? See a physical therapist or sports medicine provider to avoid future injuries.
If you’ve taken a break from exercise or are exercising for the first time, start slowly. Over time, you can gradually increase the time and intensity of your workout to meet your goals.
When picking an exercise program, Ladrigue suggests including these elements:
► Warm up: Start with five minutes of activity like jumping jacks or running in place to increase the blood flow to your muscles.
► Dynamic stretching: Gently move through small or large ranges of motion to elongate the muscle tissue. For example, you can try arm circles or walking quad stretches to get your muscles warmed up.
► Strength training: If you’re new to strength training, start with light weights. You can start with three sets of 10 repetitions for each muscle group. Combine sets for a muscle group on the front of the body immediately followed with a set for a muscle group on the back of the body, like biceps and triceps. This approach is called “super-setting.” It keeps your heart rate elevated while giving the working muscle group time to recover. It also increases your metabolic burn, the rate at which you burn calories during exercise.
► Aerobic activity: Choose from a variety of activities, like walking, running, biking, swimming or dancing. Light- to moderate-intensity exercise can help you recover at the end of a strength training workout while increasing oxygen and blood flow to the working tissues.
► Cool down: Hold stretches for 20 to 30 seconds to elongate the muscle tissue used in your workout. This type of stretching helps prevent or minimize soreness.
“While starting a new habit like exercise can seem daunting, stay positive. Feel empowered – you’re taking steps that will improve your overall mental and physical health for years to come,” said LaDrigue.
To find a primary care or sports medicine specialist at Henry Ford, visit henryford.com or call 1-800-436-7936.
Megan LaDrigue is an athletic trainer who works with the Henry Ford Sports Medicine Sports Performance Program.
Is My Student Athlete's Pain More Than Just Growing Pains?
February 14, 2023
There are a few factors that can make student athletes prone to injury. They might be overusing their muscles (thanks to a more rigorous exercise regimen), and they might not yet have developed the proper technique for their sport.
“These factors, combined with the fact that student athletes have growing bodies that they’re still getting used to—especially after a growth spurt — can make them more prone to injury,” says Nancy White, M.D., a sports medicine physician with Henry Ford Health System.
However, just because your child is feeling pain doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve sustained an injury. There is such a thing as growing pains, although the term may be misleading. “Most experts feel that growth itself does not cause pain,” says Dr. White. “The most likely reason for ‘growing pains’ is overuse of the muscles, causing pain and soreness after an activity.”
These growing pains typically occur at the front of the thighs, the back of the knees and the calves, she says, and occur commonly in the late afternoon, evening, or night. If your child is experiencing pain outside of these areas or times of day, it might not be growing pains — and it’s a good idea to get it checked out by a doctor.
Tell-Tale Signs That Pain Should Be Examined
If the pain goes away by the next day — if your child has rested during night and feels better the next morning — there’s no need for concern. But you should head to the doctor if:
► the pain is lingering into the next day.
► the pain is also accompanied by bruising, swelling or redness.
► the pain is so intense that they’re unable to put weight on their legs.
“In these cases, don’t wait — the longer you wait, the more dangerous the injury can become,” says Dr. White.
How Student Athletes Can Help Prevent Injuries
Encourage your child to take proper precautions and maintain healthy habits, all of which can lower the likelihood that they’ll sustain an injury. Dr. White recommends the following tips:
- Maintain proper technique. “Knowing and understanding the movements needed for whatever sport they practice is so important,” says Dr. White. “Figure skating and gymnastics are two sports where I tend to see injuries more often during growth phases. These athletes are often learning difficult skills at a time in their lives when they’re going through a growth spurt, and that combination can lead to injury.”
- Stretch before and after playing a sport. “Try dynamic stretching — where you’re actually moving while stretching — instead of static stretching, where you’re holding the stretch,” says Dr. White. “Dynamic stretching is a great warm up. It can help improve flexibility and reduce the risk of injury.”
- Strength train, especially in the core and limbs. Doing so will help create stable, strong muscles to keep the body properly aligned and lessen the chances of injury.
- Eat a balanced diet and stay hydrated. While it’s normal for kids to have sugar every once in a while, filling the bulk of their diet with plenty of water, fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy protein, fats and carbohydrates will help them function to their best ability.
- Get enough rest each night. Sleep is necessary for health and well-being in general, but when it comes to athletes, rest is incredibly important to help their bodies recuperate. In general, kids need about 10 hours of sleep per night. So if your child plays a sport, you want to really be sure that they’re hitting that 10-hour mark, says Dr. White.
Dr. Nancy White is a sports medicine physician with Henry Ford Health System. She sees patients at Henry Ford Medical Center – Columbus in Novi, and Henry Ford Medical Center — Bloomfield Township.
Want to learn more? Henry Ford Health System sports medicine experts are treating the whole athlete, in a whole new way. From nutrition to neurology, and from injury prevention to treatment of sports-related conditions, they can give your athlete a unique game plan. To find a sports medicine physician at Henry Ford, visit henryford.com or call 1-800-436-7936.