You Have Enough Stress In Your Life; Don't Let Exercise Add To It

I’m sure you've heard the phrase, Eat to live, don't live to eat.

The same concept can be applied to exercise. Exercise to live, don't live to exercise.

Through my years of personal training, one thing I've noticed is an overwhelming number of people allow exercise to rule their lives.

Some people work out twice a day and wonder why they can’t achieve their fitness goals. What they don't realize is that "exercise stress" can be just as harmful to your mind and body as not exercising at all.

How is exercise stress is different from over training?

Over training typically happens because muscles fatigue and can not handle the physical stresses put on the body. As the body wears down, it becomes more susceptible to injury.

Exercise stress, however, is the mental stress people put on themselves around exercise. It's when someone worries so much about working out that they can't figure out why they're not losing weight. One result of all that stressing is that the body could release cortisol, which can cause someone to hold on to fat or gain weight.

Another effect is of exercise stress is a lack of sleep. Getting zzzs is a key component of health. Not sleeping enough can cause your workouts to suffer, and make it easy to make the wrong food choices.

So what can you do about exercise stress? Here are few things to keep in mind:

1. Remind yourself it’s OK to miss a workout. The gym isn't going anywhere. You’ll be fine!

2. Take a day off. Recovery is when the body builds muscle and repairs itself.

3. Meditate or spend 30 minutes of YOU time. Don’t think about work and exercising.