Exercise – the answer to manage stress?

For a long time now, I’ve had a strong interest in the role that exercise plays in performance. I’ve always suspected that going to the gym, riding your bike or going for a run on a regular basis also helped us perform better at work or be better parents as just a couple of examples and in general ‘keep all the balls in the air.

One observation over the past decade are the exercise habits of top business performers. While there are always outliers, it looks to me like the majority of  top business performers carry the discipline of their work life into their exercise habits, developing a routine under their own steam, being part of various exercise groups or engaging exercise professionals to assist them to use their time most effectively. Recently this has seen a spike in the uptake of ‘ultra’ endurance events such as marathons, various military inspired challenges and road cycling ‘rides’.

Regular exercisers have often reported the assistance that they believe exercise plays in managing stress so is this one of the secrets to these high performers who seem to be able to do more?

I found this great article which provides some of the rationale that has invariably been adopted by those who choose to test themselves physically as well as mentally. http://www.sharewik.com/not-all-stress-is-distress-the-exercise-effect/

So let’s broaden the message of exercise from just being something you need to do to stay alive and avoid disease. Instead, I’d like to pitch that exercise is a key habit of successful people who have realised the performance advantages it brings and the way it helps them build their capacity to perform in every area of their lives.

-Kristin Lewis