Stress:The Silent Killer of your fitness gains!
Could your stress be destroying your body?
We hear it all the time but seldom do we heed the warning or take the time to reduce our levels of stress. When working with clients, we talk with them about the three forms of stress that take place in our daily lives; emotional, physical/mechanical and chemical stress. Each carries with them a unique set of challenges and solutions. Here are 5 things you can do to greatly reduce each form of stress in your life.
Emotional Stress
1.Breathe, breathe deeply; Preferably in a room with an air filter or just outside. Take time out of your day and just breathe as deeply as you can. As we stress, our breathing becomes more and more shallow, altering spinal mechanics as well as a number of nervous system changes. Set a timer right now. Do it every hour for 2 minutes and the results will amaze you.
2.Get comfortable with the fact that life is going to happen whether you worry about it or not. Keep taking actions aligned with your commitments and life will sort itself out.
3.Get a coach! I have had a coach now for the better part of 8 years. If I was going to rate my stress in that time period, a time period when I got married, had two kids, and started multiple companies, I would say it is on average about a 3-4 out of 10. Having someone that can listen to your problems and literally just listen and recreates me where needed makes all the difference in the world!
4.Work out... safely and correctly. See Mechanical Stress issues below. Low intensity safe and sustainable exercise is the key to releasing endorphins and mitigating emotional stress. Tread with caution.
5. Make your life about having fun! We take ourselves way to seriously most times. I literally had to recreate in my head what it meant to be successful. Most of my life it looked like working very long days 7 days a week. I recreated it to 6 days a week within certain hours, 3:30am to 7pm and now I spend Saturday and Sunday 100% with my family! We are in charge of our lives and how we play the game. Its a game everyone, and then we die! Rock each day!
Mechanical Stress
Mechanical stress is important for the body and too much of a good thing can carry your bodies stress level into the Red Zone. Here are five things that you can do to get the benefit of mechanical stress without going to far.
1. Listen to your body!! Do not workout through the pain. Pain is your body's check engine light. If you ignore it, your body will break down and leave you stranded. If you feel pain when doing anything... working out or even just walking to your car, stop for a moment and make a mental note of what you are feeling. This way if it continues into the future you will have a reference when you speak with your health professional. Remember your body is telling you something.
2. Stop working out like you are a professional athlete! It is great to have aspirations and goals but listen... pushing yourself to your max is a great way not to aspire to anything but a pile of achy bones. Professional athletes get paid to destroy their bodies. They understand the trade-off between money and long-term sustainable health.
3. Drink more water!! Water is to your body like oil is to your car... leave it out and stuff is gonna break. If you are active and working out with the intensity that causes you to lose water, you want to be drinking at least a gallon a day!
4. Give your body time to recover. Pushing through a second workout when you are sore from the previous is counterproductive. You're just causing more inflammation and making your self fatter, literally. See the blog or the correlation between inflammation and fat %.
5. Hire a professional that knows what the hell they are doing in the gym! Keywords in that statement, KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING IN THE GYM! It blows my mind, thanks in part to Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, the damage I see Trainers do to their clients' bodies. If you are in Odessa, Citrus Park, Westchase and beyond, Fitness-Tek is your best option! Come on in and I'll show you why, or better yet, let's grab lunch! Not in Tampa? Give us a call at Fitness-Tek and we can find you the right fit in your area.
Chemical Stress
That's right, the chemicals we put in our body both intentionally and unintentionally all have an impact on our overall stress load. Think about how many different foods you put in your mouth each day, how many supplements, how many medications, and even the air you breathe daily. Here are a few pointers to take your level down a bit.
1. Eat as clean as possible! It doesn't have to be all organic but should come from a clean source. Make sure you properly cook your proteins and clean your fruit and veggies before you eat them.
2. Get an indoor air filter. In Florida especially, we spend the bulk of our time indoors where the air pollution is exponentially higher than the outside. Invest in a very good air filter for your ac and if possible buy separate units for each room. Everything in our home puts off-gasses on one level or another and those gasses are not good for us to breathe.
3. Do your research when it comes to your medications and supplements. There are a bunch of them out there that don't play so nice with the rest of your body. Remember there is such a thing as too much of a good thing when it comes to both medicine and natural supplements.
4. Find a diet that works for you! Everyone is different and everyone's body responds differently to different foods. Here at Fitness-Tek in Tampa, FL we are BIG fans of the Ketogenic Diet. But it is not for everyone.
5. Your skin care products might be making you look and feel better but they are killing you slowly! This is one that many people are ignorantly blissful of. Use clean skincare products! Do your homework and find products that are safe. Google every ingredient in the ones you're currently using and see what you find. You will be startled!
Thanks for joining us today! We hope this information was of value to you as you continue on your path to living a healthy lifestyle. We would like to invite you to join us on Facebook live as we discuss each and every blog post we create. This is a great time to ask questions and connect with others that are on the same path. Click Here, to go straight to our Facebook page! See you there!
Until then make it an amazing day!
Yours in health
The Fitness-Tek Team