Whether it’s a particular lift feeling heavier than it did last week, feeling more emotional or on edge, or sensing that a cold is coming on AGAIN.
Yes, all of these things can be stemmed from other things, although the majority of the time we see it coming down to us simply over filling our stress bucket (in multiple ways). Leading us to the point of burnout, injury, muscle soreness, sickness, etc.
External stressors can trigger physical pain in the body in various ways, primarily involving the body’s stress response system, which involves the release of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline – and can potentially manifest into a physical injury.
How Does This Happen, You Ask?
1. Muscle Tension and Soreness
When you’re stressed, your muscles tend to tense up as part of the body’s “fight or flight” response. Prolonged tension can lead to muscle soreness, stiffness, or even injury – especially in areas like the neck, shoulders, and back where stress often accumulates.
Next time you wake up with a sore back or neck – try looking at your life with a bigger lens and think about how you may be over filling your stress bucket.
It’s important to remember that training at the end of the day is another form of stress on the body. Although it is a good form, when we are already over stressed – this may just add to our bucket and tip it over the edge.
2. Immune System Suppression
Chronic stress can suppress the immune system, making you more susceptible to illnesses such as colds, flu, and infections. Symptoms like fatigue, fever, sore throat, and body aches may come as a result.
When you experience stress, your body releases cortisol, often referred to as the “stress hormone.”
Although cortisol serves essential functions in the body’s stress response, such as increasing energy and reducing inflammation, chronically elevated levels of cortisol can suppress your immune function by inhibiting immune cells like lymphocytes, crucial for fighting illness.
Managing stress through relaxation techniques, mindfulness practices, and support from those around you (including knowing when it’s okay to ask for help) can help mitigate these effects and support your overall immune health.
Stress can wreak havoc on the digestive system, causing symptoms like stomach aches, cramps, diarrhea, or constipation. It can disrupt the gut’s bacterial balance, leading to inflammation and worsening conditions like IBS or gastritis.
This is due to the “gut-brain axis,” where signals from the brain influence gut function and vice versa. Emotional or psychological stressors directly impact digestion, which is why stressful weeks might bring bloating or more severe PMS symptoms.
Stress triggers inflammation in the body, which can contribute to various types of pain, including joint pain, headaches, and even causing more stress to conditions such as arthritis.
This is where our hormones come into play yet again. Cortisol and adrenaline are a part of our “fight or flight” response as mentioned earlier. Although they are positive in small doses, when overdosed it can lead to inflammation due to cortisol acting as an immunosuppressant.
Not only do our hormones play a role though, but when we are highly stressed we enter our sympathetic nervous system, leading to the production of inflammatory molecules called cytokines.
Overall, as you can see now, chronic stress can have profound effects on the body in so many different ways, both physically and psychologically. While we can’t eliminate stress completely (we’re only human), becoming more mindful of it’s impact allows us to recognise when we’re overdoing it, listen to the body’s signals and learn when and where to pull back.