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The Stress Response
"The human body has evolved over the centuries. While we were designed to use our large muscles in difficult environments—hunting, defending ourselves against enemies, enduring the harshness of weather, the problem is we don't live that way any more," says C. Eugene Walker, a professor of psychology at the University of Oklahoma. "We are very sedentary, and our problems are more mental and social rather than physical."
So when we encounter stressful situations, the result is pent-up physical reactions, says Walker, author of Learn to Relax: Proven Techniques for Reducing Stress, Tension, and Anxiety—and Promoting Peak Performance.
"It's like driving a Ferrari in a 20 m.p.h. speed limit," says Walker. "When (we are) presented with a stressful situation, adrenaline is released into the bloodstream, our muscles get tense as we prepare to react, blood pressure is increased, and breathing becomes shallow and rapid."
"Essentially, we are stressed mentally, which doesn't require a physical response. We are stepping on the gas and the brake at the same time, producing fatigue, tension, stress, and over time, chronic diseases like heart disease."
The solution: Regular exercise.
"Basically, when we exercise, we get back to what our bodies were designed to do," says Walker. "We increase our heart rate, take in more oxygen, our blood circulates better and faster."
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SOURCES: Todd Durkin, spokesman, American Council on Exercise. Jesse Pittsley, PhD, spokesperson, American Society for Exercise Physiologists; assistant professor, Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, N.C. Eugene Walker, author, Learn to Relax: Proven Techniques for Reducing Stress, Tension, and Anxiety—and Promoting Peak Performance; professor of psychology, University of Oklahoma.
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