"Stress" is becoming one of those words that is more frequently being used in every day conversation.
We all know someone that is having problems coping with stress.
We have been told on numerous occasions the benefits of controlling stress with exercise.
Life will never be stress free.
It helps us to perform better in some aspects of our lives.
Most of us know individuals who actually seek out and seem to thrive on stress.
They constantly seek out dangerous sports and jobs.
We all have different abilities of coping with stress, and learning how to use it to our advantage is one of the great challenges of modern times.
It is impossible to list all of the causes of stress in one article, it varies from person to person, but the most severe forms of stress are those that we have little or no control over.
We can however name exercise as one of the best ways to help control it.
When the stress becomes too great it becomes less useful and can become extremely destructive - this is the time to do something about it.
All of the experts agree that one of the best ways to burn off frustration and control stress is through exercise.
It seems strange that sport, which appears stressful is often the opposite.
Exercise and sport can provide an outlet for our negative emotions, taking out the anger and frustration on the sports field or in the gym.
Scientists have told us about the "fight or flight response," and how we can use exercise to help to control it.
Early man was threatened almost all of his life by different sorts of life threatening danger.
He was able to respond by either fighting the danger or running from it.
This was part of his survival mechanism.
Modern man, thankfully, doesn't have the same outlet to burn off the negative emotions that can build up inside.
Our state of mind and general health are factors in the way in which we are affected by stress and in the way that we cope with it.
By using competitive sport and/or anexercise program we can help to control the "fight or flight response" and bring the mind back to a more balanced state.
In the longer term, as exercise makes us stronger and physically more attractive self esteem is improved.
This leads to more confidence, both socially and in the work place.
In turn this leads to more energy.
An opposite kind of exercise that will help stress control is yoga.
Try this more peaceful kind of exercise combined with relaxation techniques.
Both kinds of exercise should help in reducing stress and help sleep patterns.
If we are suffering with stress and don't do something positive about it we will take up more negative methods such as alcohol, drugs, smoking etc.
thinking that this will help to control it.
These provide only short term relief, at best.
At worst, if taken to extremes will cause even more and greater problems that will make the original problem seem like a children's tea party.