But What If I Like Stress?
If You Don't Plan On Avoiding It, You Can Still Improve How You Rebound From It
Jacqueline Tresl, R.N., gives tips on coping with stress
January 20, 2000, 4:28 p.m. EST
Stress can cripple us or challenge us, but either way, it stimulates our nervous systems. Stress can be a wall that blocks us. Or it can be a ladder we climb to get closer to our goals. Not everyone wants to reduce his daily level of stress. Some people feel empowered by stress. Instead, they are looking for balms to ease the harmful effects of stress after a frenetic day at the office or a tirade with a family member. Taming Tension  If you willingly engage, on and off all day, in the fight-or-flight mode that is the hallmark of stress, cardiovascular exercise will help restore your biochemical balance and release endorphins, the body's natural morphine.Aerobic activities like power walking, jogging and bicycling will do a terrific job of pushing up your heart rate and putting you into The Zone. Aerobic exercise strengthens heart muscle, burns fat and calms a tense mind by zapping brain cells with oxygen boluses. Sweaty, strenuous workouts are vital if you want to relieve stress through exercise. How can you tell if you're exercising at the right level? Know Your Heart Rate  Know your target heart rate and exercise hard enough to maintain that rate for 30 minutes. Monitor your pulse at least twice during your workout to ensure that you are in your target zone. Check your carotid pulse (running north to south along your neck, between your ear lobe and your collarbone) or the radial pulse in your wrist. Use a watch with a second hand. Count the beats of your pulse for 10 seconds, then multiply by six. To find your zone, calculate your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. If you are 30 years old, your maximum heart rate is 190 beats per minute. You would never ever want your pulse to reach 190 during a workout. You are in danger of circulatory collapse if your pulse exceeds 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. Click this link for a Web site that calculates your target heart rate. Your target zone is 60 percent to 75 percent of your maximum heart rate. So if you are 30 years old, your target heart rate is between 114 and 143 beats a minute. As Seen On TV …  Perhaps you already exercise aerobically or have jogged or power-walked for years. Maybe you are tired of the same old same old. Or maybe the thought of getting on that Nordic Track yet one more time is adding to your stress.Consider Tae-Bo and aerobic kickboxing. Tae-Bo is a total body workout, sort of like combining yoga, Jazzercise and boxing, geared to inner strength and focus. Tae-Bo requires mental concentration, so it relaxes the mind and relieves stress. Every kick and punch combination in Tae-Bo begins with a stance -- forward, side, horse or side-horse. Footwork involves marching, pivoting and bouncing. After the basic moves are mastered, combinations like Jumping Jack/Jab and Squat/Front Kick provide the core of the workout. Tae-Bo won't build as much muscle as pure weight-training programs, but it's fun, different and perspiration-inducing in its intensity. Aerobic kickboxing is similar to Tae-Bo in its cardiovascular conditioning and upper- and lower-body strengthening. Unlike Tae-Bo, it is less concerned with spiritual focus. They sound faddish, but they work: According to the American Council on Exercise, kickboxing, including Tae-Bo, burns 350 to 450 calories per hour. And intense cardiovascular workouts help reverse the bad effects of stress. So if you enjoy the roller-coaster ride of a frazzled, high-strung life, and aren't looking to reduce your daily levels of stress, use aerobic exercise to counteract the harmful effects of unrelenting, adrenaline overload. Further links --Jacqueline Tresl, R.N., a coronary intensive care nurse and nursing supervisor for over 20 years, has written about health and happiness for magazines and newspapers for three years. Now you know what we were talking about when we said her first book, "Whoever Heard of a Horse In The House?" is scheduled for release in March. First published Jan. 19, 2000
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