Too often I get an inbox stating something like this, “I run 5 miles every day, I eat healthy, I workout 5x/week, but I’m not seeing any results!” My answer to this problem? Stress.
We hear all the time how terrible stress is for our body. Doctors love telling us that cortisol is terrible. Cortisol is the “Stress Hormone”. Excess of cortisol can lead to weight gain, lower immune functioning, impaired memory, etc. So if stress is so bad for you, then why are so many successful strength coaches and athletes preaching about the importance of stress? Some strength coaches even call themselves Stress Managers.
Stress is the body’s response to any and all change. Think of the body as a chameleon. A chameleon walks onto tree. Danger becomes present, so the chameleon changes color to blend with the brown. The chameleon becomes stressed so it’s body adapts in order to stay safe. Just like the chameleon, our body has a protective mechanism that keeps us safe. When we become stressed, our body wants to fight to get back to being balanced, or to homeostasis.
The runner that runs 5 miles every day and sees no change is not changing due to their body adapting to the stress of running. The runner’s body will not change unless it is forced to, so if they’re running the same distance every day using the same routes then the body is not put under stress to change.
This is where that bad, nasty cortisol comes in. We’ve found a way to take cortisol and use it to our advantage. While exercising, our body goes into a sympathetic state, or the fight-or-flight state. Cortisol activates our adrenal glands allowing our bodies to work harder than normal. Hans Seyle wrote a book called “The Stress of Life”. In this book, he discusses the general adaptation syndrome(GAS) and supercompensation. The runner who runs 5 miles every day is stressing the body more than someone who is laying on the couch each day; however, the runner’s body has adapted to the stress. The stress of running 5 miles is no longer a big enough stress to force the body out of homeostasis in order to adapt.
GAS is broken down into three stages by Seyle: Alarm Reaction, Resistance, and Exhaustion. We’ve already discussed the alarm reaction stage as it is the fight-or-flight stage, the workout or training session. Next comes resistance.
In this stage we return our body to the parasympathetic state. Returning to a parasympathetic state is important as it allows the body to return to homeostasis. This is when our body heals and replenishes so we have enough energy to make it through our day. If the body does not fully reach a parasympathetic state, our body can go into the next stage.
This stage is the Exhaustion stage. Overtraining occurs in the exhaustion stage. Have you ever noticed that during an extremely stressful period in your life, you tend to get sick? Students might get sick around finals. If you have a big project for work that keeps you worrying and up late at night you might get sick. This is due to exhaustion. Your body is in a continuous sympathetic state. Your body never has time to heal, so your immune system depletes and you get sick.
The trick is to finding that sweet spot where you stress your body enough to initiate change, yet you allow enough rest and recovery time for it to heal so you do not become exhausted. This can become tricky and each person is different. You and I might each have different levels of stress that our body can handle. Listen to your body…but make sure you’re not babying it.