Most people are confused over the terms “physical activity” and “exercise”, often using both interchangeably, although there is a difference between the two.
Physical activity in daily life includes any movement, including household or occupational chores, gardening, sports, etc, which are not planned and not aimed at inducing stress.
Exercise is a subset of physical activity that is planned, structured and repetitive, with the final objective of improving or maintaining physical fitness.
It is intended to put stress on the body.
This “right” kind of stress can actually make the body more resilient.
According to the American Psychological Association, biologically speaking, exercise seems to give the body a chance to practice dealing with stress.
“It forces the body’s physiological systems – all of which are involved in the stress response – to communicate much more closely than usual: The cardiovascular system communicates with the renal system, which communicates with the muscular system.
“And all of these are controlled by the central and sympathetic nervous systems, which also must communicate with each other,” it says on its website.
This forces the body’s communication system to work better, as the more sedentary we get, the less efficient our bodies are in responding to stress.
When the body perceives stress, the adrenal glands make and release the hormone cortisol, along with the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine (also known as adrenaline and noradrenaline) that constitute the “fight or flight” response to a perceived threat, into your bloodstream.
Often called the stress hormone, cortisol causes an increase in your heart rate and blood pressure.
Stressing mind and body
All over the print, electronic and social media, you’ve probably heard or read others telling you to exercise to relieve stress.
But when the mind is overly stressed, especially in these challenging times, how much of stress should you put on the body to release that overwhelming feeling?
After all, exercising itself is stressful and thinking about it causes anxiety in some individuals.
Some people (I used to be one of them) find relief in a punishing high intensity workout after a stressful day.
In the long run – and perhaps with advancing age – I found this method no longer worked, because at the end of the day, I’d be mentally and physically drained.
Plus, there was a slight dip in my overall fitness level, not to mention niggling pain and injuries.
On the other hand, if I was too relaxed, I couldn’t adequately fire up my body for a rigorous workout.
Then when I pushed myself, I’d end up with a headache and a feeling of malaise.
I had to strike the right balance of mental and physical stress to gain maximum overall fitness benefits, i.e. the mind and body had to be in sync.
Too much or too intense exercises when you’re psychologically stressed can be harmful and puts you at risk of injury.
I’ve experienced that firsthand on numerous occasions.
Not only that, high cortisol levels can unfortunately also lead to weight gain as it stimulates your appetite and makes you want to eat more.
Or, you’ll find that despite exercising aplenty, the fats just cling to certain body parts.
That stubborn fat
I’ve heard both men and women lamenting that despite weight loss, their abdominal fats just refuse to melt away, even though they’ve tried all kinds of switch-ups to their workout routines.
However, their stressful mental state is often neglected.
After a stressful event, epinephrine and norepinephrine levels in the body usually return to normal, but the cortisol levels can remain elevated for a longer period.
In fact, cortisol levels can remain persistently elevated in the body when a person is repeatedly subjected to chronic stress.
Research has shown that stress and elevated cortisol levels tend to cause fat deposition in the abdominal area, rather than in the hips.
This fat deposition has been referred to as “toxic fat”, as abdominal fat is strongly correlated with the development of cadiovascular disease, including heart attacks and strokes.
Every individual is different, so it’s difficult to predict who will gain weight from high cortisol levels.
Studies of women who tended to react to stress with high levels of cortisol secretion showed that they also tended to eat more when under stress than women who secreted less cortisol.
Another study confirmed that women who stored their excess fat in the abdominal area had higher cortisol levels and reported more lifestyle stress than women who stored fat primarily in the hips.
So now you know why that little pouch in your tummy refuses to budge!
Determining how your body will react to stressors is a subjective process, and it takes trial and error to get it right.
There is no one solution for everyone.
Focus on recovery
These days, when I’m stressed, I scale back on my weight or resistance training because I know my body is holding tension somewhere and I don’t want to strain a muscle or sprain a ligament.
If I usually do three sets of 60 crunches, I’ll only do one set, or completely skip the training for that day and opt for walking or stretching instead.
When the body is stressed, it will force some muscles to tighten, and a tight muscle is a weak muscle, which can lead to pain, spasms and reduced mobility.
That said, feeling stressed doesn’t mean you have a free pass to just sit on the couch and fidget with your gadget; you still need to do something to bring down the cortisol levels.
Reaching for the refrigerator, drinking wine (or other alcoholic beverages) and watching movies doesn’t count.
Opt for a medium to low intensity workout, build a sweat and get on with the day.
Now, if your life is so crazy busy that it doesn’t even allow you the opportunity to slow down, then contrary to what I’ve just said, exercise is probably not the best thing to do as your body and mind need time to recover.
Recovery cannot happen in a day, it might take days to weeks.
Exercise won’t make you healthier if your body is already struggling to keep up with its own normal day-to-day processes.
Researchers have shown that recovery is impaired when you’re stressed, which means you may not be able to recalibrate even if you’re doing all the right things such as keeping yourself hydrated with water, sleeping eight hours, eating healthy, etc.
Instead of exercising, indulge in less structured physical activities that you enjoy.
That could mean rolling around with your pet, walking around the neighbourhood, cycling to the grocery store or embarking on a home improvement project.
Once you start moving, your mood will inevitably lighten as well.
And it leaves you with a sense of purpose and accomplishment.
More importantly, close your eyes and spend five to 10 minutes doing deep breathing exercises once or twice a day, which helps bring down cortisol levels quickly.
You know your body best; treat it with loving care and it will serve you well.
Revathi Murugappan is a certified fitness trainer who tries to battle gravity and continues to dance to express herself artistically and nourish her soul. For more information, email starhealth@thestar.com.my. The information contained in this column is for general educational purposes only. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.
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