Exercise & Stress: Good or Bad?

Should I exercise when I’m stressed?

There are a lot of mixed messages out there, so let’s look at some facts. 

Intense exercise causes a temporary increase in stress hormones BUT:

✅ The cortisol spike during intense exercise reduces the cortisol response to subsequent stressors in life AND

✅ Exercise releases endorphins, which naturally combat stress AND

✅ Regular exercise over time supports a healthy cortisol rhythm. 

Some exercises, like yoga and tai chi, combat stress by putting the nervous system into a more parasympathetic state.  

So, for most people, exercise helps to combat stress. 

Exercise only becomes a problem when it’s extreme and intense—particularly in people who are already stressed by other things in life. 

It’s all about looking at the big picture! 

Do You Know Your Cortisol Pattern?

Did you know the stress hormone cortisol follows a 24-hour rhythm?

The pattern helps you feel alert in the morning and calm at night, like this:

☀️Cortisol peaks within 30 minutes of waking to kickstart the body for the day.

⛅ Levels decline throughout the afternoon and into the evening.

🌙 Cortisol is lowest at midnight to allow for restful sleep.

But if stress or lifestyle disrupt this natural rhythm…

⬆️ Cortisol can be persistently high, making you anxious or sleepless.

⬇️ Cortisol can be persistently low, making you fatigued and moody.

🔃 Cortisol can be flipped, making you feel tired in the morning and wired at night.

Cortisol is a “stress hormone,” but it also influences metabolism, weight, inflammation, blood pressure, brain function, mood, and SO. MUCH. MORE.

I think it’s worth paying attention to cortisol and doing everything we can to get it back to balance.

Do you agree?

Like this post if you want to see more posts about how to support your cortisol rhythm and stop letting stress rule your health 🙌

Interested in testing your cortisol levels? Schedule an initial visit with us to get started! 😍

Stress Hormones: What You Need to Know.

What your body does with stress 👇

I think we can all agree that the holiday season is one of the most stressful times of year.

Maybe you have a *sense* that it affects your health, but do you actually know why or how?

If you want to train your body to be more resilient to stress (so it doesn’t have so much control over your life), it helps to understand stress hormones.

So let’s start there.

There are 2 hormones to know:

Cortisol & Adrenaline (also called Epinephrine). Here are the differences:

1️⃣ Adrenaline is released rapidly as an immediate response to stress, whereas cortisol is released in a daily rhythm regulated by the brain & the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.

2️⃣ Adrenaline has fast effects to activate the body when in danger (think “fight or flight!”) Cortisol has slower effects that are not as obvious to track.

3️⃣ Whereas adrenaline increases the heart rate and can make you feel anxious during intense moments, cortisol has longer-term health effects related to metabolism, sleep, brain, and mood.

Cortisol is so central to the stress cycle that I’ll be sharing more about it and what we can do to balance it in upcoming posts.

Like if you found this helpful ❤️ and message me for help.

[New Study] Sleep, Stress, & Anxiety

👋 Raise your hand if you want more resilience to stress!

Less anxiety?

Yes please 🤚

New research shows that one way to achieve these things is simply by getting BETTER SLEEP.

The study looked at data from 1600 healthy adults during 2020 (an anxious time for lots of people!). Most of the participants were women.

They found that both positive coping strategies and higher quality sleep made people more resilient to stress and anxiety—independently, meaning each of these things work on their own.

Need some tips & motivation for better sleep?

✅ Keep the room cool

✅ Turn off screens in the evening

✅ Commit to a calming routine

✅ Cut off caffeine in the afternoon

✅ Get exercise during the day!

We have lots of tools in our functional medicine toolbox to help with stress, anxiety, & sleep.

Like if you found this helpful ❤️

Reference

Sullivan EC, James E, Henderson LM, McCall C, Cairney SA. The influence of emotion regulation strategies and sleep quality on depression and anxiety [published online ahead of print, 2023 Jun 21]. Cortex. 2023;166:286-305. [link]

The Stress-Hormone Cycle in Men

Why men should not ignore stress‼️ 

It’s a vicious cycle:

Stress triggers the adrenal glands to produce more cortisol  ➡️ 

Cortisol suppresses testosterone production ➡️

Tanked testosterone contributes to estrogen dominance  ➡️ 

Estrogen dominance leads to weight gain, low libido, fatigue, irritability, anxiety, sleeplessness and (you got it) ➡️

More STRESS ➡️

Lots of men get interested in prescriptions for testosterone or supplements that support testosterone levels, but even these “natural” approaches are only a band-aid solution unless we…

👉also address stress and the stress hormone cascade👈 

Some ways to reduce stress right away:

✔️ Write down 3 things you feel grateful for every morning

✔️ Go for a short walk at lunchtime

✔️ Block time on your calendar to exercise

✔️ When you notice yourself getting stressed, pause for a moment and breath

These are simple things, but if done repeatedly, add up to big gains over time.

Like if you found this helpful ❤️ and follow for more on men’s health this month!