Running and Stress

In our over-stressed society, few want another item on the "to-do" list. However, regular exercise should be mandatory for the most stressed individuals per Dr. John Ratey of Harvard Medical School.

I just finished Dr. Ratey's book "Spark". Dr. Ratey discusses some of the physiological responses to stress. Many of the ideas are common knowledge (e.g., "fight or flight" response to stress) while some are recently discovered or recently re-examined by research.

Ratey's basic premise is the body is designed to move when stressed. Historically, since man was either a hunter-gather, farmer, or laborer, getting sufficient daily activity was not a problem. However, as jobs moved to desks and computers, movement usually disappeared from the daily work routine.

Ratey believes this failure to move can create chronic stress with accompanying immune function decline. As immune function declinces, the body becomes susceptible to numerous diseases.

Ratey's description of chronic stress raised memories of my Dad. My Dad was a guy who "played by the rules"-he studied hard, got married and had a family and worked hard. However, he experienced a heart attack in his early 40's which set off a series of health problems eventually leading to his death at 63.

I have always believed chronic stress was the major culprit for my Dad's health problems. I think things may have been different if he had been able to schedule 30 minutes of exercise per day into his hectic life of working and supporting five children.

Part of the challenge with the over-stressed is convincing them they need to exercise daily. The initial response is usually something such as "yeah, right, when?". My personal opinion is an examination of the overall lifestyle is demanded in these situations. Someone usually needs to tell them the lifestyle is physically and emotionally unsustainable. Yet, our society often glamorizes workaholism and sleeplessness.

These are often difficult cases, but I have seen people make changes once they experience the feelings of well-being that accompany regular exercise. Exercise psychology discusses how a person may start with an extrinsic motivation ("health") and move towards a more intrinsic motivation such as feeling better or a sense of self-efficacy. Ratey discusses this transformation in some detail. Once the person becomes more intrinsically motivated, the likelihood of continuing exercise becomes much better.

Very few intend to go a month without exercising. However, busy schedules just seem to self-perpetuate. This produces fatigue which further decreases the desire to exercise in many. Finally, a "what's the use" mentality sets in. Depression often appears at this point creating an additional barrier to exercise.

Obviously, the over-stressed non-exerciser is the classic vicious cycle. This is one of Ratey's primary points in "Spark". Ironically, ten years ago I was headed down a similar path before experiencing a dramatic lifestyle change.

While there are some additions and changes to the exercise prescription I would like to see, "Spark" certainly highlights the importance of consistent exercise in our society.

The subtitle could also be "The Exercise Professional's Ultimate Marketing Solution" since chapters discussing exercise's potential to treat depression, anxiety, attention deficit and other issues are included.