Does exercising reduce the amount of cortisol (or other stress hormones) in the body? How does this work?

Answer 1

CERTAINLY,YES!

Exercise strengthens vital organ especially the heart which in turn then could have yield an effective and moderated handling of physiological stress response functions or the so called "fight and flight response".Such factor has great impact on the amount of stress hormones secreted along the process.

Stress response involves around 1500 biochemical reactions within the body due to activation of neurotransmitters,release of hormones, and metabolism of nutrients. Following such response, byproducts (such as cortisol, epinephrine, and other stress hormones) continue to circulate in the body which can potentialy cause physical illness (example cortisol secretion could affect the immune system).

To eliminate those byproducts, REGULAR EXERCISE can do the job by burning and pumping those unwanted hormones out of the body that would otherwise linger like toxins in a waste dump. Regular exercise also provides an opportunity to simulate the "fighting or running" dictated by the fight or flight phenomenon. That helps the body to return to homeostasis faster thus stopping further secretion of stress hormones and reduce the physical impact of psycho-social stress.

Another good thing an exercise does is to pump up ENDORPHIN, a neurotransmitter in the brain that makes you feel good, thus decreasing the room for stress.

Answer 2

No; exercising puts stress on the body. After exercising, levels of stress hormones like cortisol and growth hormone go up. The release of these hormones is controlled by the hypothalamus in the brain. The hypothalamus senses the stress and releases a hormone called CRH which goes directly to the anterior pituitary (which is located close to the hypothalamus), causing release of ACTH, which finally reaches the adrenal cortex (located on top of the kidney) and causes the release of cortisol.

Edit: I should have said that this is during exercise or right after. Overall effects in health are what lani s is talking about.