Stress
…is a beast.
You could be doing everything right:
- exercising daily
- incorporating the optimal balance of resistance training and cardio
- eating high quality foods
- tracking your food and water intake
- sleeping 8+ hours
- even timing your meals perfectly
And yet, stress will still throw a giant FU in your face and prevent you from seeing and feeling the progress in your body and mind that you’re working so hard to achieve.
Stress affects all systems of the body. The musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, gastrointestinal, nervous, and reproductive systems. Without going into too much scientific jargon, let’s quickly explain about how stress is directly messing with your fitness goals:
The body is well equipped to handle short bursts of stress (think, fight or flight response when in danger). It produces extra cortisol and gives you an extra burst of energy to handle the stressful situation. However, when your body is in a constant state of stress, it’s main job becomes defending itself.
As it relates to your fitness goals, stress can really screw things up for you. Forget fat loss and muscle gain! Instead, your body will use the energy you fuel it with to combat the heightened state you’re putting it in.
So if you’re struggling with obtaining the results you’re seeking from your fitness program, take a good hard look into the stressors in your life. Some of them are unavoidable, yes (if you can figure out how to live stress-free amidst a global pandemic, hit me up…). But some of them can be reduced. And the effects of decreased stress will floor you.
The (very!) good news:
You may have to do LESS to see MORE.
How many tasks are on your to-do list? Which ones can be replaced with down time?
How many errands do you really have to run this weekend?
How many people are you trying to please?
How many extra/unnecessary workouts are you doing?
How much are you worrying about what you’re eating/have eaten?
We’re all individual, and our stress comes from all different sources. That’s why a 1 size fits all approach with health and fitness is not a good one. I work with members who overdo it with workouts, and some who underdo it. I work with members who deal with an overwhelming amount of interaction daily and some who barely interact with anyone at all.
Only after developing deeper understanding for our members’ daily lifestyles, can we put a plan in place to get them crushing their goals.
As experts in the fitness industry, we’ve seen and heard it all. But we’re also equipped to help you identify where you’re going wrong, and put the necessary changes in place for you to finally make progress towards your goals.
Let’s talk about it! Book a call with us here.
