As we approach the final quarter for some and Christmas for all, stress is what everyone is feeling and no one is talking about. What exactly is it and how can we make it work for us, rather than against us?
There are a number of important points to note with regards to stress. Firstly, there are different types of stress, secondly, these stressors can work for us or against us and thirdly, all stress is cumulative. Why is this important?
Ok, the different types of stress are Physical (exercise, movement) Chemical (conversion of sunlight into Vitamin D, changes in your body due to exercise) Electromagnetic (sunlight, magnetic pull of the earth) Psychic or mental(using your brain to move towards outcomes you really want) Nutritional (food) and Thermal (Maintenance of body temperature).
Now, each of these can work for you, or against you. For example a certain amount of physical exercise is hugely beneficial to the body with regards to increasing the strength of bones, metabolic rate, muscular strength and the reduction of excess body fat, however if the body is stressed out already from other stressors, e.g (chemical – air pollution on the tube, mental – report due in last week, electromagnetic - 6 hours by the computer, nutritional – microwave meal and thermal – It’s freezing out there!) then physical exercise can be too much for an already stressed body and lead to chronic fatigue, a suppression of the immune system and in some cases an excess in cortisol which can prevent the burning of fat.
Therefore the moral of this story is to listen to your body and try and monitor your own stress levels. If you are feeling exhausted before you get to the gym, ask yourself whether your body will really benefit from this type of exercise? (Yoga, Pilates, or a walk might be better than a run) For many people the endorphin rush they get from cardiovascular exercise masks the harm the excess stress is doing them. You should feel energised after a workout and better than you did before you started. If you don’t, then you might need to look at the level of stress you are putting your body under and see how to optimise it.
All the Best
J
Posted by jlimpus 
