Reply With QuoteStress increases cortisol which is catabolic, so you can't expect as much strength and/or size. Otherwise, training has good stress-reducing effects, so keep working out.
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Training While Stressed
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Last edited by ComeAtMeBro; 04-30-2011 at 05:01 PM.
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Stress increases cortisol which is catabolic, so you can't expect as much strength and/or size. Otherwise, training has good stress-reducing effects, so keep working out.
Brazilian Car Jack
Mind you, this is only chronic stress. But any kind of stress can mess you up psychologically
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Anecdotally, I find that finding time to work out when I'm stressed (and I'm pretty high-strung, so this is often) is beneficial to my sense of wellbeing.
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As Ian has said, a workout is pretty good for relieving the mental and physical effects of stress, particularly the mental ones for me at least. The one big issue I find is getting mentally geared up to do the workout when I have devils buzzing around in my head. I have to take a little more time getting warmed up because I get really locked up and stiff from internal muscle tension.
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I don't have any scientific data to point you to but, personally, I feel like some of my best workouts are when I'm stressed. I hit a deadlift PR the night before I had to defend my masters thesis and for some reason whatever is stressing me doesn't seem to be as big of a deal after doing 3x5 squats and pulling some deads. This effect seems to be more pronounced the better my workout goes so I tend to really push it when I'm stressed. If anything, I feel stronger during these times.
Of course this isn't chronic stress, as Carlos pointed out. I'm sure chronic stress would have some pronounced effects that do not arise from the normal day in day out stress.
Brazilian Car Jack
You may consider hiring someone to try to kill you on the day of your meet. Talk about stress!Originally Posted by barbhero
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If you don't already have people trying to kill you, you're not really living anyway. Still, dodging poison darts as you dive sideways through the door of the gym is a good way to get the heart rate up.
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Heavy training can also create some of the same hormonal & immune system issues as physchological stress. I for one have been stuck with a flu/cold type virus and respiratory infections since september! I couldnt ever manage to stop training for long enough and my immune system suffered.
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I have a potentially stressful life with an ever changing work schedule which has me up at ungodly hours, plus a family of 4 that depend on me. Plus, it is all women in my household. I sleep little, eat on the road and train at times when no one is at gym, thank goodness I found a 24/7 gym.
Stress like that messes up your recovery substantially and slows down strength progress and the only thing that can be adjusted at that point is your program. Since work is work and family is family.
I am at the intermediate level now and found that since I switched to a split 3 times a week routine as opposed to the Texas method, I started doing better. I just do a main lift and an assistance exercise for the day. It's either squat/deadlift or bench/press day. It takes about 40 minutes.
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