Have a hard time building muscle? Struggling with a training plateau? If so, daily stress might be the culprit. It not only affects your gains but also leaves you fatigued and moody. In the long run, stress can lead to muscle loss, weight gain, and increased risk of injury. Its impact is even greater when coupled with dieting or overtraining.
Let's see how stress affects your workouts and what to do about it!
Stress and Exercise: What's the Link?
When you're facing tight deadlines, kids schedules or juggling two jobs, training falls off your priorities list. Even if you make it to the gym, you still don’t get the results you're after. Stress affects your motivation as well as your gains. Moreover, it keeps you from getting leaner and drains your energy.
Once your body reaches a certain stress level, cortisol production goes up. Cortisol, the stress hormone, promotes fat storage and makes it harder to lose weight. Basically, it affects body composition and lipid metabolism. In the long run, it may lead to insulin resistance and elevated blood sugar, which puts you at risk for diabetes and obesity.
Under normal conditions, cortisol levels drop in the evening and peak in the morning. Exercise raises cortisol for a short period of time, which helps with fat loss and induces lipolysis (fat breakdown). However, if your cortisol levels stay high for too long, your gains will suffer.
When produced in excess, this hormone causes muscle breakdown, weakens immune function, and lowers your testosterone levels. You'll not only lose muscle but also have a hard time recovering from training and feel fatigued. This puts you at risk for injury and affects your progress in the gym. Luckily, there are ways to keep your cortisol levels under control and limit stress.
How to Suppress the Stress Hormone Cortisol
The first thing you need to do is to figure out why you’re stressed. Is it because of your work or personal life? Or perhaps you're training harder than usual? Overtraining and prolonged dieting put stress on your body, leading to higher cortisol levels.
Steady state cardio is notorious for skyrocketing cortisol production. If you're spending hours on the treadmill, stop right now. There are better ways to lose fat without messing up your hormones.
Secondly, pay attention to your diet. Caffeine and alcohol raise cortisol levels by stimulating the adrenal cortex. Get plenty of rest to balance your hormones and reduce stress. A good night's sleep will boost your testosterone levels and speed up muscle repair.
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