Stress

[Swandattur]

Don't stress hormones also elevate heart rate? So, you can have an elevated pulse from high metabolism or you can have it from stress hormones.

I know the time I kept doing that aerobics class when it made me feel lousy was not good for me. It seems like if you enjoy the exercise you are doing and it makes you feel good then it's probably the good kind. Or I think it works that way for me.

 

[kettlebell]

Yes adrenaline significantly raises heart rate. Very generally, at rest, when you HR starts going above 90+ adrenaline might well be involved. Another issue is people become desensitised to it if they have been running on it for a long time so more is required if the body is "Alerted" into a distress response.

Listening to your body is key. With practice you get better at it.

When you start exercising lightly and enjoying it you will find that over a matter of weeks you are able to move faster, push heavier etc whilst still remaining in a non stressed state.

Play is always the best form of exercise.

 

[mandance]

Yeah the heart rate is so odd. For example...I have an anxiety issue, and sometimes can have panic attacks...and it feels like my adrenaline is pumping, but my pulse is normal, despite the state of chaos that can occur. I know lots of anxiety sufferers have increased heart rate, but I never do....I do know that the blood pressure goes way up for a moment though until the body calms back down.

 

[Swandattur]

That is odd your heart rate doesn't go up during a panic attack. You'd think that would point to a particular cause for it.

 

[natedawggh]

Really? Isolation is not an absence of stress, since we are biologically required to have intimate relationships for optimal relaxation. And resistance exercise is not the kind of stress Dr Peat is referring to. The stress Dr Peat is referring to is the conditions which require the release and/or excess release of the stress complex hormones, not whether you think getting out of bed is hard, though To particular people such a mindset CAN cause the release of stress hormones, if you are inclined to think that way.

This talk on stress will change your life
http://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgoniga ... riend.html

 

[aquaman]

You have to do an appropriate level for what your body can handle. This completely depends. I'm 30 y/o male, I've always had recovery, injury problems from hard training, never made sense. More and more injuries as I got older, while friends I trained with could do more and recover better.

I can still work out 3x per week, but I keep sessions shorter etc.

You have to just stress your body enough to get a response, while allowing sufficient recovery.

Eg with training, good ways to test would be the body temps and pulse just before exercise versus 40 mins-1 hour after. If your stress hormones are still high after that time, then you have overdone it - shown by still elevated heart rate and temperature.

 

[caroline]

I am finding that Aquaman's suggestion to keep sessions shorter, etc. is really key. The weights I did made me feel absolutely wonderful. Of course, being obsessive, I immediately want to do more, but I am not doing that. The feelings and "tiredness" I got from the weights is very different, in a positive way, from what I get doing "cardio." It felt like I used everything in my body, and had to activate every part of myself to lift the weights and then made me feel relaxed and happy after that. Key was having OJ, plenty of it, right after. Easy, b/c my gym is near Trader Joe's anyway.

 

[Swandattur]

A good documentary about psychological stress is, "Stress, Portrait of a Killer" with Robert Sapolsky. It's the inescapable overwhelming unpleasant stress that is bad for us. It's when you have no means of dealing with it that it is really bad.

 

[jaa]

I am currently reading "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers" and it's the most stressful book I've ever read. Truly horrifying.

 

[charlie]