Is your job stressing you out? Join the club. And with economic slow downs and rising unemployment, more people are forced to stay put in their stressful jobs or face the prospect of being out of work altogether.
It's not only Americans who are stressed out in their workplace, either. The World Health Organization (WHO) calls excessive job stress a "worldwide epidemic” and a US survey compiled by the National Institution for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) concluded that forty percent of workers said their jobs were very or extremely stressful.
Of course, stress has a good side. It can keep you charged up and challenged by your work.
But if job stress is virtually constant, it can affect not only your ability to do your best work but also your health. In fact, the leading six causes of death in the U.S. -- heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis and suicide -- can be tied at least peripherally to stress. For example, if you smoke more or drink more due to stress, you can up your risk of lung and liver disease as well as heart attacks.
Stress can cause your body to react in powerful ways by releasing adrenaline and other stress hormones. Stress also causes muscles to tense causing backaches, headaches and upping blood pressure and heart rate.
Exercise is one of the best, well-documented ways to reduce your stress levels and help protect your health. But how can you manage to work out when you are on the job all day?
Here are some tips that can help:
- Make a commitment to fit exercise into your work day: get up 30 minutes earlier and take a walk or stop by the gym. Benefit: You'll feel more alert and have more stamina on the job.
- Park your car at the far end of the parking lot and walk fast enough to get your heart pumping as you head to your office.
- Skip the elevator and take the stairs if possible. You'll burn calories, improve your cardiovascular fitness and firm up your lower body, too.
- Try skipping your coffee break and take a move-your-body break instead. Try these easy-to-do fitness strategies: Stand up and stretch, walk around your office building or go outside for a short walk for five to ten minutes when possible.
- Can't find 30 continuous minutes for working out? Researchers say you'll also benefit by breaking exercise into smaller periods of time. For example, ten minutes before you start work, ten minutes at lunch and ten minutes after work can make a big difference.
Always remember to talk to your doctor about what exercise is right for you, especially if you've had a heart event or are at risk for heart disease. But almost everyone can find some level of exercise that can be part of their lifestyle and benefit their health - even those of us with stressful jobs! And you'll sleep better, feel better and cope better with whatever hassles come your way if you are fit.
