How stress sabotages muscle building and weight loss goals

Canada Goose Outlet Not only does cortisol get you out of bed in the morning by regulating your wake and sleep cycles, this canada goose black friday sale ‘stress hormone’ manages blood pressure, reduces inflammation, boosts blood sugar, and controls protein, fat and carb stores. So far, so useful. Canada Goose Outlet

canada goose clearance sale If it wasn’t for cortisol’s ‘fight or flight’ response, early humans would’ve been nothing more than ready meals for prehistoric predators however. Our environment and its stressors have changed dramatically since then (see many dinosaurs around here, do ya?), yet our hard wired ‘survival’ instinct has remained pretty much the same. And this is where the problem lies. canada goose clearance sale

canada goose coats on sale When you’re about to give a presentation, miss your flight, or argue with your family, your body reacts as if you’re about to be mauled by a bear shutting down certain bodily functions, including your digestive, reproductive and immune systems, to ensure Canada Goose Online your survival in that moment. canada goose coats on sale

canada goose black friday sale Useful every now and again you canada goose hardly need to procreate halfway through HIIT but if your stress count is constantly in the red, you’re in trouble. Work long hours, face tight deadlines, regularly drink a lot of coffee and alcohol, and hit the weights room hard? Any one of those factors will send your cortisol flowing, whether you like it or not. And when combined, consistently, it’s a recipe for ill health. canada goose black friday sale

(Related: What happens when I work too hard?)

canada goose “Our bodies think we’re in survival mode all the time,” explains Tony McCarthy, co founder of Truth Gym, London. “Unfortunately, this can make it very difficult Canada Goose Jackets to lose weight through traditional diet and exercise advice drop calories and train harder because canada goose clearance they create more stress for the body.” canada goose

Chronic stress is bad news for your fitness goals, whether you’re trying toshed a few pounds or get shredded. Not to mention the impact it has on your mental health.

Four ways cortisol can mess with your physique and how to fight back

canada goose store 1. Stress messes with your metabolism canada goose store

Canada Goose online Cortisol sits within a class of hormones called ‘glucocorticoids’, which increase blood glucose levels, explains Kim Ingleby, founder of Energised Performance and an Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Trainer. It promotes the metabolism of carbohydrates, protein and fats and Canada Goose Coats On Sale taps into your existing stores to free up energy during severe periods of stress. Canada Goose online

(Related: 5 easy ways to boost your metabolism)

Canada Goose Parka With energy levels raging, and no way of burning it off because you’re at canadian goose jacket your desk rather than in a jungle your body releases (energy storing) insulin canada goose store in an attempt to calm things down. Cortisol reacts by dumping most of the energy canada goose clearance sale as dangerous visceral canada goose coats on sale fat. For this reason, being chronically stressed can fast track you to a swollen belly, even if you eat like an athlete. Canada Goose Parka

cheap Canada Goose 2. Stress makes you crave junk food cheap Canada Goose

canada goose coats Cortisol is a steroid canada goose uk black friday hormone, and all steroids directly stimulate appetite, explains Dr Leon Creaney, a consultant in Sport Exercise Medicine at The Manchester Institute of Health Performance, operated by HCA Healthcare canada goose factory sale UK. canada goose coats

canada goose clearance Fat and sugartrigger the release of dopamine canada goose uk shop in the brain, which causes pleasure, “so people eat to counteract the negative feelings that come with stress”. Stress also takes the driving seat when it comes to food choices and portion control. In fact, it affects our brains in a similar way to alcohol, says Uxshely Chotai at The Food Psychology Clinic. canada goose clearance

(Related: Eat to reboot your mind and muscle)

“When we’re stressed or tired, our prefrontal cortex the part of our brain cheap canada goose uk that makes conscious choices for us stops canada goose coats working as effectively,” she explains. “We’re no longer able to consciously control our food choices, and we have less willpower to resist the urge to overeat foods we wouldn’t otherwise choose to eat.”

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buy canada goose jacket Over time, chronic stress damages your cells, making them resistant to insulin. This sends your hunger hormones out of whack, uk canada goose outlet warping your brain ‘stop eating’ signals. Before you know it, you’re canada goose outlet halfway through a multipack of Mars bars and still feel hungry. Unsurprisingly, this canada goose uk outlet https://www.canadagoosejacketsoutsale.com ‘insulin resistance’ is linked to an increased risk buy canada goose jacket of type 2 diabetes and obesity. buy canada goose jacket

The solution: Swerve caffeine, alcohol and sugar, and don’t wait until you’re ravenous to eat. Make meal prep your greatest asset and you’ll sail through the 3pm slump without reaching for the biscuit tin.

canadian goose jacket 3. Stress affects your recovery time and makes you Canada Goose online more susceptible to injury canadian goose jacket

canada goose deals Whenever you do aerobic exercise or lift weights, you create microscopic tears in your muscle fibres, explains Chris Magee, head of yoga at London gym Another Space. During recovery, your body repairs the damage, making your muscles bigger and stronger. canada goose deals

(Related: What better, weights or cardio?)

However, high levels of cortisol leads to “prolonged muscle tension, reduced blood flow and a build up of lactic acid,” he says, making your muscles “less elastic, and limited in their movement and growth.”

buy canada goose jacket cheap ‘Hang on,’ you say. ‘Isn’t cortisol a powerful anti inflammatory?’ Well, yes, but some inflammation is necessary to promote healing, advises Dr Creaney. “Therefore, high levels of stress are likely to blunt the adaptive response to training.” buy canada goose jacket cheap

That’s not all. When there are chronically high uk canada goose levels buy canada goose jacket cheap of cortisol whirling around your system, your body releases less white blood platelet cells, Canada Goose Outlet which are essential for your immune system. “This makes our recovery less efficient and ultimately lowers our immunity, making us even more susceptible to getting ill,” warns McCarthy.

The solution:Good Canada Goose Parka nutrition, supplements,and quality rest and sleep will rebalance the excess cortisol and give your body a boost, advises Ingleby.