Three rounds for time:
Row 250m
7 Heavy thrusters
Post time and load to comments.
Look who GRADUATED! Congratulation Blake, we miss you!
The Challenge was Stressing Me Out!
From time to time we'll run into an obstacle with one of our athletes that we've been making progress with. We provide the workouts, suggest accessory work, offer up some mobility drills, and dial in the nutrition. It would appear that all bio-markers, such as cholesterol, body fat percentage, resting heart rate, should be moving towards increased health. Along those same lines, we should observe a equal improvement in athletic performances.
Sometimes this equation doesn't add up. When this occurs, we're a little stumped initially. It take some critical thought, some additional time with the athlete, and a little heart to heart session. Our immediate reaction usually is to look through the food log for any glaring oversights. If nothing sticks out, we'll talk about rest and recovery. Is the athlete getting enough sleep and taking rest days when appropriate?
What we can't see and what isn't easy for us to assess is an athlete's stress level. Cortisol is a hormone that's released from the adrenal glands in response to stressful events (think: fight or flight). If you are suffering from chronically elevated cortisol levels because of issues at home, job related activities, or other reasons, you may identify with one or more of these symptoms:
Cognitive impairment
Blood sugar imbalances
Decreased bone density
Decrease in muscle tissues
Elevated blood pressure
Chronic inflammation
Symptoms of metabolic syndrome (elevated LDL's, decreased HDL's, abdominal fat)
What's remarkable is that many of these symptoms are synonymous with Type 2 diabetes. If you find yourself in this predicament of eating well, exercising five or six days a week, and sleeping eight hours a night, it's time to address your stress levels. No… drinking and doing drugs will not help. Googling "decrease stress" brings up thousands of articles written on the subject, including this one.
We want to help you become healthier and happier than you are today. If you need assistance, just reach out and ask.
