Your Quarterly Stress Briefing: What To Know

Not all stress is bad stress. Learning about types of stress will help you understand its place in your life.

You deserve a pat on the back for working out. But you also need to work hard.

Good Morning!

It’s August, and we’re 3/4 of the way through 2023. Is that stressful at all?

In previous newsletters, I’ve made the case that super-intense exercise performed too often can often have a reverse stress-relief effect and that the overstressing of the body can backfire on you. This usually happens when you over-do it on the HIIT.

I sincerely urge you to re-read my article from earlier this year in case you consider starting an aggressive training program. That goes especially for those who already operate in high-stress work environments.

Today, however, I will address the other side of the argument and pose solutions for accomplishing a more balanced exercise diet for those who may not be working hard enough.

Good Stress and Bad Stress

A simple fact of fitness is that changes happen because of stress.

This means we need a good dose of stress here and there, just not the “pulling your hair out” kind. This stress is called eustress, or stress that we can tolerate and accomodate well.

If a stressor persists long enough, we eventually accommodate it, and it no longer becomes stressful.

Simple, right?

It gets a little confusing.

Since we already know what too much stress looks like from an exercise lens (this stress is called distress — harmful to the system), we need to discuss the point where the good changes stop happening, so that we can use fitness as a way to toe that line.

Starting from Square One, we need to have an outcome we’re looking for when we exercise, and I hate to say it, but, “Just feeling good” usually isn’t enough.

Think about a specific number on the scale. A desired pace for your 5k. A certain image you want to see in the mirror might fit in this realm, too.

Without these tangible and noticeable measurements, you’ll have a tough time knowing if what you’re doing is working.

Now, if you have a goal, that’s great; you’re already ahead of many, many people. If you’ve been reading since my very first newsletter, you’ll remember I talked a lot about how New Year’s Resolutioners fall off and fall off quickly.

This is usually because they just say, “I’m going to exercise more,” and not, “I’m going to exercise more because _____.”

The right motive for doing something strenuous will keep you going, and seeing results toward that motive will continue that process.

If you’re having trouble finding a legitimate motive, ask yourself “The Five ‘Why’s.’” The Why’s for each motive you think of will help you find the root cause of the first motive that comes to your head, like peeling back layers of an onion.

Anyway…

The Spectrum of Stress

Let’s dig deeper.

For every “I’m going to sweat a gallon in class today” HIIT junky, there likely exists a person who may just be congratulating themselves for repeating the same workout 3-5 times a week.

Now don’t get me wrong — Consistency should always be celebrated. BUT…

Even if goals are set, the unfortunate nature of training is that the stimulus needs to change for a goal to be constantly reached. Walking 2 miles on the treadmill daily is great, but at some point, months down the road, your body will get used to that.

It will cease to be (eu)stressful enough for any meaningful change. The same way getting out of bed thirty minutes earlier gets easier and easier over time resulting in fewer tired mornings, the same workout will get easier and easier, resulting in fewer gains.

I’m a big “Move Ring” enthusiast, but I use different means of closing it daily.

Taking it up a notch doesn’t have to be overly complicated, either.

Here’s a quick guide on how to progress your training. Generally, you want to add weight, repetitions, and sets to each exercise over the course of a few months.

As easy as that might sound, it can be easy for those who don’t have a coach to go into autopilot, believing they’ve pushed themselves harder than they think they have.

I wasn’t the hugest fan of the 12-3-30 TikTok trend — which I won’t hyperlink here so as not to entertain it — because it’s what I call a “complacency workout.” It masquerades as something moving the needle when, for most people with gym experience, it doesn’t actually have the same effect as a well-calculated strength or cardio session.

Because it caught on like wildfire, now I fear too many beginner gymgoers are short-changing themselves, using that method as their only means of movement in a given day. It‘s a great supplement, but not a real “workout.”

So Fran, at the start of the newsletter, you said too many people work too hard, now some people aren’t working hard enough. Which is it?

Sorry for being confusing and cynical.

I think that plenty of people have struck the perfect balance, and it takes a ton of time to find what your level of a good, hard, positively stressful workout is.

One thing I’ve found to be very helpful is to take an honest assessment of your training’s difficulty is necessary at LEAST once a month. Ask yourself, “Did I give it my all, and have I been giving it my all lately? Where could I improve? Am I doing too much?”

Strength Training, Muscle Gain, Online Coaching

Strength Training, Muscle Gain, Online Coaching on Instagram: “You might be doing totally fine in all these areas, BUT… It really can’t hurt to just check. I talk to people so often who just assume they’re doing enough of a certain thing. Trust me, I understand it’s hard to manage every aspect of your fitness. Like, insanely hard. but you shouldn’t just write things off that you think are adequate before actually assessing them. You might be surprised at what you find out from tracking just a few of these metrics!”

February 25, 2023

And it may even help to pick up a pair of weights that are legitimately too heavy for you every so often to see where your limits are.