I Hate to Exercise, BUT

It Prevents Stressful Aging.

I’ve always been a bit jumpy. When I was a kid, my family loved yelling “Boo” when I came around a corner. They laughed hysterically when I’d leap for cover.

They say that the involuntary startle reflex can actually be the result of an overactive nervous system driven by stress or anxiety — that our peripheral vision lacks sharp detail so our high-alert brains guess what we see.

I’ve been soooooo jumpy lately. I wonder?

The other night I was headed for our garage to get some more gardening tools when I almost went into fight or flight.

“Oh, for heaven sakes, you idiot. That’s not a snake. That’s the hose.”

I had to laugh out loud when I realized what the brown squiggly thing was in the grass. I took a deep breath and went back to weeding my flowerbed.

My poor husband.

I was deep in thought snipping the dead heads off my marigolds when I was startled by a dark figure beside me. I slumped to the ground and grabbed my chest.

When I realized who it was, I yelled, “I told you to quit sneaking up on me like that. You’re always doing that. You’re going to give me a heart attack.”

“I was just going to see if you needed any help, Hon.”

It seems as if I haven’t been myself since I had my heart catheterization in April. I was convinced that the beta blocker the doctor had prescribed was causing some weird side effects after seven weeks. With all the confidence of a patient who was bound and determined to advocate for herself at her check up, I announced to the doctor. “Like right now, I feel a bit shaky and light headed. My jaw feels funny. Am I going to have a stroke? My legs are cold and my feet are tingly. Oh, and I’m a bit short of breath sometimes.”

“No, you’re not having a stroke. All your tests look really good, and your blood pressure is great. Actually, you’re showing some signs of anxiety. You’re thinking and worrying too much. Let’s get you set up for some cardio rehab. Exercise will help. ”

“Oh sure,” I was thinking, “you’re going to say it’s all in my head. I hate exercise.”

Well, guess what? I’m in cardio rehab now exercising three mornings a week, and my so-called side effects are gone.

You see, like many people, when we perceive a threat or danger, our autonomic nervous systems, releases stress hormones into our systems causing anxiety. Although it’s normal to be anxious occasionally, overwhelming stress shows up in our minds and bodies as panic, apprehension, a sense of doom, trouble concentrating, tremors, dizziness, muscle aches, chills, numbness.

The doctor explained I was ripe for anxiety because I had had an extremely painful kidney stone attack right before my heart problems. The excruciating pain from a kidney stone causes acute stress, flooding the body with a massive amount of stress hormones.

I guess anxiety can creep up on you. But they say there are things you can do.

#1 Exercise.

I have to admit I’ve always avoided “organized” exercise, but the cardio nurses monitoring me are wonderful. They tell me that being physical interrupts the body’s stress responses and alters brain chemistry. (It even causes you to sprout new arteries.)

So every step I take on that d@&+ recumbent elliptical bike, I say, “Come on brain give me a shot of those anti-anxiety chemicals you’re hiding up there.” I beg the arm bike /upper-body ergometer, “Please, lower my cortisol.” And when I do squats with the weights, I say, “Owww!”

So don’t stress. Have a ball — an exercise ball, that is.

It’ll Be OK.

~~~
"Alexa, do my cardio session for me.” ~ Kimberly Burden