When it comes to stress, you may not think beyond the feeling of being ‘run off your feet’. In fact, stress is your body’s response to any required change and it’s not all bad. You actually need a certain amount of stress to keep you active and well.
There are three levels of stress: calm, eustress, and distress. Calm is when you’re relaxed, sleeping, not overthinking, and even bored. Eustress is where you are most productive. This is where you feel engaged and focused or ‘in the flow’ of things. In an uber-connected, over-committed modern world, you often tip from eustress to distress where feelings of overwhelm, fatigue, burnout, and physical discomfort occur. This is what you want to avoid.
Stress manifests itself in myriad ways, but as it relates to your fitness, it affects your muscles and joints when your hearts beat fast, your blood vessels constrict, your muscles get tense and tremble, blood pressure increases, and you move from cyclical breathing to short and shallow breaths. All of this makes exercise tricky or ineffective. Because physical movement is vital for your physical and mental health, it’s important that stress doesn’t compromise your fitness. Instead, you can use your fitness to better deal with stress, and use tools to stop stress preventing you from being active.
Exercise is an excellent stress-reducer in the right conditions, but not all exercise is created equal when it comes to stress. If you’re looking to lose weight, it’s not helpful to carry out high-stress exercises like HIIT (High-intensity interval training) or running as this causes your cortisol levels to rise, as opposed to fall.
You should aim to work out intensely when you’re in periods of eustress or calm. If you’re in a period of distress, gentle and calming exercises like yoga, walks, or slow swims can both relax your mind and provide endorphin-releasing, muscle toning, heart-happy movement.
To do your best to prevent being in states of distress, support your body naturally to ensure you operate in a state of eustress as much as possible. You can do this by ensuring long and restful sleep, managing cortisol and serotonin levels, keeping your breath even and cyclical, and have sufficient vitamins and minerals to support your body in its cognitive and physiological functions.
When you prioritise your mental health in this way, you pave the way for improved physical health and a better, lifted mood.
Approach stress from the inside, out.
BePure InnerStrength is designed for those who experience burnout, mental and physical fatigue. It utilises a blend of adaptogenic ingredients to rebuild your adrenal system and foster resilience in the face of prolonged stress. InnerCalm is designed to bring calm when you feel mentally wired and experience feelings of worry and stress. It contains herbs and nutrients that work together to rapidly reduce feelings of worry and support relaxation.
