Blog Search

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Stressed to Recover?!

Individuals with higher levels of chronic mental stress take longer to recover from a workout, reveals a group of researches at the Yale Stress Centre.  Their findings confirm that repairing the body at the microscopic cellular level is influenced by ones state of mind.

Do not assume that stress is all bad though.  There are good forms of stress like exercise, and our body’s fight-or-flight response to danger.
Good or bad, stress affects hormone levels like cortisol that circulate the body.  These hormones are essential to the inflammatory response that repairs damage to the body done by exercise.  Hormone levels in a chronically stressed individual are high and negatively affect the body, hindering the typical response to acute stressors like exercise.
Hormone levels are not the only things affected when chronically stressed.  Stressed-out individuals tend to sleep less, eat poorly and take less care of themselves.  All of these factors influence recuperation and it is not clear whether it is stress that leads to poor nutrition and sleep, or whether it is vise versa.  What is clear is that being overstressed is not a situation someone chooses to be in.  
If you are in a chronically stressed situation, the right thing to do is not to skip your workout - remember that exercise is a good stress that can help fight against bad stress.  Instead, lower your intensity and adjust your workout accordingly to allow your body more time to recuperate between exercise sessions.  
Consider implementing yoga or other relaxation techniques to aid in minimizing mental stress. Do not wait until you are in the middle of a breakdown, use these relaxation techniques early and often.

No comments: