When you're under stress, your body reacts by priming the muscles for action. Getting physical gives your body the action it craves.

But even if you've relieved the physical tension in your body, that doesn't mean you've reduced the knot in your noggin. "Why and how you exercise is far more important than just exercising when it comes to mental stress," says Paul J. Rosch, M.D., president of the American Institute of Stress and clinical professor of medicine and psychiatry at New York Medical College. In fact, approaching exercise the wrong way can actually escalate your mental stress. Here's how to work your muscles and "unwork" your mind.


Get Some Fresh Air
From a training standpoint, the difference between indoor and outdoor exercise doesn't mean much to your body. But it can have a big impact on how you burn off stress. Georg Eifert, Ph.D., professor of clinical psychology at West Virginia University, studied the effects environment has on stress reduction during exercise. Three test groups were asked to run the same distance. The first group ran outdoors, the other two exercised indoors on treadmills while listening to either nature sounds or nothing but their heartbeats. At the end of the experiment, the outside runners felt not only more refreshed but also had measurably lower levels of a key stress hormone.


Time Your Workouts
There's a theory that each individual has two periods during the day when her mind and body are best suited for exercise. For most people, these magical times are 7 to 11 A.M. and 4 to 7 P.M., but these energy ebbs and flows differ for everyone. Trying to exercise at a time of day when you're in an energy lull can cause more stress than it relieves. "You end up asking your body to do something it's not prepared to do. When your mind says yes and your body says no, your stress level shoots to a new high," says Diana McNab, director of wellness at the University of Denver.

"Find the times during the day when you're at your physical peak and mentally sharp, and plan your routine within these time blocks," she says. Since your metabolism is tied to your energy level, it's as easy as knowing whether you're a morning, afternoon, or night person.


Stop the Waiting
The next time the line for the “good” treadmill looks longer than a wait at a Disney World ride, think about the lonely rowing machine. "Waiting for a machine or sharing equipment can cause unnecessary stress," says Dr. Rosch. Instead, read up on different exercises and familiarize yourself with all the equipment in your gym. Learning how to substitute one exercise for another will help preserve the flow of your workout.

Count Naturally
One of the things we do grudgingly at the gym is stretch. But forget about the counting-seconds stuff, says Budd Coates, marathoner and contributing editor for Runner's World. Instead, he recommends you count breaths. Ten breaths is all you need for any one stretch to help your mind stay in tune better with your body

Hang Around the Gym Awhile
Instead of skipping your treadmill cool-down and immediately heading for the exit, find a spot in the gym where you can sit and relax for 10 to 15 minutes in silence. "It's easier to achieve total relaxation when your body is in a state of post-exercise fatigue," says Emmet Miller, M.D., author of Deep Healing: The Essence of Mind/Body Medicine. "Just sit and concentrate on your body as it brings itself back to a normal state of being." Feeling your muscles relax and your breath return to normal is a way for your mind to cool down along with your body.


A version of this article originally appeared in Men’s Health.