Do you find yourself stressed by your day, working with clients, running a fitness business, studying or just overwhelmed by what each day brings?

If your suffering from Fitness Business Stress, and feel like there aren’t enough hours n the day, then take a look at our top three tips for relieving fitness business stress:

Today’s stresses and pressures can seriously mount up and take its toll on the body, disturbing sleep, feeling irritable and playing havoc with food selection are just some of the symptoms, whilst you mask the problem by exercising harder to feel good.

What if I said your fitness business stress is very real; what if i said that there is a better way to run your fitness business than spending hours training clients every day, living in your client;’s diary, spending hours writing programmes and never having time at home, or with mates.

Sounds counter-intuitive, but running being a qualified personal trainer is very different from running a successful fitness business.

If you are trading time for money then this isn’t an efficient  fitness business – no wonder you are stressed.

So, you know that this can be fixed – check out the Academy to run a stress-reduced fitness business, alongside the lifestyle you desire. Join The Academy <<<<< click here

So, how are you relieving Fitness Business Stress?

For many of us, relaxation means zoning out in front of the TV at the end of a stressful day or head out for an intense run or gym session.

But this does little to reduce the damaging effects of stress. To effectively combat stress, we need to activate the body’s natural relaxation response. You can do this by practising relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, gentle walking, and yoga.

Fitting these activities into your life can help reduce everyday stress and boost your energy and mood. In recent years these approaches have been seen by many as ‘Marmite’.

You either love them, practice them all the time or you hate them and have never tried them.  Most people it seems head straight to the gym, lift heavy or head out for a run or boot camp session to relax and distress.  This approach however could be doing you more harm than good.  Exercise makes you stressed – Exercise itself is a stress and coupled with the stress of a typical day can delay and halt any benefits of your approach and delay your training goal, as well as interfere with your fitness business

The relaxation response: Bringing your nervous system back into balance

Stress is necessary for life. You need stress for creativity, learning, and your very survival. Stress is only harmful when it becomes overwhelming and interrupts the healthy state of equilibrium that your nervous system needs to remain in balance. Unfortunately, overwhelming stress has become an increasingly common characteristic of life. When stressors throw your nervous system out of balance, relaxation techniques can bring it back into a balanced state by producing the relaxation response, a state of deep calmness that is the polar opposite of the stress response. When stress overwhelms your nervous system your body is flooded with chemicals that prepare you for “fight or flight.” While the stress response can be lifesaving in emergency situations where you need to act quickly, it wears your body down when constantly activated by the stresses of everyday life. The relaxation response puts the brakes on this heightened state of readiness and brings your body and mind back into a state of equilibrium. A variety of different relaxation techniques can help you bring your nervous system back into balance by producing the relaxation response. The relaxation response is not lying on the couch or sleeping but a mentally active process that leaves the body relaxed, calm, and focused. Learning the basics of these relaxation techniques isn’t difficult, but it does take practice. Most stress experts recommend setting aside at least 10 to 20 minutes a day for your relaxation practice.

Top 3 Fitness Business Stress Relievers

Approach 1: Breathing meditation for stress relief

Focus on full, cleansing breaths, deep breathing is a simple, yet powerful, relaxation technique. It’s easy to learn, can be practised almost anywhere, and provides a quick way to get your stress levels in check. Deep breathing is the cornerstone of many other relaxation practices.  All you really need is a few minutes and a quiet place to stretch out. Practising deep breathing meditation The key to deep breathing is to breathe deeply from the abdomen, getting as much fresh air as possible in your lungs. When you take deep breaths from the abdomen, rather than shallow breaths from your upper chest, you inhale more oxygen. The more oxygen you get, the less tense, short of breath, and anxious you feel.

•  #  Sit comfortably with your back straight. Put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.
•  #  Breathe in through your nose. The hand on your stomach should rise. The hand on your chest should move very little.
•  #  Exhale through your mouth, pushing out as much air as you can while contracting your abdominal muscles. The hand on your stomach should move in as you exhale, but your other hand should move very little.
•  #  Continue to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try to inhale enough so that your lower abdomen rises and falls. Count slowly as you exhale.

If you find it difficult breathing from your abdomen while sitting up, try lying on the floor. Put a small book on your stomach, and try to breathe so that the book rises as you inhale and falls as you exhale.

Tip for fitting it into your routine: Do this in-between sets of exercises at the gym or after a gym workout in the stretch area/ sauna

Approach 2: Visualization for stress relief

So, you might feel the leap between your current workout and meditation is a little far. visualization, or guided imagery, is a variation on traditional meditation that requires you to employ not only your visual sense, but also your sense of taste, touch, smell, and sound. When used as a relaxation technique, visualization involves imagining a scene in which you feel at peace, free to let go of all tension and anxiety. Choose whatever setting is most calming to you, whether it’s a tropical beach, a favourite walk or a point in the future you are aiming towards.  You can do this visualization exercise on your own in silence, while listening to music.

Practising visualization

Find a quiet, relaxed place. Beginners sometimes fall asleep during a visualization meditation, so you might try sitting up or standing. Close your eyes and let your worries drift away. Imagine your restful place. Picture it as vividly as you can—everything you can see, hear, smell, and feel. Visualization works best if you incorporate as many sensory details as possible, using at least three of your senses. When visualizing, choose imagery that appeals to you; don’t select images because someone else suggests them, or because you think they should be appealing. Let your own images come up and work for you. If you are thinking about a quiet lake, for example:

• ~  Walk slowly  and notice the colors and textures around you.
• ~  Spend some time exploring each of your senses.
• ~  See the sun setting over the water.
• ~  Hear the birds singing.
• ~  Smell the pine trees.
• ~  Feel the cool water on your bare feet.
• ~  Taste the fresh, clean air.

Enjoy the feeling of deep relaxation that envelopes you as you slowly explore your restful place. When you are ready, gently open your eyes and come back to the present. Don’t worry if you sometimes zone out or lose track of where you are during a guided imagery session.  This is normal. You may also experience feelings of stiffness or heaviness in your limbs, minor, involuntary muscle-movements, or even cough or yawn. Again, these are normal responses.

Next time you do a run – reduce the intensity so you can be truly present and aware of your surroundings. Then consider all of your senses whilst you are running (as you did above). If you like this type of visualisation then check out Stu Mittleman’s Slow Burn – A fantastic book which really develops awareness and focus whilst exercising.

Approach 3: Yoga and tai chi for stress relief

As well as reducing anxiety and stress, yoga can also improve flexibility, strength, balance, and stamina. Practised regularly, it can also strengthen the relaxation response in your daily life. Since injuries can happen when yoga is practised incorrectly, it’s best to learn by attending group classes, hiring a private teacher, or at least following video instructions. What type of yoga is best for stress? Although almost all yoga classes end in a relaxation pose, classes that emphasize slow, steady movement, deep breathing, and gentle stretching are best for stress relief; check out Satyananda (a traditional form of yoga),  Hatha yoga  or Power yoga (intense poses) If you’re unsure whether a specific yoga class is appropriate for stress relief, call the studio or ask the teacher.

Trying these top 3 approaches to relaxation will help reduce stress levels, and they are easily integrated into your current routine; no matter how busy you are: By adopting one or two of the above approaches – you can help reduce these effects of stress:

• #  Frequent headaches,
• #  Excessive sweatiness
• #  Susceptibility to colds and other ailments
• #  Recurring gastrointestinal distress (heartburn, nausea, gas, etc.)
• #  Rapid weight gain or loss
• #  Feelings of loneliness and despair
• #  Depression
• #  Poor Skin and hair quality
• #  Loss of appetite
• #  Apathy

If this wasn’t enough of a reason to promote a variety of relaxation approaches, it also allows you to manage your fitness business more effectively and efficiently – freeing up more leisure time – which has a compounding effect. So, get started and see the difference.

Although these are great stress relievers, the best thing is to prevent it. Remember, working long hours are not sustainable and not efficient, once more it limits your income unless you choose to work even more hours.

So, choose to work less hours in your business, and build a business that truly works FOR you. Get started by joining The Academy <<<<< click here