Stress: we all have it. And we all know it affects us. How do we as athletes control certain areas of our lives so that we can positively impact an athlete’s performance? Exploring the 24-hour athlete and our human ecosystem will help us understand.
Stress has really been around forever. But it was Hans Selye who discovered the fight-or-flightresponse as part of the general adaptation syndrome in 1936 (14) and defined two different types of stress, eustress (the good stress) and distress (the bad stress).
Our body doesn’t really care if it is positivestress or negativestress, the fight-or-flight alarm is sounded and cortisol, a hormone is released. Eustress creates a positive feeling and a heightened state of arousal (think: “it’s game time, baby.) This is that moment in time where you pop out of bed and you take on the world. Everything you do comes out awesome. You can’t miss a shot. You feel like you could run a marathon or two, and then discover the cure for cancer, all before breakfast. Eustress happens after a period of training, and then restoration, where your body feels ready.
In “distress,” quite the opposite happens. You’re tired, distracted, your heart might be racing, and you might be experiencing pain. Distress happens when we’re intensely training, not sleeping or eating properly, or dealing with emotional distress—or a combination of all of the above.
Understanding the 24-hour athlete concept can help us learn how we can encourage eustress, discourage distress and keep cortisol levels where they should be to positively affect human performance.
WHAT IS CORTISOL?
Cortisol is a naturally occurring steroid hormone made in the adrenal glands and secreted by the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal gland. (1) Cortisol is secreted in response to physical, psychological, or physiological stressors. (13) When we experience fear (like watching a horror movie!) or experience stress (like crunching all night on a project), cortisol is released as part of the fight-or-flight mechanism. (14)
Most cells in the body have cortisol receptors, so needless to say, cortisol is kind of a big deal.
Cortisol, typically known as “the stress hormone” does have many positive functions, despite its nickname. (2,3) Cortisol:
· Accelerates the breakdown of proteins into amino acids. As a result, plasma glucose levels are raised, and the body is given the energy it requires to combat stress from trauma, illness, fright, infection, mental stress, and more
· Can help maintain blood sugar levels
· Regulates metabolism and body temperature
· Reduces inflammation
· Has a controlling effect on electrolyte and water balance
· Assists in controlling blood pressure
· Supports the developing fetus during pregnancy
· Impacts immune response
· Modifies mood and behavior, as well as perception of pain
But like all things, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Cortisol in excess leads to catabolic reactions, which negatively affect us. Too much Cortisol can:
· Increase blood pressure (1, 2, 4)
· Impact metabolic disorders such as developing insulin resistance, dyslipidemis, hypertension, and obesity (2, 4)
· Increase retention of water and sodium (4)
· Result in abnormal bone regeneration and collagen synthesis or calcium deficiency (4).
· Increase the risk for depression, mental illness, and a lower life expectancy (14)
NUTRITIONAL IMPACT ON RECOVERY AND CORTISOL
For the most part, our nutritional impact is 100% in our control. And we can use nutrition as one way to control the overproduction of cortisol. There are certainly times when “fed is best,” which means eat something over nothing (yes, even if it’s fast food.) But for the most part, and you have the time AND the choice, if you can catch it, grow it, or kill it you can eat it. If you have to read a food label, it is not food, you have never seen a food label on carrots have you?
Processed foods do nothing for us except fill a hunger void in the short term, and in the long term, processed foods are stress-inducing and increase cortisol levels.
The Western diet is characterized by whatever is “fast and easy,” which leads to an overconsumption of the bad stuff coupled with reduced variety. We over consume everything from refined sugars and salts to saturated fats. (7) Too much of all this processed crap leads to increased inflammation, a reduction in the control of infection, a weakened immune system, and an increased risk for allergic and auto-inflammatory disease. (7) On the flip side, the complex carbohydrates found in fruits and vegetables reduce inflammation.
So how can you reduce your intake of packaged food? Shop at local farmers markets, which promotes eating what is in season. You’ll also increase your variety, increase your ability to buy grass fed meats, and limit the availability of purchased foods. If you can’t get to the farmer’s market, simply shop the edges of your grocery store, which is where you find the least processed food.
Hereis a great article that discusses nutritional sports nutrition strategies for balancing cortisol and stress.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SLEEP ON RECOVERY AND OVERALL HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE
We have all heard the wisdom that everyone needs six to eight hours of sleep to function at their best. It’s actually true. Sleep, or the lack thereof greatly impacts cortisol levels, and ultimately athletic performance. A lack of sleep:
· (Or less than six hours of sleep a night) is shown to put a person at greater risk for developing illness (8, 10)
· (Or less than six hours of sleep a night) increases our potential for autonomic nervous system imbalance, which stimulates symptoms of overtraining syndrome (11)
· (Or less than eight hours of sleep a night) increases their risk of injury by up to 1.7% (11)
· Decreases cognitive performance, alertness, reaction time, memory, and decision making (11)
· Leads to the possible promotion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which could promote immune system dysfunction (11)
· Prevents making new memories (8)
· Increases our production of beta amyloid, a protein that is associated with Alzheimer’s (8)
· Decreases reproductive system function (8)
· Negatively impacts our cardiovascular system, resulting in up to a 200% increased risk of having a fatal heart attack, or stroke in your lifetime (8)
For all of you caffeine-loving night owls, we know what you’re thinking! What about sleep excess? Relatively little work has been done on the research of sleep excess. The study by Mah et all was one of the pivotal studies emphasizing sleep as a secret and legal “performance enhancer.”
The team followed a 2-4 week habitual sleep-wake schedule to establish a base line, and then a 5-7 week sleep extension period was implemented where the minimum goal was 10 hours in bed each night. The players were measured on sport specific measurements after every practice. Reaction time, levels of daytime sleepiness, and mood were also monitored. Players showed faster sprint times, improved shooting accuracy, improved reaction time, and self reported ratings of physical and mental well-being during practice and games also improved. And they were able to achieve it all just by getting some more zzzz’s.
Two notable teams, the Seattle Seahawks and the Chicago Cubs winning the Super bowl in 2014 and the World Series in 2016 respectively have utilized a company Fatigue Science to better understand their players levels of fatigue for a performance edge.
Sleep may not always be in our control. (Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just cannot sleep!) There are some simple things you can do to create good sleep habits, which will improve your sleeping, which will control your cortisol levels. Click hereto read more.
EXERCISE AND TRAINING IMPACT / The Importance of Appropriate Programming for Both Team Practice as well as Outside Training
One of the main problems in sports performance as it relates to both teams and individuals is poor programming and periodization. We simply cannot have hard day after hard day nor can we have moderately hard, hard, moderately hard, hard, so on and so forth week in and week out. Can we sustain either of these patterns for any certain amount of time? Maybe. But the damage done is far more of a concern. Cortisol increases with moderate to high intensity exercise, Hill et al defines moderate to high intensity exercise as 60% of VOs max or greater. (13) When looking to compare heart rate percentages to its equivalent in VO2 max refer to thisdocument. For now, 60% of VO2 Max is closely associated with a heart rate of 75% of your max heart rate. If your heart rate max is 195bpm for example, you can expect to have elevated levels of cortisol from completing a training session at a heart rate of 146bpm or greater. Duration is also important. Most of the research found for this article was 30 minutes or longer. One important fact to remember is that low intensity exercise (40% VO2 Max) has been shown to reduce the amount of circulating cortisol levels. (13) Low restorative days are incredibly important.
When it comes to training, everything we do has a physiological cost—whether it’s your walk-through practices, your hard, small sided games, or 1 v 1 work, your hard sessions in the weight room or out on the field conditioning. It all has an impact. Some of it is restorative and some of it is very taxing. We need both, the really taxing work followed by the truly restorative work to see and reap benefits.
That’s why it’s SO important to make sure you are looking at the total picture. Your weight coaches, head coaches, trainers, sports performance teams, and nutritionists should all be working together to create a plan that works for you as an athlete, or your team (if you are a coach).
EMOTIONAL STRESS
A fight with your significant other, a terrible roommate situation, financial stress, academic stress, and other events that cause fear or other emotional stressors cause the adrenal glands to release cortisol in the name of fight-or-flight.
Remember eustress (the good stress we talked about in the beginning) creates this positive “its game time baby!” feeling and a heightened state of arousal. Cortisol levels return to normal upon completion.
Distress (the negative stress we talked about in the beginning and throughout the article) without the opportunity to flush cortisol levels results in a build up in the blood and wreaks havoc on our minds and our bodies (14).
We can’t always control our emotional stress. But we can limit our exposure to things that stress us out. For example, find a good group of friends who lift you up. Avoid dramatic people and situations at all costs. Find a way to let little stuff go. And if you cannot, seek help from a professional.
CONCLUSION
Look at the total picture: that is the essence of the 24-hour athlete/human eco system. Think about the things happening in your life that relate to your cortisol levels. Choose to control the things that you can control. Here are the things you can control, which in turn can keep your cortisol levels in check:
1. Your nutrition. Avoid packaged, processed foods. Stick to vegetables and produce you can buy locally.
2. Your sleep. Develop healthy sleep habits. Aim to get 6-8 hours per night or more.
3. Training. Don’t go hard ALL the time. Work with your coaches and team to build in recovery and restorative days.
4. Emotions. Surround yourself with people who want what’s best for you—and support you. Find outlets and ways to let go of the little things. If you can’t do that easily, seek help from a professional who can help give you the skills.
References:
1) https://www.hormone.org/hormones-and-health/hormones/cortisol
2) https://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-cortisol
3) https://www.irunfar.com/2017/12/painting-bridges-chemical-stress-in-a-running-injury.html
4) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00217-016-2772-3
6) Stress and Eating Behaviors. Yvonne H.C. Yau and Marc N. Potenza. Minerva Endocrinol. 2013 Sep; 38(3): 255-267
7) Fast food fever: reviewing the impacts of the Western diet on immunity. Ian A Myles. Nutrition Journal 2014 13:61
8) https://www.sleepdiplomat.com/speaker
9) The eEffects of Sleep Extension on the Athletic Performance of Collegiate Basketball Players. Cheri D. Mah et al. July 2011
10) Behaviorally Assessed Sleep and Susceptibility to the Common Cold. Prather et al. September 2015
11) Recovery for Performance in Sport, Chapter 4 Managing Active Recovery, Yann Le Meur, Christophe Hausswirth
13) Exercise and Circulating cortisol levels: the intensity threshold effect. Hill EE, Zack E, Battaglini C, Viru M, Viru A, Hackney AC. J Endocrinol Invest. 2008 Jul; 31 (7): 587-91