CategoriesMotivational

How Toxic Hostility Is Killing Us: Yes, This is Relevant To You. So Read It

I had the pleasure of attending the Boston Sports Medicine Performance Group (BSMPG) annual conference this past weekend at Northeastern University.

First off: props to Art Horne for pulling off – yet again – another spectacular job organizing and hosting the event. You, sir, deserve this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAryFIuRxmQ

 

Second off: this is easily one of the more “high-level” events of the year on the fitness calendar, and I can’t speak highly enough to the caliber and quality of not only the speakers, but the attendees as well.

Ever have that feeling you’re the dumbest person in the room? Well that was me this past Friday with guys like Bill Hartman, Charlie Weingroff, Pat Davidson, Eric Oetter, Dr. James Anderson, and the pencil sharpener located at the front of the room all under one roof.

If you’ve never heard of the event, now you have…and I’d highly encourage you to try to make the trip to Boston next Spring.

If you have heard of the event, and you’ve never made the trip, to you I say……..

Get it done next year.

You won’t be disappointed.

Okay, so, lets talk about stress.

Why?

Well, for starters it’s something that affects all of us in some form or another. And secondly, one of the keynote speakers this past weekend was the one and only Dr. Robert Sapolsky, author of Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers.

He’s one of the world’s foremost experts on stress (he wrote a book about it, duh.), and someone who’s done more research on the topic than pretty much everyone, ever.

And he has an epic beard.

Which means we should listen to him.

The good doc spoke for around 90 minutes, but it felt like it was ten. It was all fascinating.

He discussed stress and how we as humans (more specifically those of us who have been around for the last 100 or so years) have changed how we react to (both physiologically and psychologically) and cope with stress.

You see, we don’t worry so much about infectious diseases in the “modern world” today. Diseases like dysentery, leprosy, and to a much smaller degree, influenza (flu)1 used to be much more of a problem back in the day.

Omitting the looney tune anti-vaxxers in the crowd, we’ve also made diseases such as polio, measles, and smallpox all but a passing memory.

 

Today, however, while they still exist and certainly shouldn’t be taken lightly, it’s not infectious diseases that are the leading cause(s) of death. Rather, as Dr. Sapolsky noted, it’s diseases which take their time to slowly deteriorate our bodies over the course of decades.

Heart disease, diabetes, marriage, etc…..

“Why is it when we feel someone doesn’t love us, or we feel sad or angry, we reach for the M&Ms?

If we could figure this out, we’d cure half the cases of diabetes.”

– Dr. Sapolsky

Lets begin by defining what stress is and what a stressor is.

Stress: adaptation your body mobilizes to re-establish homeostasis in the system. I’m paraphrasing here but, “hormones are released and [stuff] happens.”

Stressors: anything in the outside world that affects homeostatic balance.

For a zebra this can be being chased by a lion. For humans this can refer to tax season or your S.O. wanting to sit down and “talk about feelings.”

To expound a bit further Dr. Sapolsky states:

“For a cognitively complex species (like humans and other primates), stressor is also the ANTICIPATION that a a real physical challenge is about to happen. If there really is not the threat of a physical stressor coming, then you are setting yourself up for increased risk of stress-related disease.

Is stress always bad? No – if a stressor isn’t too extreme, is only transient, and occurs in what overall feels like a benevolent environment, it’s great, we love it – that’s what play and stimulation are.”

To simplify things into Dr. Sapolsky’s “umbrella theme”:

As humans we can turn on the same stress response as a zebra getting chased by a lion, but we tend to do so from a purely psychological standpoint, and we have a hard time shutting it off.

Increase your blood pressure for 30 seconds to avoid being eaten by a lion = save your life. (And, dude, you just outran a lion. That’s baller.)

Increase your blood pressure for an extended amount of time (for whatever reason) = heart disease.

In other words: we’re being chased by the stress of a 30-year mortgage or rush hour traffic or being forced to watch Downton Abbey. It’s all the same.

And it’s killing us. Literally.

Some Other Factoids on the Stress Response

1. We often see a suppression of digestion with elevated stress levels. Short term example = dry mouth before public speaking. Also, “fat loss” isn’t quite as much of a priority when a black bear is starring you down and licking its chops.

All non-vital systems are shut down.

Interesting to note, and something that’s often misinterpreted is that stress does NOT create ulcers.

Bacteria – specifically Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) – are the main culprit. But it’s our inability for our stomach to repair itself (due to stress) which is the key.

2. Chronic stress leads to myopathy (muscle loss), lethargy, and inefficient use of energy.

Interesting Fact: having a Type A Personality (characterized by impatience, hostility, low self-esteem, among others) places someone at a higher risk of developing heart disease than smoking.

Dr. Sapolsky referred to a concept he titled TOXIC HOSTILITY which I thought was spot on and a brilliant way of explaining things.

Here in Boston I see it every day. A gleaming example was yesterday while Lisa and I were walking across the parking lot from our car to the entrance of Whole Foods.

Out of nowhere this guy started blaring on his car horn because someone had the audacity to back out of their spot and hold him up for maybe five seconds.

I mean, really?

Apparently he was that important and in that much of a rush that he had to do something about it. Which was be an asshole.

I remember when I was in London last Fall I noticed virtually no one honked their horn.

Sure it happened, on occasion…but when I brought it up to some of the attendees at the workshop I was doing they noted honking the horn was kind of frowned upon over there.

Londoners just didn’t let trivial shit affect them.

This is in stark contrast to people I know or clients I’ve had who would straight up want to punch a baby seal in the face if they didn’t perform one rep correctly during their set of squats.

Long story short: is it any wonder we have some people who drop dead of a heart attack at 45?

3. We all know exercise is “good” stress, right?

But an insane amount of exercise doesn’t lead to an insane amount of benefits.

4. Long-term, chronic stress can lead to a decrease in libido as well as act as a precursor to erectile dysfunction.

How can we tell if it’s an “organic” issue or a psychological issue?

Easy. Attach this thingamajig/sensor to the penis which, once someone hits REM sleep, will send a signal via GPS to a satellite (<- may or may not be true) and let you know if you get an erection.

In all seriousness, this is true. Once he hits REM sleep the male will elicit an erection. BOM CHICKA BOM BOM.

If he’s able to do so we know it’s NOT an organic issue, but a psychological one.

5. Stress DOES NOT lead to an increase in cancer.

Dr. Sapolsky noted that there are any number of quacks (< – his words, not mine) making a fortune on their stress reducing (“cancer reducing”) treatments.

He gives everyone permission to scissor-kick anyone in the groin if they claim stress causes cancer.

Stress Management & Coping With Stress

So how can we manage stress?

It’s all about REFRAMING OUR STRESS EXPERIENCE.

Each individual is going to find (or at least should try to find) his or her’s most ideal way of coping with stress.

Dr. Sapolsky referenced a famous study done with rats where one rat was giving a shock every so often. Not surprisingly said rat developed an ulcer.

Another rat was given the same shock, but this time there was a second rat placed inside the cage. The rat given the shock could go and take out its frustration on the second rat. There was a MUCH reduced incidence of developing an ulcer.

A third rat was given the same shock, but was given a piece of wood to gnaw on (given a hobby).

A fourth rat was given the same shock, but was given a lever to press which would greatly reduce the frequency of said shock (given a sense of control).

A fifth rat was given the same shock, but had several other “rat friends” around to groom it and to act as a social support.

In all scenarios the rate of developing an ulcer was VASTLY reduced.

Why?

The rats were given an outlet of some sort, or social support. All of which led to less psychological stress.

Relaying this information to homo sapiens, stress management does work….but there are several caveats.

1. You can’t reserve it for the weekend only. You have to make a concerted effort to implement whatever strategies you pick on a daily timeline.

2. You have to choose something you actually enjoy doing.

Meditation, lifting weights, yoga, running, gardening, reading scripture to orphaned kittens, ALL work as a mode of stress management.

But if it’s an activity you don’t gain any pleasure from, it won’t work.

3. NEVER listen to anyone who states they have scientific research to back their claims or that their brand of stress management is scientifically proven to be better.

It’s BS, and makes Dr. Sapolsky very angry. Not Hulk angry, but close.

CategoriesUncategorized

5 Life Stressors That Are Affecting Your Training

I’m still in NYC taking in the sights and sounds.  As much as it’s the city that never sleeps and is arguably the most exciting city in the world, I think the most impressive thing that I’ve come across during this visit is a little restaurant chain called BareBurger.

In a span of 24 hours I’ve hit up this place three freaking times, and each time I swear I want to run around the place and give the entire staff a high-five.

I’m seriously thinking about writing an email to the owners and petitioning for them to open up this place in Boston.

It’s unbelievable!

But as thrilling as hearing about my palette and eating habits are, as it happens I left Crunch Fitness located on East 34th Street not too long ago, where I took their staff through a four hour in-service on assessment. As I was walking around I decided to set up shop here at one of the 893 Starbucks located in Manhattan to catch up on some emails and to post this quick guest post by Chris and Eric Martinez (AKA: The Dynamic Duo).

In case anyone is curious – and why wouldn’t you be? – the staff over on East 34h St, is fantastic.  The fitness director, Mike Spiegel, is a stand-up guy and it’s impressive to see how passionate he is about the fitness industry, how he strives to make his staff better in every way possible, and the exuberant energy he conveys.

As far as commercial gym settings go – and believe me, they’re not all nightmares – these guys do it right, and I was thoroughly flabbergasted.  How’s that for word play!?!

It says a lot about a staff when 10-15 of them take time out of their busy schedules to come listen to me ramble on about scapulohumeral rhythm, the Joint-by-Joint approach, and squat assessment; especially when they could have just as easily skipped out and used that same time to train clients and make money.

Instead they decided to come chill with me, and that’s cool as balls.

I was honored to be invited in to speak, and cheesy movie quotes and references aside, everyone seemed to enjoy it. 

Nevertheless, I hope you take the time to read today’s guest post as I feel the topic – STRESS – is something that far too many people gloss over.

“I’m tired. I feel overtrained. I have no energy. I ate like crap the other day. I had a long day at work. I feel fat. My genetics suck.”

We remember our last year of college taking 15 units per semester, doing an internship, working 32 hours a week, homework, projects, and training. MY LAWD we were extremely busy and evidently this lead to mental stress. We started to continuously say things like the above statements and the mental stress started to affect our training and that was a huge, huge DEAL-E-O.

We’re writing this because we feel too many people overlook the component of life stressors when it comes to getting optimal results.These days, everyone wants to know the magical programming design to build muscle, hidden gems to fat loss, the gold standard macronutrients ratio for their nutrition program, perfect supplementation stack, and then some.

What we tend to forget are life stressors that we all deal with on a day-to-day basis. These life stressors lead to mental stress, which have been proven in studies to lead to performance decrements in training.

You can have the quote-on-quote perfect training and nutrition program but what if your sleep is always lacking? Your cortisol levels are chronically elevated through the roof? Your blood pressure is constantly sky rocketing? Or your energy levels are sinking like a ship? The quote-on-quote perfect program will suffer because of these life stressors and so will your results.

Note from TG:  I’ve written on the topic of sleep and how lack of it can affect one’s training (not to mention hormone levels) HERE.  Additionally, THIS post dives into some simple tips one can implement almost immediately to help people not only get to sleep but also improve sleep quality.

You should read them.

Now, before we get started with our 5 life stressors that may be affecting your training and how to fix them. We don’t want you to look at this in a superficial way or a black and white answer type of thing. We’re asking you to think critically here and come up with your own opinions.

We want you to look at these life stressors more as they could become a big problem if they become chronic in your life and you don’t find a way to cope with them. Truth is we all have life stressors and some we can’t get rid of, but we sure can control them so our training doesn’t suffer. Allow us to elaborate…

Stressor #1- Occupational Stress

Corporate world, 9-5’s, commuting, being micro managed, meeting project deadlines, driving in revenue, working your ass off to get promoted, wanting to round house your boss because they’re always nagging at you…

Does all this sound stressful? While stress can have detrimental effects, evidence suggests that stress plays an essential role in developing a healthy body that is able to cope with the various demands thrown our way on a daily basis. It is very likely that you’re getting off work, going straight to the gym, and have experienced some kind of occupational stress which could affect your performance when you’re training.

The Fix- While going through your warm up phase, put on your “GET FIRED UP” playlist, think positive about your upcoming workout, and imagine how you’re going to man handle that squat.

If you shift your mindset away from work mode, you will be more immersed into your workout and thus you will have a more effective training session.

Stressor #2- Social Stress

Social stress can be as tough as occupational stress, if not tougher. The reason being, you can have the best job in the world, fanciest car, and an MTV like crib on the block, but if you don’t have a social life or aren’t socially accepted then everything else means Jack.

Everyone wants to be socially accepted whether they admit it or not. Social stress can also be family issues or changes, relationship issues, and sexuality issues. Social stress can lead to mental stress, anxiety, depression, decrease cognitive function, among other decrements. So it’s imperative that you exercise at a high performance level so these stressors won’t affect your training.

The Fix- If you’re dealing with a lot of social stress try joining a team or taking a group class such as: Boot camp, TRX, Pilates, yoga, CrossFit, etc.

The environments in these group classes are very supportive and encouraging. There’s a lot of camaraderie built and this could be a sure way to help you cope with and improve your social stress.

Stressor #3- The Mind Body Connection

A quote that really sticks with us is by Dr. Layne Norton, he said “your mentality becomes your reality.”

If you’re inherently negative and constantly think negative outcomes, then you’re most likely going to face negative results. Same thing goes for being inherently positive. (1) There are hundreds of studies showing again and again that decrements to health due to the mind body connection are real problems. (2) Mental stress is related to an increase in various potentially harmful chemicals substances such as: cortisol which degrades proteins, including white blood cells, antibodies, resulting in a decrease in immune function, and consequently, elevated rates of sickness.

This also leads to cerebration (thoughts), which is one reason why people that are stressed often have sleeping disorders and it’s because they’re up worrying all night.

The Fix- The minute you step foot into the gym, make sure to get your mind right. Do this by playing some good-up beat music (so good that you want to show off your dance moves), get a good warm up in, and get pumped up for your workout.

Who knows, you could have had a hell of a day at work, with the spouse, the kids, the babies mama or daddy. Play it safe and set the positive mood for a more productive workout. Don’t bring that energy draining negative vibe into the gym and definitely don’t be that person in the gym walking around giving everyone dirty looks…

Because YOU AREN’T THAT TOUGH. 

Stressor #4- Stress Disorders

Stress is not always a bad thing. In fact, stress is absolutely needed for growth. However, the real problems occur with abnormal and chronic stress responses.

For instance, some people might typically operate in a persistently hectic environment. (3) These environments contribute to alarming numbers of mental ailments including 16 and 32 million cases of depression and anxiety. These same people will often make excuses to avoid physical activity. This is when stress can cause serious ailments and diseases.

If you don’t utilize the nutrients and energy being supplied by your bodies during the high stress responses, several diseases can occur such as: Diabetes, obesity, immune suppression, cancer, asthma, allergies, indigestion, and cardiovascular disease.

Now of course these are extreme cased diseases, but we still want to inform you on them. Also, fat loss, performance, and hypertrophy could be hampered by high and chronic stress responses.

The Fix- If you typically operate in a persistently hectic-daily environment and are always under high stress. Consider hiring a trainer or a coach. A qualified trainer or coach can take a lot of the guess work out of your training and nutrition program and make your fitness life a lot easier.

Stressor #5- Nutritional Factors

Nutritional factors can be closely related to stress disorders and can become serious problems if you don’t monitor them correctly. If you feel lost with your nutrition program, then you could find yourself overwhelmed with information online or those non-qualified local gurus telling you to eat nothing but tilapia and broccoli because it’ll thin out your skin.

This could lead to frustration and depression and could cause the following to occur: Malnutrition, poor eating habits, eating disorders, bulimia anorexia, or just flat out quitting overall.

Again, these are extreme cases, but these are all serious matters which will lead to high mental stress and eventually performance decrements when you train.

The Fix- Hire a sports nutritionist, a reputable coach, or a trainer that has a nutrition background. These professionals will take care of the nutrition side for you and hopefully educate you as well.

You could even take a basic nutrition class or self-educate yourself with the right resources.

Wrapping All This Up

As you can see even if you have the most optimal training and nutrition programs, your bodies will say “Not so fast!” This is because stressors in life can affect how you feel with training.

Lots of studies show mental stress can cause decrements in performance and even hinder adaptation than physiological stress. Sometimes you can’t remove these mental stressors in life. But you can cope with them, psychologically to where they don’t become stressors.

Take life stressors serious as you would with your training and nutrition programs. If you totally ignore it, do you want to risk your performance and end results?

For more information on how to deal with life stressors, check this video out here.

About the Authors

 

Chris and Eric Martinez, CISSN, CPT, BA, also known as the “Dynamic Duo” operate a world class personal training and online training business “Dynamic Duo Training,” They’re also fitness and nutrition writers, fitness models, and coaches that love helping people reach their goals. Their philosophy is “No excuses, only solutions.”

Visit them at:

Dynamic Duo Training

Blogsite

Twitter

YouTube Channel  

References:

  1. Simmons, J (2006). Exercise and stress lecture. California State East Bay.
  2. Haddy, Richard I. Clover, Richard D. (2001). Biological processes in psychological stress. Families, systems & health.
  3. McCullagh, Penny. (2005) Sports and exercise psychology lecture. Cal State East Bay. Wilson, Gabriel. Wilson, Jacob. Exercise and Stress-An in-depth Analysis.  http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/exercisestressindex.html