We all know how good it feels to “blow off some steam” through exercise. Exercise can be a way to escape from our hectic day and take our mind away from stresses and problems. But could putting our body through extreme, strenuous exercise when we are angry be dangerous to our health? Some of us may have even been known to try to “encourage anger” or self-induce an elevated heart rate for the reason that we may be able to push ourselves harder for heavy lifts and attempting to reach a new max.

While a steady, consistent exercise routine may help us avoid being stressed out; deciding to exercise because we are mad or upset could put our body in a compromising position. Anger is an emotion that causes a spike in our heart rate and attempting to exercise will only increase the strain and workload of our heart. Here are a few tips to keep on standby for a day where our anger level is putting our health at risk.

Stretch

For us, exercise is a way of life. And any day that our normal exercise routine is interrupted, no matter what the reason, is a tough pill to swallow. If you find yourself preparing for a workout but feeling your heart rate elevate with anger, try going through a stretching routine. Stretching will give you an opportunity to control your breathing and slow your pulse. While you may not be pushing as much weight or dripping in sweat after, you will be accomplishing some muscle maintenance and keeping your heart safe in the process. Yoga is a great choice as well. Your muscle groups can still be exercised without putting any unsafe strain on your body.

Walk

Many of us have reached fitness levels where walking is a thing of the past. We have “kicked the training wheels off” so to speak and we like to hit the ground running when we start a workout. But on a day where we aren’t quite feeling ourselves and feel our tempers getting the best of us, going for a calming walk could be the answer. Similar to stretching, taking a walk may not equal the typical result we have come to expect after a workout, but it can still yield some fitness level results and keep us on track for our goals. Again, we will be achieving some exercise, but also  be keeping our heart rate in a healthy range and avoiding placing dangerous pressure on the heart muscle.

In both of the options above, our bodies may have time to calm down to normal pulse rates and allow us to go into our regular routine after completing them. After a stretching or walk session we may feel more like ourselves and if our heart rate is in a safe range, we can move forward with the exercise we had scheduled. Keeping a heart rate monitor nearby or being aware of your fitness watch so that we do not push our bodies over the max is always a safe practice.