This is Stress

All of this is stress. I hate to break it to you, but the strength work, the conditioning, and even the focus-filled skill segments are stress in the system. As world record holding coach, Shane Sweatt, says, “Physical and emotional stress are perceived the same in the body.” While training is generally healthy, and so is stress for that matter, it is something to monitor. Exposing ourselves to stress is important, but recovering from it is equally important.

As noted in studies like those found at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10478577/, managing both physical and emotional stress is vital for maintaining optimal health and performance. The Brain Balance program emphasizes this balance by helping individuals identify stressors and implement techniques to mitigate their effects, fostering a healthier response to stress.

By integrating these methods into your routine, you can cultivate resilience, ensuring that your body and mind recover adequately. Ultimately, embracing both the challenges and the recovery processes will lead to a more sustainable approach to training, allowing you to perform at your best while safeguarding your overall health.

Why am I telling you this? Well, I’m saying this for two important reasons. The first is that if stress is stress, whether it’s physiological or psychological, we must take into account your meetings, traffic jams, parental duties, and even bank account in the same way that we take into account your workout fatigue. Shift workers, CEOs, and parents worn thin are taking on stress, which internally wrecks havoc on the system much like the training of a MMA fighter or Olympic hopeful. Usually for the CEOs and shift workers it just means less autographs and usually more body fat. Respect this stress.

The second reason I’m telling you this is, whether you’re the MMA fighter or the shift worker, recovery is key. It’s yin and yang, and if we don’t respect stress, you’ll be all yang. You must recover from the exposure to stress or the system breaks down. Maybe for the MMA fighter poor recovery means winning less fights and for the shift worker it means storing more fat or getting sick more often. Regardless, stress is stress and we need strategies to overcome it.

Very few movers and shakers in their career also crush big volumes in the gym without deliberate recovery practices. Improving sleep hygiene with things limited screen time at night, sleeping in a cool dark room, and getting eight full hours of sleep helps. Breath work and meditation can also help the body enjoy a more parasympathetic state. Others may recover with naps, reading, or other nurturing habits. Regardless of your strategy, embrace something to address your stressors; squats and LA traffic alike.

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach