So let’s begin by discussing what stress is. Stress is the body’s reaction to any change that requires an adjustment or response. Now stress get’s a bad reputation because when you think stress you might associate it with dead lines, studying for an exam, getting together with family over the holidays, being in a relationship and the list goes on. So is there only bad stress? No, there is such a thing called good stress. For example getting a promotion, riding a roller coaster, and even working out are all good stressors. This is because our heart rate quickens, our hormones serge yet we aren’t in any danger but rather excited and living life.

But having good or bad stress will still play a role on us physically,mentally and emotionally. So let’s take a look at some of things that happen when the body goes through stress.

Good stress can be a positive thing, keeping us alert, motivated and helping us avoid danger. Our body does a pretty good job of protecting ourselves using a system called “Fight or flight” and is activated in case of emergency but when our bodies don’t get a break from the stress this can impact us both physically and mentally wearing us down.

Without finding something to destress us this slowly will disrupt the balance of your health causing such things as headaches, upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, issues sleeping, panic attacks, anxiety, depression and other symptoms. Having too much stress can also worsen pre existing symptoms and diseases.

How often do you or someone you know who is stressed turn to something for a quick fix? Do you try to “destress” with food,alcohol, tobacco or drugs? Rather than relieving the stress and bringing the body back to homeostasis you end up keeping the body in a stress state causing more problems.

But let’s talk about 1 hormone in particular and that’s how cortisol is affected by stress. Now Cortisol can fluctuate throughout the day and serves many functions in the body such as regulating blood pressure, immune function, inflammatory response, helps maintain homeostasis, quick burst of energy and the list goes on. So the reason I chose to chat about cortisol is because most people have goals they want to hit in the gym whether that’s building muscle or losing fat if there is too much cortisol being released due to stress well hate to break it to you but this can be impeding your results.

If too much cortisol is being released it can impair cognitive performance, suppressed thyroid functions, blood sugar imbalances, decrease muscle tissue, higher blood pressure, lowered immunity, and increased abdominal fat. Not to mention if you’re really stressed out and your cortisol levels are high this will affect your sleep which in turn causes a whole bunch of other issues.

So how can we deal with stress

-Exercise

-Meditation/ Breathing

-Music

-Control the controllable (keep your emotions in check)

-Yoga

-Stay positive

-Journaling