Take a load off your mind

One of the biggest stumbling blocks on the road to gaining size or reducing body fat can be stress. In times of stress, the body releases the hormone cortisol which can upset our balance of other hormones critical for growth and recovery.

 

But how do you define stress?(1) Ask 100 people and you will likely get 100 different answers or you may not get an answer at all. The lack of a clear defined meaning(2) or understanding of stress by most people shows that it is a much talked about but not well understood feeling and response.

 

What we call stress actually stems from daily pressures and it becomes stress based upon how we react to events that take place around us. Pressure may motivate us to action, cause us to remain alert and help us focus our minds on solving tasks. Stress is a natural part of life and there are many types of stress.(3) When stress is excessive and occurs over an extended period it can lead to physical and psychological issues.

 

If we react to normal situations as if they were life or death issues, our bodies give a "fight or flight" response. Our bodies don't really know the difference between a shark attack or being given a speeding ticket by a police officer. It responds to these pressures in a stressful manner. It is how we perceive and interpret the event that determines how our bodies respond.

 

So how do we handle pressure so that it does not impact upon our bodybuilding goals, our health, minds and lives by becoming too stressful? One way is to not allow pressures to turn into stress and the other is to learn to relax.

 

If we can manage a high pressure situation our body is alert but not alarmed. In the alert state the activation of our sympathetic nervous system has our body primed for quick action whereas in the alarmed state our body has already taken action.

 

The action taken by our body is to cause biochemical changes that may release adrenalin or cause other physiological changes4 that are symptoms of distress such as: gastrointestinal problems, depression, or headaches from acute distress and insomnia, heart disease, and habits (eg, drinking, overeating, smoking, and using drugs) from the long term or build up of small stress.

 

Now that we are getting an idea of what stress actually is, we can move on to creating ways to handle life's pressures before they become too stressful.