“It doesn’t get much better than this,” I commented after sitting on a bench at Crane Park in St. Helena and peering out into the vineyard-laced countryside with a few of my pickleball companions. We concluded a three-hour session of playing pickleball matches, switching partners every game. For me, this was just what the doctor ordered. The phone was left in the car, my court shoes were strapped on tight, and I heard nothing by the percussive cacophony of plastic balls hitting paddles for long-awaited sessions away from checking my emails, returning texts, and the hustle and bustle of getting things done in my professional world.
Crane Park in St. Helena offers many well-kept areas for recreational physical activity. Starting with my personal favorite, four newly paved and painted pickleball courts welcome pickleball junkies. To the west, you can see more than four tennis courts breaming with devoted tennis players playing and bantering with each other in a friendly competitive match, youth coaching lessons, or the lone participant with a bucket of balls by their side practicing serves. A stone’s throw away to the west includes a slew of bocce ball courts with many tables and benches. A few nights throughout the week feature bocce league play, where you’ll find the lanes filled with skilled Bocce athletes socializing, laughing, and working on mastering their ball-rolling skills. Most importantly, a functioning bathroom with two separate units resides fifty meters away from these three arenas of recreational physical activity. These features Crane Park offers are potent ingredients to put the world on hold for a moment while people can venture out for much-needed movement.
As productive humans in today’s society, we put pressure on ourselves to be the best we can. Whether it be making the most money possible, being the best parent or spouse, or struggling with an interpersonal conflict, challenges are present in our daily lives in which we try to be the best version of ourselves. Within these periods of putting in energy and effort to produce a positive outcome at the end of the day, a byproduct of mental, emotional, and physical stress can arise. Examples might include a deadline for a specific work or career-related task due at the end of the week. Or a co-worker isn’t picking up their portion of an expected workload. Maybe an infestation of termites or rats has plagued the subfloor of your house, and you need to manage that by working with an exterminator. Life can offer obstacles that are challenging to manage. The bi-product of resolving some lifestyle-related issues can produce stress.
An overabundance of psychological, emotional, and mental related stress can equate to physical stress. Loss of sleep, irritability, or decreases in energy are just a few outcomes of existing in a hyper-stressful environment. Along with a lack of recovery from a long day of getting things done, inadequate sleep can lead to a dysfunctional immune system or hormonal imbalances. A state of discontent, frustration, or impatience doesn’t help us to support the people we care about if certain things trigger a snappy response because our stress hormones are heightened. To sum it all up, a stressful state of mind is exhausting. And, if we don’t have any energy because we’re so stressed, how are we supposed to be the best version of ourselves? Fortunately, these conditions can be remedied by consistently applying skillful exercise decisions as a pertinent portion of our lives.
Exercise positively influences optimal psychological, physical, and emotional stress management. As the body enters a state of physical exertion, a “fight or flight” mode is introduced to the nerves, muscles, and organs. As the body moves its legs faster or lifts a challenging amount of external resistance, physiological chemical reactions occur in which the release of stress hormones improves exercise performance. The heart rate increases, oxygenated blood flow is sent to working muscles, and nerve cells are excited and encouraged to fire more synapses to areas of the body to produce athletic movements.
Exercise-induced stress hormones are beneficial in balancing out the stress responses we might encounter in our everyday lives. One of the most helpful features of the human body is its ability to adapt to imposed demands of rigorous physical and psychological situations. The body becomes stressed as we increase our heart and complete a bout of exertive physical activity. However, as an adaptation to match the demand of the stress introduced via exercise, the body learns to become less stressed via fitness level enhancements such as increased strength and cardiovascular endurance. An optimally conditioned body won’t release exercise-induced stress hormones until later in strenuous physical activity. The good news is these adaptations trickle into helping us manage stress responses we might endure through our busy everyday lives. Exercise has the power to be a natural anti-depressant that can replace the need to have a glass of wine, take a toke off a vape pen, and, in some cases, remove the need for anti-anxiety medication. By using our stress during exercises, we can decrease the likelihood of becoming anxious, frustrated, and irritable during stressful situations in our everyday lives.
Some people’s form of recreational sport might include golf. For others, it’s gardening, bowling, or walking with their buddies. While it may not be as simple as taking a pill or a sip of alcohol to unwind after a day filled with the demands of everyday life, exercise offers the “natural high” that can’t be overdosed. And, the side effects include helping us live happy, healthy, and strong lives.
Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com, or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.
