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Is Your
Exercise Program Making You
Fat?
It seems to be common
knowledge that exercise is
one of the keys to weight
loss…but sometimes the very
workout program you’re using
to drop pounds can actually
make you gain weight! How
can that be? When a good
diet and exercise program
results in an expanding
waistline, the first
question I would want to ask
is, “How much stress are you
under?” It’s less common
knowledge that the combined
forces of stress and
exercise can sabotage weight
loss, which is why it’s
absolutely CRITICAL to
identify your stress levels
before selecting the proper
exercise program!
When you are stressed out
for any reason, your body
responds by going into
fight-or-flight mode. In
this process, the adrenal
glands release adrenaline
along with the stress
hormone, cortisol, to break
down tissues, increase blood
sugar levels and mobilize
your body to take urgent
action. Although cortisol is
normally present in the body
to carry out numerous
functions, chronic stressors
such as overworking,
relationship issues, poor
diet, prolonged physical
exertion, etc., can keep
cortisol levels constantly
elevated. Because cortisol
works to break down muscle
tissue in response to
stress, this reduces the
body’s ability to burn
calories. High cortisol
levels can also interfere
with the function of
insulin, a hormone that
operates to process
carbohydrates. Consequently,
muscle cells become more
insulin resistant, reducing
their ability to let
carbohydrates in for energy.
When carbs do not make it to
the muscles to be burned off
as fuel, where does it go?
That’s right, bodyfat!
Renowned strength coach,
Charles Poliquin, has
developed a system called
“Biosignature Modulation”,
that indicates where you
store fat on your body is
influenced by whatever
hormonal imbalances you may
have. In particular, when
cortisol levels are too
high, there is a tendency to
gain bodyfat around the
midsection. In fact, the
more bodyfat you have around
your belly button, the more
out of balance your cortisol
levels are.
As you can see, the hormonal
system is very sensitive.
Every hormone affects the
balance of other hormones.
Similarly, when the adrenal
glands are out of balance,
it can directly affect the
function of the thyroid
gland. I like to think of
the thyroid gland as a sort
of “throttle” for the
metabolism. When your body
is stressed out, the
throttle slows down in order
to avoid damage to bodily
tissues. When cortisol
levels are elevated due to
stress, it stops efficient
conversion of certain
thyroid hormones, which
results in decreased
metabolism.
These days, chronic stress
is practically the norm, and
obesity afflicts
approximately 33 percent of
the U.S. population. Many of
these stressed out,
overweight people go to the
gym and do what? Work out
really hard to try to lose
the weight. Exercise, while
being a very healthy thing
to do, is also stressful on
your body. When you
exercise, your body must
recover from the efforts and
build up additional reserves
of energy in order to
withstand the repeated
exertion. But, when someone
is already chemically
stressed out from the
pressures of daily life,
what happens when they add
an intense exercise program
on top? That’s right, they
secrete yet more cortisol.
The additional physical
stress load exacerbates the
hormonal imbalance that was
already there, essentially
digging a deeper ditch and
hampering one’s ability to
lose weight.
When your stress levels are
elevated both
psychologically and
physically, your body has to
work overtime to repair the
cumulative damage created by
all stressors. Thus, it is
important for the intensity
of any exercise program to
be appropriate to the
existing levels of stress:
High Stress = Low
Intensity Exercise.
Here are a few modifications
you can make if you need to
exercise, but you feel like
your stress levels are high:
-
Decrease the total
number of sets per
exercise: If you
normally do 3 sets per
exercise, then drop down
to 2 or 1 set per
exercise. This total
decrease in training
volume will put less
stress on your body
while giving you the
benefits of regular
exercise.
-
Decrease the
intensity of the
exercise: This can
be calculated as either
a decrease in the amount
of weight used (if
resistance training) or
a reduction in your
target heart rate zone.
Either of these options
will reduce the stress
load on your body so
that it won’t have to
work as hard at
repairing tissues after
strenuous effort.
-
Change the type of
exercise: Many of
the athletes I work with
have a difficult time
letting themselves do
“light” training when
they are in the weight
room. If that is the
case, I may recommend a
less strenuous form of
exercise such as yoga.
Yoga is highly effective
for very stressed out
individuals who need to
recover, so long as it
is not done intensely.
You will absolutely be
amazed at the results you
begin to experience once you
start exercising correctly
for your stress levels.
Several clients who come to
me for weight loss are
simply training much too
hard for their stress
levels, working out 4-5 days
per week without ANY
results. Once I modify their
programs based on the
recommendations above, much
to their surprise, they
begin getting the results
they want by doing less
volume and intensity instead
of more! |
