Holiday stress levels decrease with exercise
by Jennifer Bentley, sports editor

     Stress. We deal with it each and every day. But around the holidays, stress seems to be at its highest levels.

     We have holiday parties, shopping, family visiting, and for the college students, the holidays mean one thing—finals.

     The dreaded end-of-year exams heap more stress onto already overstressed students. If the average student takes 12 hours, that is four classes, or in the end, it’s four separate finals to deal with.

     Each final is generally around one and a half to two hours long. Most are comprehensive: a whole semester’s worth of work crammed into one test. Even if the test is multiple choice, that is still a lot of material to deal with.

     Just the thought of a comprehensive final is enough to make most students want to crawl into bed and pray for help.

     There are four different kinds of stress: eustress, distress, hyperstress and hypostress. Eustress is a short-term stress that strengthens people for immediate physical activity, creativity and enthusiasm. Distress is negative or harmful stress that causes us to constantly readjust or adapt. Hyperstress, or overload, occurs when events pile up and stretch the limits of what people can deal with. Finally, hypostress occurs when people are bored or unchallenged.

     The bodily effects of stress can include ulcers, migraines, insomnia, aggravated allergies and asthma and irritability.

     Dr. James Varnado, professor of psychology on NE Campus, says that one of the most common causes of sleepless nights for college students is stress. Students who push themselves to achieve good grades, or who experience test anxiety, often cannot sleep the night before a major exam or project is due.

     And just as endless are the types of stress relievers: massages, yoga, meditation. There are even doctors who will prescribe tranquilizers to help alleviate stress. But the one thing most doctors mention, when asked what relieves stress the most, is exercise.

     And they do not mean the kind where you pick up the remote and channel surf. Cardiovascular exercise, aerobics or even just cleaning out the garage has been proved to help alleviate stress. Apparently, stress sufferers seem to benefit from sweating out their problems.

     The National Heart, Lung and Blood Association (NHLBA) endorses exercise as a way to reduce stress. The NHLBA recommends cardiovascular exercise that elevates the heart rate for 15 to 30 minutes, three to four times a week. In addition, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends 20 to 60 minutes of aerobic exercise three to five times a week.

     The American Psychology Association has conducted studies indicating the beneficial effects of exercise in dealing with stress.

     Mark Sothmann, Ph.D., of Indiana University of Medicine thinks exercise helps fight off depression and anxiety by helping the body to respond to stress.

     Exercise is recommended because it helps strengthen the heart, which bears the brunt of the body’s stress.

     For people who do not work out regularly, experts suggest that they begin slowly with only 10 to 15 minutes of exercise twice a week and build up from there.

     Thirdly, most workout centers, such as Bally’s and the Q, recommend that people take a quick lesson from a trainer on proper equipment use. Such instruction can help reduce risk of injury from improperly used equipment. Friends and family can also help motivate in the beginning stages of an exercise regimen and can also help an individual select the most appropriate exercise techniques.

     Finally, workout sessions should be scheduled at the same time. The more real the session is, the more likely the individual is to actually go.

     All campuses offer aerobics fitness classes. Students who take these classes are more able to deal with stress, besides being more physically fit.