Did you know – the stress response in a zebra lasts three minutes according to expert, Robert Sapolsky. Meaning that a physiological reaction to a source of stress will send heart rates racing, breathing rates through the roof and clear thinking as it runs for its life from the lion. It is the classic fight or flight response.
We used to have to do this. But we don’t anymore. Unless you keep a sabre tooth tiger under your bed. Our Stress comes from that deadline (see how unimportant that really is in comparison?)
As a personal trainer in Dublin, I would see a massive amount of stress with folks working long hours in short days. Couple this with life in general and you have a ticking time bomb – and then they want to get fit? It can be done but you have to be mindful of what you are dealing with and how to manage the ‘fight or flight response’. My job is to prescribe stress. Some days you can put your foot down. Other days it is time to put the feet up and get a sweat on another way!
Chronic degenerative disease is a physiological and a mental response to stress. Over time a physiological response to stress is matched with a mental response which means the stress response is prolonged over minutes, days, weeks and even years.
(I Love this Book by the Way to Get a Simple Grasp of What is Going on In Your Body)
It is something that animals in the wild don’t have to think about – bills, relationships, taxes, traffic jams etc.
Lion comes. Lion departs. Get on with it. If life was that simple.
Most of the time our cup runs over and like we mentioned last week spills over, literally in terms of rolls of fat over our trousers.
Belly fat is merely an expression of our poor tolerance to stress. It is not a case of it being ‘bad’ for us. Simply put we are not very good managers of it. Like the politicians with our fiscal situation.
We like to think we can plough on regardless taking on whatever life throws at us. Yet we are fighting a losing battle. We are still, in genetic terms, on the plains of Africa. Not the plains of Dublin commuting into work every day.
So how do we manage it so that we are things like a) emotionally more stable b) hormonally more stable c) nice to be around d) grateful for the small things in life and e) accumulating less body fat around the waist. Here are a few tools.
Tool No 1
If you find yourself stressed a lot then take the time to find out what your primary source of stress is. Maybe it is your work, relationship, current situation. Whatever it is make a plan of attack to do something positive about it.
Tool No 2
Read some uplifting literature. If you find that most of what you read and view is taken up by the doom and gloom in the news then stop! You are filling your head full of negativity and additional stress. Find some uplifting literature and read it or listen to it!
Tool No 3
Another good tool is to use a gratitude journal documenting what we are grateful for at the end of the day. Most of never take the chance to thank the small things in our lives. Write this down at the end of the day and give thanks!
Tool No 4
If you treat your digestive tract like a dustbin then you are placing additional stress on your body. Keep your diet clean and simple and hydrated by drinking plenty of water. Our happy hormones and brain chemical called serotonin in primarily made in the gut! So keep your gut clean and healthy!
Tool No 5
‘Take’ some exercise. I say take because some of us wrongly prescribe the amount and intensity we need to get results. Stress reduction via exercise can come as a result of small intense bouts of exercise or long slow and meditative bouts. Either way if you are starting out on exercise to reduce your stress, get outside and walk, stretch, hit the sauna/swim, try some slow squats or anything else that involves movement without thought, ‘performance’ or complicated routines.
Tool No 6
Get some sunlight as much as possible! You may have to look hard, but it is out there. I would also recommend getting your Vitamin D levels checked and supplementing over the Winter months.
Tool No 7
Take your fish oil. Dosages of up to 5g or 2 tsp of liquid fish oil have been proven to be more effective in relieving the symptoms of depression than prescription medication. Did I mention that it also turns off your fat storage enzymes and turns on your fat burning enzymes? We recommend 2-3 servings of oily fish every week.
John Lark is owner of Sphere Fitness. Head on over to http://spherefitness.ie/special and pick up your free Body Revolution Pack including a Cookbook, In Home Workout Plan and 40+ Page Lifestyle Manual.
