Movement and stress

How does movement help manage stress?

Regular activity tends to lower anxiety and low mood, soften your body's reaction to stress, build confidence in your own ability, and improve sleep^1,2,3,5. It has also been linked with lower levels of cortisol, a stress hormone³.

You don't need to train hard. Regular moderate activity is recommended for managing stress, and moderate activity has benefits for both the brain and the body⁴. Some activity is better than none, and health benefits occur at levels below the recommended weekly amounts⁹. Walking and cycling are easy moderate options to repeat.

How do you make a movement plan for stress relief?

Build your plan around movement you enjoy and can repeat. You're more likely to stick with an activity if you like it, so choose something that suits you^8,11.

• Pick activities that fit your life: a team sport, a class at a leisure centre, or walking or cycling instead of travelling by car or public transport¹⁰.
• Start gradually. Add a little at a time rather than doing a lot at once⁸.
• Work towards the general targets over time: 150–300 minutes of moderate activity a week, plus muscle-strengthening activity on 2 or more days a week⁹. Activity of any length counts towards the weekly amount.

Harder effort may reduce your body's immediate stress reaction more¹², but moderate activity is what's recommended for managing stress⁴. The best amount and type of activity for stress itself isn't clear yet, so treat your plan as something to adjust as you go.

How are stress, sleep and exercise connected?

Exercise improves sleep, and doing it regularly matters more than a single session^5,6. Stress may pull the other way: being stressed out may cost you sleep and make you less active, and trouble sleeping is itself a physical sign of stress^4,13.

A few practical points follow:

• Aim for regular movement across the week, such as three to five times a week, rather than one big session⁶. One active day is unlikely to fix a bad night's sleep; the benefits seem to build with the habit.
• Do your more vigorous activity earlier in the day. Vigorous exercise ending within an hour of bedtime might make it harder to fall asleep⁵. For older adults, morning exercise may help deep sleep, while exercise too close to bedtime can cause trouble falling asleep and interrupted sleep¹⁴.
• Expect a loose link day to day. There's no clear two-way daily link between sleep and activity, and across people, more daytime activity went with slightly less sleep the next night¹⁵. The gain comes from the regular habit.

How does chronic stress affect your health?

Occasional stress is a normal way of coping. Long-term (chronic) stress may contribute to or worsen health problems, including digestive disorders, headaches and sleep disorders, and it has been linked with depression and anxiety⁷. It can also raise the risk of heart disease, obesity and high blood pressure, and can weaken the immune system, making you more likely to get sick¹³.

Under stress, your body releases hormones that speed up your heart rate and breathing and raise your blood pressure⁷. In the short term this protects you. When the same systems are overused or out of balance, they cause wear and tear⁴. The most common stressors are ones that operate chronically, often at a low level⁴.

Activity is linked with lower cortisol and better sleep³. Early signs such as trouble sleeping, or sleeping too much, are a good cue to look after yourself¹³. Small, regular amounts of movement are a reasonable part of that.

Does activity help you cope with stress?

The evidence points that way, though the strongest findings are about mood and stress reactions rather than coping itself. Regular activity tends to reduce depression, anxiety and your body's reaction to stress^1,2.

Public health advice says regular physical activity can help prevent and manage stress, and suggests a bike ride or a walk as examples¹³. Moderate activity is the recommended kind⁴.

How you see your own effort also matters. Believing that your actions make a difference is a powerful part of resilience, and linking this to physical activity is described as a promising approach¹⁶. In practice:

• Notice what you planned, and what you did. Seeing that you can follow through may help your confidence.
• Keep goals small and achievable, so you can see your effort pay off.

How does exercise build resilience to stress?

The best-supported link is between regular activity and a smaller emotional hit from stress, but it is mostly an association. It can't show that exercise causes resilience. Regular exercisers showed a smaller drop in positive mood during a stressful situation than people who were not active, though this relied on self-reported exercise¹⁷. Higher activity and fitness are also sometimes linked with a weaker body response to social stress, mostly in studies that measure people at one point in time¹⁸.

Exercise programmes tend to raise general self-efficacy, which is your confidence that you can handle what comes up². That may be one route to resilience, although how long it takes and how much activity is needed isn't clear yet.

So think of resilience as something that may build gradually with regular, repeatable activity, not something one session delivers. Small, achievable goals help you see that your effort makes a difference¹⁶.

When to check with a health professional

If you're starting exercise after a long break, it's always a good idea to see your doctor first. For an injury or a health condition, see a health professional, such as your doctor or a physio.

Call your local emergency number for chest pain or pressure (or pain spreading to the arm, neck, jaw or back, especially with sweating or feeling sick), severe breathlessness, fainting or collapse, signs of a stroke, a serious injury, or someone who isn't safe. If you have thoughts of self-harm, contact a local crisis line (findahelpline.com lists free services in every country).

For a sore muscle or joint, or soreness a day or two later, ease off, and get advice if it persists. If you notice unusual tiredness, get it checked by a doctor.

If stress doesn't go away or keeps getting worse, or you feel down, hopeless or anxious for a while, talk to your doctor, or to a mental health professional such as a psychologist or social worker. Movement can be a helpful part of looking after yourself, but it isn't a substitute for any medical or mental health care or treatment you've been given.