Lower Your Stress, Up Your Fitness
You take on a lot of responsibility. You probably have a family. You work long hours at a demanding job. You probably feel like you’re “on” all the time. Sound familiar? If this is the case, there’s hardly any doubt that you are, in a couple words, chronically stressed. But how does stress work in your body? Even more importantly, what can you do about it?
First, let’s take a look at the major hormone involved in all your worrying. Literally all of it because your body doesn’t know the difference between work stress, relationship stress, and physical stress. Stress is stress. One of the main ways it does that is by releasing cortisol. You’ve probably heard about cortisol, the “stress hormone.” It might be better to think of it as the “readiness hormone” because that’s what it does. When a threat shows up, which can be a tiger in the bushes or a looming project deadline, your body gets you ready to either fight it or run away. When cortisol goes up, the following things happen:
Heart rate goes up
Glucose gets released into the bloodstream (fuel for running or fighting)
Muscle breakdown goes up
Your immune system gets suppressed (no point fighting a cold when you’ve got a tiger trying to eat you.)
Digestion slows (no point digesting your last meal when it might become your last meal.)
Metabolism slows down (you’re not doing maintenance because you need that energy for running or fighting.)
Increases adrenaline (aka. epinephrine)
All of that is great when you have an immediate threat to deal with. Your body reacts that way and one of two things happens: you escape from or kill the tiger then have lunch, or you become lunch. The threat is usually gone within a matter of minutes. Assuming you survive, cortisol goes back down and all those things above get undone. You repair damage, your immune system goes back to doing its thing, and that meal you had gets converted into energy.
Stress (not getting pounced on by a tiger) in short bursts is actually good for you. Workouts are the most obvious example of this. You have a tough workout, you survive, then go rest. During that rest time is when the magic happens. Your body will adapt itself to better deal with the stress you put it under. Remember how you started running or lifting? The first time was brutal, but it got easier. So much so that you had to make it harder for it to even count as a workout. That’s the stress and adaptation that you want. It makes you tougher. So, stress and cortisol aren’t evil. Done right, they’re good friends.
Here’s the problem, though. Your stress response responds to threats. If you’ve got a threat that isn’t going away, such as a toxic work environment or you’re perpetually overworked, then you’re constantly under threat. It’s like having a tiger stalking you and occasionally pouncing for weeks or months on end. You don’t get the recovery time that you desperately need. This is where it gets ugly. If your immune system is suppressed for months, how much more often do you think you’ll get sick? On top of that, if your metabolism slows down and you’re losing muscle, then how well do you think you’ll be managing your weight? This is double plus ungood because, for many people, one of the responses to stress is an increased appetite. Finally, if you’re not repairing your body as much because you’re under chronic stress, then your body is like a building that’s not getting maintained. Sooner or later, it gets condemned. Hello, burnout.
This begs the question “What can I do to reduce chronic stress?” Well, there’s a phrase about flaying felines and there being a multitude of methods that applies here. First, find the things that cause stress and see what you are willing to and can get rid of. If you find it stressful, but meaningful and enjoyable, to rush the kids all over to their sports or activities, then keep that. It has a clear upside despite the running around. What’s probably not bringing you joy, though, is working that job surrounded by toxic colleagues. If you wake up every morning and dread going to work, that’s something you could probably do without. Maybe it’s time to polish up your resume and start finding a new company.
Another strategy is having a certain amount of time or certain blocks of time during the day that are for you and you alone. No work, no other people, just for you. Yes, if you’re a surgeon or a lawyer, this may not be doable. If you’re a new parent, this will be difficult. But if you’re not, it’ll probably be relatively simple to carve out at least an hour each day where you can focus on relaxing and winding down a bit.
Unplugging from the phone and internet aren’t bad ideas either.
The next step would be to find ways of relaxing. People have harped on meditation for years now, but that’s because it actually does help. Other things that are good for managing stress are walks in nature (I know it’s no easy feat when you live in a place like New York,) reading a book, playing a game with good friends or your kids, having a relaxing meal with friends or family, and doing somewhat mindless activities like working in a garden. In other words, do something that resembles play. Something you enjoy and can enjoy with people that you care about if you like. You’d be surprised how relaxed you’ll feel afterward, even if you’re a bit tired.
Managing stress is critical to not just staying healthy and making progress in the gym, but leading a mentally healthy life. It doesn’t mean that you lead a stress-free life. That would be boring and unfulfilling. Instead, it means finding ways to have the kind of stress you actually want in your life and keeping it from overwhelming you. There’s nothing wrong with taking time to relax or recover. It’s what’s going to keep you at your best in the long run. Don’t be that person who burns out every six months to a year. It’s no good for you and it’s no good for the people who depend on you.
