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www.downloadslide.com part 4 General Applications Physiological Arousal and Behavior Change Interventions 12 www.downloadslide.com Physiological Arousal Interventions y father was admitted to the hospital on a sunny day in September, just days before his 69th birthday. He had experienced a few small strokes and several minor heart attacks that resulted in his being scheduled for coronary bypass sur-gery the next morning. My mother, brothers, and I left him at about 8 p.m., prom-ising to return before the time of his surgery—8 a.m. When we arrived the next day, bright and early at 7:00 a.m., my father was not behaving as usual. It did not take long before we realized he had suffered a stroke in the middle of the night. Obviously, surgery was postponed with the intent of having my father recover suficiently to be a candidate for the bypass. It took three weeks in the hospital before the surgeons determined surgery could be performed. I will never forget the presurgery conference, at which all the things that could go wrong, given that my father was a high-risk patient, were discussed. Yet the surgery went well. Dad was alert afterward and we were all optimistic. Unfortunately, that mood lasted only a few short days before my father suffered another, more serious stroke that left him uncommunicative and unable to care for himself. We did not even know if he understood us. My father’s death provided a relief from his prolonged ordeal and was neither unexpected nor unwelcomed when it occurred a couple of weeks later. T ehstress I experienced from the time of my father’s admission to the hospital through his strokes and subsequent death was greater than I had ever known. All my stress management strategies were called into action. Of those coping tech-niques, I found exercise particularly effective. When emotions build up, we seek physical outlets. It feels good to “let it all out” so we slam doors, punch walls, and scream loudly, throwing our whole bod-ies into it. Now that you are familiar with the stress response and recognize that the body has been physically prepared to do something physical (fi ght-or-flight), you can appreciate the value of using your body in some active way. In attempting to do this, some people behave in unacceptable or dysfunctional ways. I have a friend who punched a wall, only to find it surprisingly softer than his knuckles. The repair of his swollen hand occurred several weeks prior to the repair of the hole in the wall. Other people beat up their spouses or children when distressed or wind up fighting with anyone in sight. However, there are socially acceptable ways of using the stress products in a manner that will make you feel better without violating anyone else’s rights. Let me tell you about Dick. Dick and I played tennis together, and Dick never won. Our talents were not dissimilar, but Dick seemed invariably to hit the ball harder than necessary and, consequently, could not control it as I did. One day I suggested to him that he hit easier but try to control the ball better. You know, it’s not how hard you hit it but where it goes. Dick’s response taught me an important lesson. He said that the ball represented his boss, his wife, or anyone else he was upset with at the moment. No way was he going to hit that “sucker” easier! I was concerned about winning; Dick was concerned about his health. I was frustrated when I hit a poor shot; as long as Dick got “good wood” on that ball, he was satisfied. Dick used physical exercise to alleviate stressful feelings and the buildup of stress products. 254 www.downloadslide.com One way to use the body’s preparedness for doing something physical is to beat up on something soft.A punching bag would do, as would a pillow or mattress. Th at is what this chapter is about—how to use exercise to manage stress. In par-ticular, exercise is presented as a means of using the stress products—increased heart and respiratory rates, blood fats, muscle tension, and so forth—so they are not able to affect your health negatively. In addition, exercise can redirect your attention from stressors to the exercise. Since exercise results in physiological arousal and involves purposeful behavioral decisions, it is discussed in this part of the book. Exercise and Health Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise Th ere are two basic types of exercise, aerobic and anaerobic. Aerobic exercises are usually of relatively long duration, use large muscle groups, and do not require more oxygen than you can take in. Anaerobic exercises are of shorter duration, done “all out,” and for which oxygen inhaled is insuficient for the intensity of the activity. Aerobic exercises include jogging, bicycling, long-distance swimming, walking, and rope jumping. Anaerobic exercises include sprinting and short swim-ming races. Aerobic exercise is the kind that builds up cardiovascular endurance; however, both aerobic and anaerobic exercises are effective for managing stress and using stress products. Either form of exercise helps you use your body physically— which is what the fi ght-or-flight response prepares you for—as well as focuses your attention away from stressors you would otherwise be thinking about. Physical Health When people speak of health, most often they are referring to physical health. Phys-ical health is the status of your body and its parts. Aerobic exercise does the following: 1. Improves the functioning of the lungs and circulatory system so that trans-portation of food and oxygen to cells is facilitated. 2. Provides the lungs with greater elasticity to breathe in more air by expand-ing more. 3. Delays the degenerative changes of aging. 4. Increases the production of red blood cells in the bone marrow, resulting in a greater ability to transport oxygen to the parts of the body where it is needed. aerobic exercise Exercise of relatively long duration, using large muscle groups, that does not require more oxygen than can be inhaled. anaerobic exercise Exercise of short duration that requires more oxygen than can be inhaled. 12 Physiological Arousal Interventions www.mhhe.com/greenberg12e 255 www.downloadslide.com Physical exercise can help manage stress by using built-up stress by-products. physical fitness Ability to do one’s work and have energy remaining for recreational activities. Consists of muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiorespiratory endurance, flexibility, body composition, and agility. 5. Helps to maintain normal blood pressure in normo-tensives and lower blood pressure in hypertensives. 6. Results in a quicker recovery time from strenuous activity. 7. Strengthens the heart muscle the way other muscles are strengthened—by exercising it. 8. Results in a lower pulse rate, indicating that the heart is working more efi ciently. 9. Burns calories, thereby helping to prevent hyperten-sion, heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions related to excess body fat. 10. Accelerates the speed and efi ciency with which food is absorbed. 11. Tones muscle to improve strength and create a more visually appealing physique. 12. Increases endurance. 13. Improves posture. 14. Decreases low-density lipoproteins (associated with heart disease) and serum cholesterol. 15. Raises high-density lipoproteins (protective against heart disease). Most of us know that regular exercise can improve our physical fitness, but many of us do not know what that term actually means. Physical fitness, the abil-ity to do one’s work and have energy remaining for recreational activities, is com-prised of several components: 1 1. Muscular strength: the absolute maximum force that a muscle can generate, the most that can be lifted in one lift . 2. Muscular endurance: the ability to do continuous muscular work, the amount of work that can be done over time. 3. Cardiorespiratory endurance: the ability of the circulatory system (heart, lungs, and blood vessels) to supply oxygen to the muscles and remove waste products of muscular contraction. 4. Flexibility: the ability to move the joints of the body through their fullest range of motion. 5. Body composition: the proportion of lean body mass (bones and muscles) to the percentage of body fat. 6. Agility: the ability to move with quickness, speed, and balance. Physical fitness, however, does not develop from just any physical activity. Cer-tain activities are better than others. Figure 12.1 depicts the benefits of several sports and exercises, and Table 12.1 gives the energy required by various activities (the amount of calories used). Your attention is directed not only to the total physical fitness rating for each of these sports, but to the individual fitness component scores. If you have a particular need, certain sports will be better than others. For example, if you need to lose weight, you’d be advised to jog (it gives you a score of 21). If you want to develop cardiovascular fitness, you need to expend approxi-mately 300 calories per exercise session, three times a week, or approximately 1,000 calories per week. Therefore, the activities using more calories per hour are better for you. But if flexibility is your concern, you’d be better off doing calisthenics or playing handball or squash (they give you scores of 19 and 16, respectively). If you exercise, you will be more aware of bodily sensations. For example, you will more readily recognize muscle tension. Further, an exercised body will improve 256 Part 4 General Applications: Physiological Arousal and Behavior Change Interventions www.downloadslide.com A rating of 21 indicates maximum benefit. Ratings were made on the basis of regular (minimum of four times per week), vigorous (duration of 30 minutes to one hour per session) participation in each activity. Physical Fitness Cardiorespiratory 21 19 21 18 endurance (stamina) Muscular endurance 20 18 20 17 Muscular strength 17 16 14 15 Flexibility 9 9 15 13 Balance 17 18 12 20 General Well-being Weight control 21 20 15 17 Muscle definition 14 15 14 14 Digestion 13 12 13 11 Sleep 16 15 16 15 19 19 16 19 16 10 13 8 6 5 18 19 18 17 16 13 14 8 8 5 15 15 15 15 14 16 11 9 7 5 16 14 14 13 14 19 7 8 9 7 17 16 21 16 16 15 8 8 7 6 19 17 15 19 16 12 13 6 7 5 11 12 14 13 13 18 11 6 5 5 13 12 9 10 12 11 11 7 8 7 12 15 12 12 11 12 14 6 7 6 Total 148 142 140 140 140 139 134 134 128 126 102 66 64 51 *Ratings for golf are based on the fact that many Americans use a golf cart and/or caddy. If you walk the links, the physical fitness value moves up appreciably. your physical self-esteem. In these ways, exercise will help you to be less stressed. In addition, exercising will allow you to focus on something other than your daily problems, as well as use the products of stress such as increased blood glucose, heart rate, and muscle tension. Psychological Health Th e benefits of exercise for psychological health include the following: Figure 12.1 Physical fitness scorecard for selected sports and exercise. 1. Having more self-esteem due to feeling fit and feeling good about your body. 2. Being more positively perceived by others, since a more attractive physical appearance leads other people to consider you more poised, sensitive, kind, sincere, and more socially and occupationally successful. 3. Feeling more alert and able. 4. Being a better worker, since healthy men and women miss fewer days of work, have less illness, are involved in fewer accidents, and have a better attitude toward work. 2 5. Decreasing feelings of depression 3 and anxiety.4 6. Being better able to manage stress, with a resulting decrease in stress-related behaviors. 5,6 12 Physiological Arousal Interventions www.mhhe.com/greenberg12e 257 ... - tailieumienphi.vn
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