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.

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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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Diaphragmatic Breathing (Part 1)

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As living creatures, breathing is arguably our most basic function, but most humans breathe inefficiently.  Possibly due in part to the faster-pace, higher-stress lifestyles that are common-place today, many people can be found breathing such that their upper chest expands and their abdomen caves in during inhalation.  There are many potential issues with this type of breathing pattern.

According to Diaphragmatic-Breathing.org, chest breathing tends to lead to the majority of the oxygen inhaled only filling up about half of the total volume of the lungs (Diphragmatic-Breathing.org/Diaphragmatic-Breathing-Benefits/).  If someone is only filling half the space in their lungs every time they inhale, they are potentially breathing twice as frequently as if they were to fill their lungs to capacity with every inhale.  This increased respiratory rate has many potential effects on many different levels, ranging from altering the frequency of muscular participation during respiration to shifting which subsystem of the autonomic nervous system is dominant in an individual to a decreased ability to deliver oxygen-rich blood to the organs and other tissues of the body.

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Compare this to diaphragmatic breathing, during which an individual expands their abdomen outward as they inhale, with very little motion occurring in the chest.  As the name implies, this puts a greater emphasis on using the diaphragm muscle throughout the respiration process.  The diaphragm pulls downwards into the abdomen during inhalation, creating a pressure disequilibrium, which forces oxygen down into the lungs.  According to Diaphragmatic-Breathing.org, the lower portion of the lungs is where the greatest amount of blood flow is within the lungs.  With chest breathing, oxygen is rarely ever able to reach this lower portion of the lungs, leaving less oxygen-rich blood within circulating within the body.  With diaphragmatic breathing, however, oxygen is easily able to reach this blood, potentially allowing for greater health of the tissues and organs.

Personally, I have found diaphragmatic breathing to be a great method of relaxation during stressful times.  When I feel myself starting to get stressed, I stop and check my breathing.  More times than not I have been chest breathing, so I take a moment to refocus my breath to diaphragmatic breathing and usually begin to feel better after a few moments breathing into my belly.  I have also noticed that it is has been a great tool if I need help falling asleep.  I don't sleep much by choice, so when I do finally get to bed I am usually able to crash right away, but every once and a while I have difficulty sleeping because my mind won't stop running through ideas and to-do lists, at which point refocusing my breath towards diaphragmatic breathing helps tremendously.

Now that you've been introduced to diaphragmatic breathing, I will expand on this subject in future posts to cover both how this applies to training and how I incorporate in mine and my clients' training as well as a basic progression to improve somebody's ability to diaphragmatically breathe.

Your Body.  Your Training.

Charlie Cates, MATs, CSCS

Self Made_®, Owner and Founder

Charlie Cates is a Muscle Activation Techniques™ specialist and a certified strength and conditioning specialist.  He is the owner and founder of Self Made_® (http://selfmadefitness.com/) in Chicago, IL.  He has worked with competitive athletes and everyday people of all ages and ability levels, from 9-year-old kids to NFL MVP’s to 85-year-old retirees.  He can be reached via e-mail at charlie@selfmadefitness.com.

This article may be reproduced with biographical information intact.

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The (Many) Negatives of Aerobic Training

Take this article by Charles Poliquin with a grain of salt, but there are some great and thought-provoking points brought up. I'm not saying the information is incorrect, but it is presented in a very biased manner, so take that into consideration when reading.

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