Discover The Best Workout For Your State Of Mind

Bad day at work? Going hell for leather in the gym as an antidote could have a detrimental effect on your health. Here’s how to choose the best workout for your state of mind.

- Sarah Ivory

Love to batter that punchbag or smash a HIIT session to release your pressure valve? Working out while you’re ticked off could increase your risk of a heart attack. That’s according to the latest data from a new study in the journal Circulation. Assessing what 12,500 heart attack patients did and felt in the lead-up to their attack, researchers discovered that feeling angry and exercising were commonplace. This has led analysts to believe that being angry or working out could double your risk of a heart attack, but doing both together could triple the threat. Not all activities are bad news – relaxing workouts such as gentle yoga or Pilates could defuse your anger. The main culprit is intense exercise. Experts argue that tough workouts and anger both cause blood vessels to narrow, which could affect how much oxygenated blood is delivered to the heart. However, Maureen Talbot, senior cardiac nurse for the British Heart Foundation, adds that cardiac failure tends to have a more clinical root cause. ‘Heart attacks are mainly caused by atherosclerosis, the build-up of fatty plaque in the arteries, which can cause a blood clot to form that leads to a heart attack.’

While exercise may not always be truly cathartic, it’s often pretty good for your emotional health. So, before you go into an emotional meltdown, check out our top five workout strategies to get you back on track.

EMOTIONAL MELTER - #STRESS