Sounding the Alarm

Stress has a major impact on the body. Stress can be psychological and physiological. The stress caused by a high pressure work environment may be just as dangerous as the stress caused by an intense workout or running a race. Stress isn't entirely bad; in fact, stress is required to create the adaptations necessary to improve your health and physique. The first laws described how the stress of overload can lead to overcompensation which in many cases is a positive improvement.

The General Adaptation Syndrome describes the three phases that the body goes through in response to stress.

Sound the Alarm

The first stage is the alarm stage. The body reacts to stress by releasing chemicals such as adrenaline. It creates the so-called 'fight or flight' response. This reaction can increase your heart rate, force your muscles to begin contracting involuntarily, dilate the eyes and even cause your body to start sweating. This is a defense mechanism. It is designed to 'sound the alarm' that something is going on and give you the kick needed to either fight the stress or turn around and run away from it.

This is a short-lived stage. If the stress is removed, the alarm goes silent. Of course, lifting just one weight or running for five minutes isn't going to produce a major result … in these cases, you'll need to continue to stress the body for a prolonged period of time. In other words, you push beyond the alarm into the second stage of GAS.

Resistance Is Not Futile

The second stage is the resistance or adaptation stage. Understanding that the stress is not going to go away, your body will take a different strategy and find a way to provide more long term protection. There are pros and cons to this stage.

The pros are that certain reactions such as the increase of hormones that can lead to burning fat for energy and building muscle tissue create a positive training response. Weight lifters experience strength gains (a neurological response) and size gains (a physiological response). Endurance athletes improve their stamina and find their heart becomes more efficient and thus can do more work with fewer heart beats (as evidenced by a gradual slowing of the resting heart rate). All of these changes are positive results of training.

Some negative effects include stress hormones such as cortisol which may interfere with burning fat and building muscle. Your adrenal system may be overworked and this can lead to imbalance and fatigue. Your immune system is weakened slightly, making you more susceptible to catching a cold or disease. If this stage is kept short, you can walk away with the positive benefits. Stay too long, however, and you'll end up in the next stage - the red zone.

The Red Zone

The third and final stage is called exhaustion. At this point, if the stress is not removed, the body can no longer adapt. Your immune system will weaken further and illness can result. Your adrenal system becomes overworked and you will feel fatigued all of the time but unable to fall asleep. The physical and mental exhaustion can lead to feelings of despair, increased risk of injury, and in extreme cases, death.

So how do you stay out of the red zone? This is where a concept called periodization comes into play. Periodization is simply a system of modifying your training over time.

We know that overload, for example, leads to overcompensation. However, we just learned that overload creates stress and too much stress can lead to exhaustion. So instead of constant overload, consider using a stair step approach.

Take running for example. A good running program will increase your mileage over time, but also contain 'fall back weeks.' Instead of running 10, 15, 20, 25, and then 30 kilometers every week, you would structure your program so that you run 10, 15, 20, then fall back to 15, 20, then 25, then fallback to 20, 25, then 30. It will take you longer to reach 30 kilometers, but by building in the periods of lighter load, you allow your body to actively recover and avoid the exhaustion stage.

This same principle applies to weight training. Psychologically, it is the reason why it makes sense to have vacations and to relax on the weekends, so that you can avoid mental exhaustion as well as physical exhaustion. Because mental stress can create the same symptoms in your body as physical stress, it is good to balance your training with your work life as well. If you have a particularly stressful week, you may need to back off the training to compensate and fully recover. If you use your training to 'let off steam' pay special attention to your recovery afterwards.

Now you have an understanding of the GAS principle. Don't be afraid to sound that alarm because we are looking for adaptation. However, be sure to balance your training and build in periods of rest so that you can reap the benefits of overcompensation without ending up in the red zone.