We know that exercise helps us manage stress. You’ve had a tough day at work and you’re feeling a bit wound up and jittery. You don’t feel like working out, but you do it anyway. Lo and behold, about 20 minutes into your workout, the anxiety subsides, and you start to feel better. Your worries are a distant memory as your body gets into tune with your workout. In response to exercise, your body releases chemicals, like endorphins, that give your mood a lift. Plus, exercise helps with sleep and being well-rested helps your body better deal with psychological stress.
Exercise Performance and Psychological Stress
So, exercise helps us manage stress and lift our mood, but have you ever wondered what impact psychological stress has on how you work out? When you’re chronically stressed or worried, can it impact your performance or increase your risk of injury? Let’s look at some of the ways mental stress impacts exercise performance.
First, stress can interfere with the motivation to exercise. A 2014 meta-analysis published in Sports Medicine found that people who are dealing with substantial psychological stress were less likely to exercise at all. In fact, in six out of the seven studies they looked at, mental stress had a negative impact on exercise motivation. These folks simply didn’t feel like working out and didn’t make the effort to do so. Makes sense, doesn’t it? You’re less likely to prioritize exercise if you’re worried about other things. Interestingly, a small percentage of people are more likely to exercise when they’re mired in stress, probably because exercise helps them feel better. In the study, people who were already habitual exercisers were more likely to work out relative to people who were just starting to be physically active.
How about exercise performance? Does mental stress affect that too? Again, the impact depends, to some degree, on the individual. If you’re under chronic stress, your body is tired, and this can lead to brain fatigue. It’s unlikely you’ll perform your best when your brain isn’t into what you’re doing. However, stress can sometimes be a stimulus that spurs people on and encourages them to push harder. For example, some athletes thrive under pressure and being stressed motivates them to “give it their all.” But this is usually short-term stress of a short-term nature. Also, being mentally stressed is linked with reduced reaction time. Concentration can suffer as well and that can increase the risk of injury. Don’t forget, exercise itself places substantial strain on your body, so the combination of mental and physical stress simultaneously is a double dose of stress.
Mental Stress Slows Exercise Recovery
Since exercise is a stressor, your body needs time to rest and recover after a training session. Mental stress can interfere with the recovery process and make it less than optimal. How so? For one, mental stress often makes it harder to sleep. You lie awake worrying rather than drifting quickly off to sleep. You might also have more awakenings during the night or wake up earlier than you normally would. We know that sleep is crucial for exercise recovery and for making fitness gains as well. For example, your body releases growth hormone during the deepest stages of sleep. If you don’t get enough sleep, you may not get the full anabolic and fat-burning effects of growth hormone. As such, gains may be harder. In addition, chronic stress increases the release of cortisol, a catabolic hormone that breaks down muscle tissue.
Does science back this up? A study carried out on students at Yale University found that students who ranked high on a scale of psychological stress needed more time to recover after a workout and regain their strength. When they did leg exercises using heavy weights, the students high on the stress scale regained only 38% of their leg strength after an hour. In contrast, the less stressed students reclaimed 60% of their strength after an hour. You need more recovery time when you’re fatigued or chronically stressed.
In addition, studies show that mental stress slows wound healing time. That’s relevant to muscle building as well. When you strength train, muscle fibers are damaged and must be repaired. It’s likely that your muscle fibers heal more slowly when you’re under stress as well. This isn’t surprising since stress elevates cortisol and high levels of cortisol suppress the immune response and wound healing.
How Should You Modify Your Workouts?
Exercise can be just what the doctor ordered for stress because it releases endorphins and distracts you from your worries. So, not exercising when you’re stressed out isn’t typically the best option. Instead, modify your workouts so your body has more time to recover between sessions. Higher levels of cortisol from being stressed out slows down wound healing and this may apply to the healing of stretched and torn muscle fibers as well. Do more sessions where you’re lifting lighter and doing higher reps. Lifting near your one-rep max too often places more stress on your body and increases recovery time. Alternate between high resistance, moderate resistance, and low resistance. As always, don’t train the same muscle groups within 48 hours, but add an additional day of rest between sessions if you’re under a great deal of mental stress.
The Bottom Line
Working out can be good medicine for mental stress if you strike a balance. But keep in mind that psychological stress may impact your workout performance as well and prolong your recovery time afterward. Listen to your body and find some other outlet to relieve stress. A yoga workout might be just what your body needs on a given day. So, choose your workouts based on how you feel and make sure you’re giving yourself enough rest and recovery time as well.
References:
Mayo Clinic. “Exercise and stress: Get moving to manage stress”
Sports Med. 2014 Jan; 44(1): 81–121.doi: [10.1007/s40279-013-0090-5]
Anxiety and Depression Association of America. “Physical Activity Reduces Stress”
Fitness.mercola.com. “10 Ways Stress Can Mess with Your Workouts”
Immunol Allergy Clin North Am. 2011 Feb; 31(1): 81–93.doi: [10.1016/j.iac.2010.09.010]
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: July 2014 – Volume 28 – Issue 7 – p 2007–2017. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000335
Related Articles By Cathe:
Does Exercise Make You More Resistant to the Negative Effects of Stress?
Brain Health, Body Weight and Exercise
Can Exercise Help You Breeze Through Menopause
Can Eating Walnuts Help You Manage Stress?
How Your Body Adapts to the Stress of Exercise & the Importance of Not Overtraining
Does Chronic Stress Contribute to Premature Aging?
5 Ways Psychological Stress Leads to Weight Gain
2 Types of Stress & Why One is Worse for You Than the Other
Exercise Places Stress on Your Body and Here’s Why That’s a Good Thing
