Exercise Is A Stressor

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A perspective that I have have been developing for a while and have been communicating to others more recently is the idea that understanding and appreciating that exercise is a stressor is of the utmost importance for an exercise professional.


I believe that this is in part what the RTS™ idea of "exercise is invasive" is trying to convey--having the perspective that what we do on the outside profoundly affects the inside and understanding and accepting the responsibility that comes with that.

My application of this idea as of recent has been beyond simply the mechanical stresses that are imposed upon the system when strategically challenging motions and positions.  I think to fully be able to appreciate this idea you have to have some notion of what else in a client's life is creating stress, whether it is them eating foods that don't agree with their system, poor relationships with those they interact with, or a highly-demanding work environment, as well as a lifestyle structure that does not allow for adequate recovery from these other stressors.

Stress, as I am defining it in this context, is "the body's reaction to change that requires a physical, mental, or emotional adjustment or response" (About.com).

Because of this viewpoint that exercise in its most basic form is a stressor, I am of the belief that a huge part of my job as an exercise professional is to manage this stressor for the time a client is with me relative to the other stressors they are currently having to deal with.

Image courtesy of healthonabudget.com

This means that if a client comes in and says they had a really stressful day at work and they need a hard workout to get their mind off it, I stand there and tell them that it would be a breach of my ethical and professional guidelines to do that.

This means that if a client comes in and says they were at holiday parties all weekend so they need an intense workout to get all of the alcohol out of their system and burn of the 40,000 calories in hotdogs, potato salad, and pies they ate, I stand there and tell them that it would be irresponsible of me as a professional to add to the stress that their diet put on their system by challenging them at the intensity they are requesting.

This means that by attempting to take an inside (the body) view of exercise, I cannot see losing weight, improving health, fighting disease, or feeling better as (superficially speaking) eat less move more issues.  Instead, I have to see them as internal environment issues.  Which means I have to know how my tool of choice (force) may potentially affect the internal environment such that I can effectively manage my tool to the best of my ability in order to allow for an internal environment to be created within my clients that allows them to lose weight, improve their health, fight disease, and feel better.

Exercise is a stressor, and with that perspective comes the responsibility of understanding that what you as an exercise professional are doing may be furthering someone's issues, not relieving them.

Your body.  Your training.

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