In Germany, about 38% of the adult population occasionally suffer from tension headaches, 3% of the adult population even suffer from chronic tension headaches - this corresponds to 1.86 million sufferers. Regular exercise can reduce the frequency of occurring headaches, significantly shorten the duration of the acute attack and positively influence the pain intensity. Find out how you can exercise most effectively against tension headaches here.
Ways out of pain
For basic intervention against sporadic and chronic tension headaches, the German Neurological Society recommends relaxation exercises according to Jacobson, regular endurance training and stress management training in its current guideline.
Relaxation exercises according to Jacobson
These exercises are progressive muscle relaxation, which means that in order to actively relax, the muscles are first tensed arbitrarily. The basic principle is very simple: In short sessions, individual muscle groups are tensed one after the other from head to toe for a few seconds, then you actively let go and try to actively feel and re-feel the relaxed state. The tension should last between five and ten seconds , the relaxation phase should last 30 - 45 seconds. In order to work through the entire body in this way, 20 - 30 minutes should be estimated for one session. To learn the technique and get used to it, you should train daily in the beginning, after internalizing the technique, one unit per week is enough to get the positive effects of progressive muscle relaxation according to Jacobson.
Endurance training actively combats headaches
Cardio training is good for your whole body. When training against headaches, you benefit above all from the fact that regular endurance training stimulates your circulation and improves blood flow. In this way, stress hormones are more quickly removed from the bloodstream and broken down. At the same time, exercise releases endorphins. The word "endorphin" is composed of the term "endogenous morphine", which means "painkiller produced by the body itself". Endorphins are significantly involved in the regulation of the sensations "pain" and "hunger" in the body, and they also act on dopaminergic excitation conduction.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that, in addition to various motor tasks, stimulates the reward system and thus prevents listlessness and listlessness . In addition, dopamine has a positive effect on our intrinsic motivation. In addition, endorphins increase the release of the happiness hormone serotonin and also promote the release of the sex hormones oxytocin and phenetylamine. All these hormones act as messengers in the brain and give us the feeling of being happy through completely different mechanisms of action.
In order to take full advantage of these positive effects of cardio training, it is important that you train regularly. You should do at least 3 x 30 minutes of cardio training per week at 60 - 70% of your maximum heart rate. It is important that you do not overexert yourself; if you go beyond your limit during cardio training, this can even trigger headaches and migraine attacks. As a rule of thumb for your maximum heart rate you can subtract your age from 180 - so if you are 30 years old, your heart rate should not be higher than 150 beats per minute during cardio training.
Exercising in the fresh air is most effective, but the most important thing is really to stick with it and exercise regularly - cardio machines are your best friend in bad weather or darkness. Even beginners should turn to equipment like cross trainers, ergometers, rowing machines and the like - with modern cardio equipment, you'll work out in a way that's easy on your joints and avoid pain and injury.
Stress management training
Most professional stress management training (SBT) is designed as a group program and has the following components:
Information, psychoeducation, and motivation: providing knowledge about the causes and health effects of stress. Subsequently, one or more change models are developed from the presented disturbance models, which are to be implemented by the participants with the help of the course.
Relaxation: Autogenic training, meditation, biofeedback or music are common relaxation techniques; in many SBTs, progressive muscle relaxation according to Jacobson is also used. Today, mindfulness exercises and mindfulness meditations are also increasingly used.
Cognitive intervention: Cognitive intervention involves working out the significance of dysfunctional self-verbalizations or inner monologues for the occurrence of negative feelings and problematic behaviors. Almost everyone is familiar with the phenomenon of thinking for days about the possible negative consequences of an action, the fear of the situation getting worse and worse through the head cinema, through "driving oneself crazy". By formulating and practicing favorable self-verbalizations in real situations, a great stress reduction can be achieved here.
Conclusion
Tension headaches are one of the most common medical conditions in Germany. Active relaxation, regular cardio training and learning stress management methods can reduce the frequency, duration and pain intensity of headache attacks.
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Editors fitnessmarkt.de (DG)
Photo credit: #265365294_nikomsolftwaer / stock.adobe.com
Published on: 17 September 2019