WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT STRESS?

Stress can be our friend and our enemy.

We want to get stressed when we walk in the gym and are getting mentally prepared to get in the squat rack, the scary feeling we get before we deadlift, the butterflies we get before you step under the squat barbell, our adrenaline goes up our blood vessels dilate and we are ready to go to war!!

Growing a great physique means we have to be ready to put our body under a lot of stress.

Along with the positive benefits of stress come a few negatives.

Sex hormone production and digestion get down regulated and muscle protein breakdown increases, among others. We are also at more risk of cardiovascular issues when under a long-term stress.

Unfortunately for people, training stress is usually the least of their worries, LIFE as we know it its pretty stressful, traffic, work, relationship issues, emotional issues like health and family problems are at the highest in the list of stress and mental stress just like physical stress causes the same physiological changes within the body.

So now lets put together the day to day stress with the stress you get from going to the gym and you can see how much of a negative impact this can have.

The first thing we need to do is first recognize that we are under stress, a lot of us just go on with life and shrug off the stress and carry on like soldiers, as much as this may make you look like a hero its NOT smart!!!!

When you feel yourself getting stressed ask yourself this question, is it under my control or not???

If it’s under your control you can fix it, if not what is the point getting stressed over it???? Move on……..

Ever heard of I will sleep when I am dead???? Well that is the stupidest saying I have ever heard!!!! It really gets me mad when I hear it.

Sleep is the single most important thing as humans need alongside water and air, so if you want to reduce stress make sure you get a good nights sleep.

If you currently stressed and finding it hard to get to sleep supplements like magnesium and melatonin are great to aid sleep, also reading a book before bed is great. Switch off all electronic devices at least 1 hour before sleep.

If you feeling overwhelmed with stress in your day-to-day life than look at the stress in the gym, reduce intensity and volume or have some time off, putting our body’s through more stress can actually be counterproductive, if you feel you still want to be active, walking and yoga are amazing.

Nutrition. Now this is a massive one when we are under stress, if you not getting the correct vitamins and minerals through food and then on top of that you had stimulants such a caffeine, pre workouts, alcohol you are literally asking for trouble!!!

When under stress is key that your nutrition is on point and stimulants are kept to a minimum.

If you going to take away anything from this article is to remember to be conscious of your current levels of stress, all inputs of stress must be considered.

Are you stressing about things out of your control? Relax and realize it.

If need be, reduce training volume in the meantime. With a bit of conscious

effort, stress should not be something that is unmanageable, nor should it hold us back.

#changinglives

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