IN THE SPRING of 1989 I decided to train to be a beach lifeguard. My goal was not to serve the community or to protect helpless swimmers from vicious ocean rip currents. My sole desire was to meet cute girls at the beach—period.
It didn’t matter that the other lifeguards-in-training were seasoned, competitive swimmers. I was on a mission to meet the ladies, and not even an exhausting two-mile swim with kids who could swim a mile without breaking a sweat was going to scare me off.
That feeling lasted until about mile marker one. At that point I began to feel an extreme ache in my side and an overwhelming desire to throw up. Hindsight is 20/20, but something tells me that lying on the training pool deck in agony is not all that attractive.
Have you ever exercised so hard you felt like you were going to throw up? Obviously I have. I grew up with the philosophy that if you’re going to exercise, you might as well do it right. That meant pushing yourself to the limit of your ability—even to the absolute edge of consciousness at certain points.
That actually was a fine school of thought for me when I was a teenager. In some ways the physical exertion felt good! Our bodies can handle that kind of punishment when we’re sixteen, but not so much when we’re thirty-six or fifty-six. This is why so many of us end up abandoning exercise as we grow older—because we just can’t bring ourselves to the same level of athletic performance (or agony) we once reached. Instead we become armchair quarterbacks: quick to watch people being active but slow to engage in an exercise routine ourselves.
What does this have to do with stress? A lot. Regular exercise has consistently been associated with lower stress levels.1
And the beautiful thing is, you don’t have to push yourself to the brink of physical exhaustion for the exercise to help reduce stress. Rod Dishman, a professor of exercise science at the University of Georgia, has reviewed more than 250 studies on the effects of physical exercise on stress. He found that whether a person exercises at 80 percent or 40 percent of his capacity, the effect on stress is the same as long as he works out for at least twenty to thirty minutes.2 In short, there is no correlation between how hard you work out and the stress-reducing benefit you receive.
Do you know what this means? It means that my pushit-to-the-brink philosophy as a teenager was, well, nothing more than a teenage philosophy. The idea that you have to kill yourself to get the stress-reducing benefit of exercise is a myth. You can live a less-stressed life if you simply decide to fit twenty to thirty minutes of exercise into your day. No marathon training here; just moderate exercise such as walking, jogging, bike riding, gardening, or tennis will do the trick. This kind of exercise is very doable, don’t you think? The important thing is that you start an exercise routine and that you follow it every day.
MAKING THE CHANGE
OK, now, I need you to promise me one thing. Promise me that you won’t get overwhelmed at this point in the Stress Relief for Life program. I know I have asked you to make some significant changes and to carve out a formidable amount of time to start living a less-stressed life. But here’s the deal I’ll make with you: I’m not going to ask you start an exercise routine today. I know you have a lot on your plate right now, and if this program starts to stress you out, we are really missing the point.
However, I will tell you that exercise is an extremely important part of living a less-stressed life. So if you don’t start exercising right now, I want you to consider beginning a moderate exercise routine in exactly one week. You will complete the program in seven days, and at that point you could devote the twenty minutes or so that you’ve been using to read this book and complete the assignments to exercise.
This will be a seamless transition for you. As you think about beginning your exercise routine, I want you to come up with a plan for implementing it. I’ve included a worksheet at the end of today’s reading that will help you develop your exercise regimen. It includes what I consider the four essential components of any good exercise plan:
1. Reinforcements. Any good exercise plan will include little rewards for following through. Be sure to think of ways you can reinforce yourself daily, weekly, and monthly for complying with your plan. Your self-rewards might look something like this:
• Daily: “Every day after I exercise I will treat myself to a fat-free mocha from Starbucks.”
• Weekly: “For every week that I follow through with my exercise plan, I will treat myself to a pedicure or lunch with my spouse.”
• Monthly: “For every month that I comply with my exercise plan, I will buy myself a new DVD or a new outfit.”
2. Persistence. There is no doubt in my mind that you will encounter obstacles as you attempt to formulate and implement your exercise program. For starters, you are going to tell yourself that you just don’t have time to sustain an exercise program. Some of you might encounter motivation problems. Others might have trouble determining which kind of exercise to engage in. No matter what may try to prevent you from exercising, you can follow through with your program if you anticipate obstacles and formulate ways to address the resistance beforehand. I’ve included a section on the worksheet where you can troubleshoot how you will respond to roadblocks you may encounter.
3. Relaxation. A solid body of research has demonstrated a strong link between exercise and relaxation3—the same kind of progressive relaxation we discussed during the first week of the program. After you exercise, make sure you reserve time to lie down for a few minutes, close your eyes, and enjoy the floating effect of the endorphins you just released. This will help you get as much stress-busting potential from your exercise program as possible.
4. Fun. No matter what your exercise plan ends up looking like, make sure you engage in activities you enjoy. You’ll be much more successful following through on your program if you are doing things you like. By the way, you don’t have to perform the same activity every day. If you walk on Monday, ride your bike on Tuesday. If you garden on Wednesday, swim on Thursday. Whatever you do, have fun with it!
KEEP PRACTICING!
As I’ve mentioned before, the more you practice the skills you are learning through the Stress Relief for Life program, the more power they will have in your life. Today your assignment is twofold. First, I want you to practice exposing yourself to stressor number four from your Top Five Stress Triggers list using the imaginary exposure exercise we discussed yesterday. Second, I want you to create your exercise plan using the worksheet at the end of today’s reading.
As you complete your plan, remember that you don’t have to schedule marathon training here. Make your exercise doable and fun. At the bottom of the worksheet, you will see a place to sign your name. I want you to sign the sheet only when you are ready to commit to your program. By signing your name, you are promising yourself that you will follow through with the exercise program and your reinforcements. Blessings on you as you think about creating the kind of lifestyle that will lead to a less-stressed life.
ASSIGNMENT
• Expose yourself to stressor number four on your Top Five Stress Triggers list by completing the imaginary exposure exercise from Day Thirteen.
• Complete the My Exercise Plan worksheet.
• Practice passive or active relaxation for twenty minutes.
• Log thoughts, feelings, and behavior three times a day after breakfast, after lunch, and before bedtime using the stress log.
• Complete all seven columns of the stress log and implement your personal system for managing stress when you begin to feel stressed.
MY EXERCISE PLAN
I will exercise on the following days:
I will exercise for ________ minutes every day.
I will complete the following activities during my exercise routine (circle several):
The potential obstacles to my exercise program are:
I will reward myself for adhering to this program in the following ways:
Daily Rewards: ______________________________________________
Weekly Rewards: ___________________________________________
Monthly Rewards: __________________________________________
I commit to start this exercise program after I complete the twenty-one-day Stress Relief for Life program, and I will follow through with this exercise plan as outlined above.
____________________________________________________________
Signed
STRESS LOG
This stress log will help you practice becoming more aware of the emotions you experience when your stress begins. It should be completed daily beginning on Day Six of the Stress Relief for Life program. If you encounter a stressful experience during your day, fill out the entire row under the appropriate time period. If you don’t have a stressful experience, complete only the first four columns.