Restorative Exercise

Meet the endocrine system – a huge family of various organs – when one of them throws a tantrum the rest get pretty upset.  Often times it is the pea-sized pituitary gland, known as the master gland that regulates this cascade.

Most often, in today’s society, the tantrum can be caused by a stressful situation.  Unfortunately, our body can’t tell the difference between a bad break-up, a huge deadline or being chased by a ginormous grizzly bear- stress is stress. When we are faced with a stressful situation, we call upon our adrenal glands.  These two little guys sit right on top of our kidneys and help our body to survive stress by sending adrenaline out into the body which ignites our “fight or flight” response. The adrenal glands are also best friends with the papa pituitary. Although fight or flight would be really helpful in the grizzly bear situation, it is not so helpful in the situation of chronic stress at work or school. Adrenaline increases our heart rate, blood pressure and helps the body to become more alert and focused. It also converts protein (muscle) and stored sugar (glycogen) to fuel for energy. 

In short-term periods of stress, our body is able to recover from this reaction, however in long-term, or chronic stress, the body sustains this intensity with the help of cortisol. It’s during this time that the adrenals are unable to tend to their primary function, which is hormonal regulation. Additionally, the elevated cortisol begins to damage healthy tissues and often calls upon estrogen to help generate more cortisol. This is often called adrenal fatigue, or adrenal exhaustion. It is up for debate in the Western medical community, on whether or not this is real, but if you glance upon the symptoms, it certainly sounds familiar.

Symptoms of chronic stress are:

• Tired after a full-night’s sleep; General lack of energy; Fatigue
• Cravings for salty and sweet foods
• Decreased sex drive
• Decreased ability to handle stress
• Poor focus
• Less accurate memory
• Poor immunity
• Poor digestion
• Intolerance to cold (cold hands and feet)
• Weight gain, or difficulty lose weight or developing muscle
• Mnstruation problems

Convinced? I am.

So, what about exercise? Medical and healthcare professionals usually encourage regular exercise as a helpful tool to handle chronic stress.  Aerobic exercise increases endorphins and uses these stress hormones to perform the physical activity, which can help to restore them to normal levels. I am curious to know if intense, vigorous exercise can increase these levels of stress and cause more damage.  Any thoughts?

I am going to err on the side of caution, and assume that bouts of vigorous physical activity (Running >7mph; Heavy lifting) are not healthy for a person that is experiencing symptoms of adrenal fatigue. I am also going to assume that regular physical activity and exercise are wonderful ways to utilize the excess stress hormones and provide relief.  These activities may include walking at 3-4mph, bicycling, riding the elliptical and performing light-moderate strength training. I also believe that stretching, deep breathing and yoga exercise can help to re-align energy in the body and also promote healing. For the next month or two, I plan to decrease my bouts of vigorous activity and shift my focus from “working out” to moving more and exploring how my body uses its energy.

This may look like the following plan:

• Monday: Bike (30 minutes), Shoulder exercises with 8-12lb weights (20 minutes), Stretching and Yoga exercises (10 minutes)
• Tuesday: Elliptical (30 minutes), Chest and Back exercises (20 minutes), Stretching and Yoga exercises (10 minutes)
• Wednesday: Yoga Class (60-90 minutes)
• Thursday: Walk with incline intervals (30 minutes), Leg Exercises (20 minutes), Stretching and Yoga exercises (10 minutes)
• Friday: Elliptical (30 minutes), Arm, bicep and tricep, exercises (20 minutes), Stretching and Yoga exercises (10 minutes)
• Saturday: REST or Jogging (30 minutes), Abdominal exercises (20 minutes), Stretching and Yoga exercises (10 minutes)
• Sunday: REST or, Jogging (30 minutes), Abdominal exercises (20 minutes), Stretching and Yoga exercises (10 minutes)

Written by: Cassie Vanderwall