PF Episode 27: Let's Talk About Stress

Jen: So, Alex, it's been a while since we recorded this podcast together. What have you been up to?

Alex: You know, I got sick, and I went on vacation.

Jen: Oh, yeah.

Alex: Kind of prohibitive. And you had stuff going on too, right?

Jen: Yeah, I've been going through a lot of stress, a lot of different things, and I really kind of got out of my workout routine. But lately I've been working out regularly again — I'm feeling more like myself. I feel like I got my mojo back.

Alex: Yeah, me too. I even managed to work out on vacation, on an island. So I feel pretty good now — recovered from my illness and ready to podcast.

Jen: Welcome to Practically Fit, Real Fitness Over 40. I'm Jen Chamberlain.

Alex: And I'm Alex Johnson.

Jen: And today we're going to talk about stress. What is it, actually? What does it do to your body, and what are some of the best ways to manage it? I wanted to tackle this topic because I've been dealing with a lot of stress at work, and it's really impacted my fitness goals — and frankly, my ability to work on this podcast. But before we dive into the research, I thought it might be fun to start with a quiz. So, Alex — which of the following are symptoms of stress? Forgetfulness, yawning, lack of energy or focus, headaches, diarrhea, or constipation.

What Is Stress, Actually?

Alex: Well, I'm no stranger to stress, so I'm going to say all of the above.

Jen: Ah, almost right — all of the above, except yawning. I threw that in there because my dog yawns when she's nervous, for whatever reason, but it seems to be just a canine response, not a human one. Gotcha.

Alex: Well, it sounded plausible, so I went with it.

Jen: That's the gist of a good quiz. But anyway, stress has myriad symptoms — aches and pains, sleeping too much or too little, sexual problems, weight loss and weight gain, so really both ends of the spectrum. We talk about stress a lot, but what is it, actually, Alex?

Alex: Well, Jen, according to the World Health Organization, stress can be defined as a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation. It's a natural human response that prompts us to address challenges and threats in our lives — everyone experiences it to some degree, but how we respond to it makes a big difference in our overall well-being. Basically, stress is a response humans developed through evolution to address a perceived threat — the proverbial fight-or-flight response. According to WebMD, quote, "During the stress response, your heart rate increases, breathing quickens, muscles tighten, and blood pressure rises" — which is great for me, given that I have high blood pressure, and I know a lot of Americans do — "you've gotten ready to act. It's how you protect yourself." So again, that's the fight-or-flight response. And the same article points out that while our bodies are equipped to handle short-term stress, we're not equipped to handle long-term stress without ill consequences. That's that feeling when you're stressed out for a long stretch — like you're stuck in fight-or-flight mode continually, and it's just miserable.

The Physical Toll of Chronic Stress

Jen: Yeah, "ill consequences" sounds really foreboding, and I completely agree — this matches my own recent experience too. In my head, I thought this recent bout of work-related stress had only been going on for a few weeks, but when I looked back at my journal, it had been going on for like six months. So that's definitely a long time to be in fight-or-flight mode. I also recently learned there's a third response: freeze. So it's fight, flight, or freeze, where you just kind of freeze up and don't do anything because you're stressed out — all natural human responses. But I got curious about what exactly happens in our bodies under prolonged stress, and spoiler alert: it's not pretty. A 2017 article in the EXCLI Journal — which stands for Experimental and Clinical Sciences — outlined some of the physical impacts of stress. It's a long article, but it was free, so I'll just hit the highlights. First, your brain: stress causes structural changes in different parts of the brain, and chronic stress can lead to atrophy of brain mass and a decrease in its weight. If that's not scary, I don't know what is. These changes can lead to problems with memory, cognition, and learning, largely due to the impact of cortisol from that fight-or-flight response. Interestingly, under certain conditions, stress can actually improve your memory — for example, studies have shown that having to take a written exam can improve memory for a short period, though you might not retain that information long-term. Alex, have you had any experience with that?

Alex: Well, I was actually thinking about this the other day in a different context, talking to my son about school. How much of the information from all those classes in elementary school, middle school, high school, and college have you actually retained?

Jen: Oh, hardly any. Hardly any.

Alex: Right — can you remember all the Roman emperors?

Jen: No.

Alex: I couldn't tell you either, if you asked me to list them all off. So yeah, that tracks pretty accurately.

Jen: Right, so according to these studies, stress will sometimes help you retain information for a short period, but it doesn't really help your brain in the long run — in fact, it's somewhat harmful. It also affects your immune system. According to the article, this has been studied for over 50 years, and stress does in fact weaken your immune system and make you more prone to illness.

Alex: Yeah, this is one I think everybody's experienced, right? How many times have you gotten stressed out, and then ended up fighting off a cold or some kind of infection? So true — that's one we probably all have experience with.

Jen: Yeah, I think this was one of the real problems during the pandemic too — we were facing this illness, and at the same time were very stressed out about it, which made it even easier to get sick. I remember that being pretty terrifying at the time. But if that's not frightening enough — severe stress can even contribute to malignancy or cancer, by suppressing the immune system.

Alex: Oh, happy. Happy times.

Jen: Don't worry, it gets better. It gets better.

Alex: If you're stressed through your whole life, living in a high-stress environment, it can contribute to cancer — that's just what I wanted to hear, Jen. Thanks for having me.

Jen: Well, I've got one more for you, and then we can move on to happier things. Last but not least, it's well established that stress impacts your cardiovascular system, most notably by raising your blood pressure. Alex, I know you have high blood pressure — have you noticed a distinct correlation with times when you're stressed?

Alex: Yeah, absolutely. My doctor had actually told me about this — speaking in general terms, not violating HIPAA, and I think he's retired now anyway, so he won't care — but he said he'd had patients whose blood pressure was clearly tied to stressful relationships or marriages, and as soon as they got out of that relationship, or got divorced, their blood pressure went down. So that's a great example of how stress can impact your blood pressure.

Jen: That is a great example. So this is all some pretty scary stuff — what do we make of it?

The Relaxation Response

Alex: Well, unfortunately, Jen, there's no cure for stress — we can't cure it. But we do have a built-in reset button, and it's called the relaxation response. According to an article from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, quote, "The relaxation response slows the heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and decreases oxygen consumption and levels of stress hormones." Some of the techniques for accessing this response are pretty interesting. First, there's deep breathing — I think a lot of us are familiar with this one. Jen, have you tried deep breathing before?

Jen: Oh yeah, absolutely — super helpful for stress.

Alex: Yeah, I have too. Studies have shown that deep breathing, also called diaphragmatic breathing, may modestly lower blood pressure and reduce cortisol, the main stress hormone in the body. There are different ways to do these exercises — breathing slowly, counting to ten, that sort of thing.

Jen: I like box breathing — that's my favorite, where you inhale for four beats, hold for four beats, exhale for four beats, and hold at the bottom. It's simple to remember.

Alex: Yeah, I'll have to try that one, sounds cool — I haven't tried that specific one. So there are different ways to do this, and people who deal with a lot of stress or anxiety are often referred to these techniques by their doctor. There's also biofeedback, which is an interesting one — we were chatting about it the other day. The evidence is less conclusive here, but several studies have looked at heart rate variability biofeedback, and some found it helpful for reducing self-reported stress and anxiety. Researchers see it as a promising area for further development. I actually had to ask you the other day — what does biofeedback even mean?

Jen: Yeah, it's funny — this is actually a blast from the past. It was a really big deal in the '70s, when there was a lot of interest in alternative medicine. I remember people talking about biofeedback, but we didn't have very sophisticated technology back then, so there were these devices that supposedly read your vital signs — honestly, I think a lot of them were probably just quackery, the kind of thing you'd buy over the counter. But the cool thing is that the modern version of this is wearables — devices that actually do track things like heart rate variability and oxygen saturation. The idea is that as you become more in tune with those numbers and notice what affects them, you can start to actually influence that response. So I think that's the modern iteration of biofeedback. It was big in the '70s, so some people who remember that — which I know you don't, Alex — might be a little turned off by the term.

Alex: I don't remember the '70s, but I can imagine the kind of quack devices you mean — some machine with wires you hook yourself up to. I always think about those belts people would strap around their midsection that would just shake, to supposedly help them lose weight.

Jen: Passive exercising — that was another fad too.

Alex: Yeah, the quack device, right? But this one's actually interesting — I think I've experienced a version of it personally, because I wear a Garmin watch almost all the time. You can kind of feel when you're getting stressed and then see your heart rate climbing on the watch. There have been times I've noticed that and done something like breathing or meditation specifically to bring my heart rate back down. So I think that's a really interesting piece of biofeedback — even just getting in touch with those numbers in general. We've talked about this before on the podcast and over on practically.fit — it can be really beneficial. For me, I was always kind of worried about my heart rate, because the only time I ever checked it was at the doctor's office, and just like my blood pressure, my heart rate spikes at the doctor's office, or even at the dentist, because I don't love the sound of dental tools.

Jen: That's white coat hypertension — what they call that.

Alex: White coat, right. Same thing happens with your pulse — it can spike just from being at the doctor. So I always assumed I had this really high resting pulse, but once I started wearing a device that actually tracks it day to day, I realized, oh, my heart rate is actually pretty good. So I think that's an interesting approach, and I'd be curious to see where the research goes on it. Another one is progressive muscle relaxation — I've done this personally through meditation, through the Calm app, for example, which has some meditations built around it. Studies have shown that progressive muscle relaxation may produce stress-alleviating effects, along with a positive effect on anxiety and depression for some people. This is where you actually lie down or sit down and consciously relax your muscles — you can even flex a muscle and then release it, to try to release the tension. I believe that's all part of progressive muscle relaxation. Have you tried that one, Jen?

Jen: Oh yeah, absolutely — I've done it in combination with meditation too, where someone guides you through becoming aware of different parts of your body and releasing all the tension. It's really effective.

Alex: Yeah, that's my favorite kind of meditation. And speaking of meditation, that's another technique you can use to help trigger the relaxation response. Current scientific evidence suggests that mindfulness meditation — a practice that cultivates your ability to maintain focus and clear attention, and develops increased awareness of the present moment — can help reduce symptoms of stress, including anxiety and depression, and may help improve sleep. That's really the key concept: being in the moment, not thinking about the future, not worrying or ruminating. So you could pair meditation with progressive muscle relaxation right before bed — that's a great combination.

Jen: And then check your biofeedback and see.

Alex: One more here: yoga. We've talked about yoga before — some, but not all, studies of yoga for stress management have shown improvements in physical or psychological measures related to stress. I've always found it pretty relaxing, both because you're focused on your breathing, and especially if you're doing more restorative, gentle yoga with a lot of stretching. I wouldn't necessarily say hot yoga with intense poses is relaxing, but I do think there are aspects of yoga that can trigger that relaxation response.

Jen: Yeah, I actually did yoga last night — I don't usually do it, but the practice ended with a really long sound bowl meditation, and it was very relaxing. I think the reason the studies might be mixed depends a lot on the attitude you bring to yoga — you could go in still being kind of overachieving, trying too hard to nail the poses, and in that case it probably wouldn't be very relaxing.

Alex: I don't always do yoga, but when I do, apparently I do sound bowl meditation. What is sound bowl meditation?

Jen: They play these bowls that produce these overlapping tones, and you just sit there and listen. It's very soothing — it's a big thing here in San Francisco.

Alex: I could see that — that fits.

Jen: I'm actually going again this Sunday.

Alex: Very cool, I'll have to check that out. So I think these are some great essentially built-in remedies for stress. And of course, the thing we haven't talked about yet, Jen, that you're going to get into, is exercise.

Stress and Exercise: A Two-Way Street

Jen: Right, exactly. Before we get into the benefits of exercise, I wanted to bring up this interesting article I found in the journal Sports Medicine, titled "The Effects of Stress on Physical Activity and Exercise" — a nice, simple title. I'll quote from it: "Psychological stress and physical activity are believed to be reciprocally related. However, most research examining the relationship between these constructs is devoted to the study of exercise and/or physical activity as an instrument to mitigate stress." Basically, what it's saying is that we usually look at exercise as a way to get rid of stress — but this study flipped it, looking at how stress affects exercise in people who work out regularly. It reviewed 168 studies examining the influence of stress on physical activity, then narrowed that down to 55. The majority found that psychological stress predicted less physical activity and more sedentary behavior. So basically, stress tends to make you exercise less — and that's exactly what I've been experiencing over the past few months.

Alex: And how much of that too, in our modern world — if you're working long hours, you're just sedentary, right? Especially now with hybrid and remote work, people are glued to their computers for hours on end. That's such an interesting finding, this idea that being stressed can actually lead you to work out less — I've experienced that too.

Jen: Yeah, I wanted to add one more thing to that — I think it's also partially psychological. You're in this working, hunkered-down mode, and you feel kind of self-protective, like you don't want to leave that bubble and go do something. It triggers that fight, flight, or freeze response, and you just want to stay inactive. That's exactly what I found myself doing, and I'm finally getting out of it and feeling more like myself again, like I mentioned earlier.

Alex: Well, that's an interesting study, and thankfully we know both from research and our own personal experience that exercise is one of the best ways to cope with stress.

Jen: Absolutely.

How Exercise Helps You Cope With Stress

Alex: An article from the Mayo Clinic really sums this up — it talks about how exercise in any form can alleviate stress. Part of how this works is that it pumps up your endorphins, those "feel-good" neurotransmitters in your brain. That's the feeling you get from running — runner's high.

Jen: Right.

Alex: Or really any aerobic activity. I took my son for a four-mile bike ride last week — he's ten years old — and afterward we came home and were sitting on the couch, and he said, "Daddy, I have that feeling in my legs, that feeling." And I said, "what's wrong?" And he said, "no, it feels good." And I thought, oh, endorphins — okay, that's a good thing, that means you're feeling good after the ride.

Jen: I know that feeling — it feels really good.

Alex: Yeah, I love it too. The thing for me now is that it takes more exercise to get me there — I don't know, maybe there's some kind of correlation between your fitness level and when you start feeling those endorphins, because for me now I know it takes a pretty intense bike ride. Like, I did one at lunch today in this Texas heat — rode about 15 miles — and I had a good endorphin rush afterward, but my heart rate was also pretty high, so I know it was an intense workout. Exercise also reduces the negative effects of stress — it can really mitigate that fight-or-flight response, similar to some of the other strategies we talked about earlier. And according to the Mayo Clinic, it has positive effects on your cardiovascular, digestive, and immune systems, by helping protect your body from the harmful effects of stress. We talked a lot about blood pressure and immune response, but the digestive piece is actually a big stress symptom for me personally. I went through a stressful period recently, and my gut was really acting up — audibly, at least to me; I always wonder if other people can hear it too, and I'll apologize for it and they'll have no idea what I'm talking about. But I could tell it was really acting up. And then when I go on vacation, it's just completely gone — doesn't even matter how much coffee I drink, it's totally fine. So that digestive response is an interesting one I wanted to mention today. The other thing about exercise is that it's "meditation in motion" — the Mayo Clinic specifically highlights a fast-paced game of racquetball as an example. These days you'd probably swap that for pickleball — racquetball feels very 1980s.

Jen: Or, you know, down at the Texas Club in Dallas — that classic 1980s gym.

Alex: Probably still popular at the college gym too. You know, swimming laps, whatever it is — you'll find you've forgotten the day's irritations and are really concentrated on your body's movements, and I agree with that completely. That's the great thing about getting out on a bike ride — I love riding in the middle of the workday, even though today it was brutally hot in Texas. It gets you away from work, out in nature, focused only on the road or the trail, and it really takes you away from everything. So yeah, it's great to get away from your stressors and just focus on your body's movement. That's what the Mayo Clinic says about exercise and stress. Jen, how has exercise helped you relieve stress?

Jen: I really resonate with this idea of meditation in motion, because I've always thought of running that way. I was telling a friend just last night that running has been the one constant in my life — it's the thing I always come back to, and it's why running is so much better than cycling. It really feels like moving meditation — it opens up this place where my body feels good, but my mind is also very open and free. Over the years, that's been my number one stress reliever, and when I'm not able to run or do something similarly intense, I really feel it start to build up in me.

Alex: Yeah, that makes total sense. This actually connects back to our podcast a few months ago with Brandon LaForce — if you haven't listened to that one, he talked a lot about the science behind fitness and mental health. He's a licensed professional counselor, and he talked about, with his own patients dealing with depression or anxiety, that simple idea of getting out into nature, just going for a walk. It ties right back to meditation in motion — I absolutely love that idea.

Jen: What are your number one go-tos when you're feeling extra stressed out?

Alex: These days, I think meditation is important, and I try to do it, especially when I'm feeling stressed — although I probably don't do it as regularly as I should lately. I used to be better about it, but I'll definitely turn to it if I'm feeling stressed. There's only so much time in the day, though. I'd say a bike ride, like I mentioned, or a run — you feel pretty amazing after a run, I've always found those to be the most helpful. Strength training is good too, and that can be a different kind of experience when you're stressed. But one you've been doing lately that's interesting to talk about is boxing — have you used boxing as a way to relieve stress? I can tell you there have been times I've taken my frustrations out on a boxing bag — not saying I visualize specific people — but do you think there's something to that, physically punching a bag as a stress reliever?

Jen: Yeah, I absolutely do. For me, boxing is stress relief mostly because it requires total focus — for that hour I'm in class, it takes me completely out of everything else I'm thinking about. But it's interesting, I have a friend who started boxing for the first time, and she said the first time she did it, she felt this real release of a lot of emotions she'd been holding in, particularly anger she'd always had a hard time expressing — some of us are socialized not to express anger, and she was very much one of those people. She felt like she was able to release those negative emotions through boxing. So yeah, I think there's a real connection there — not just for stress, but for processing tough emotions too.

Alex: Yeah, absolutely, that's amazing. So I think there are lots of options out there — for me it's always been cardio: these days, cycling and running. And even just getting out on a hike, especially on the weekend, when you're trying not to think about work, can be really beneficial. So there's a lot there when it comes to stress management through exercise.

Takeaways

Jen: So my key takeaways from this: one, stress is really, really bad for your body, particularly over a prolonged period. But the great thing is we have these built-in mechanisms to help deal with it. I love this idea of the relaxation response — the opposite of fight-or-flight — that we can access through all these various channels. So we have both of those tools built into us, and I find that really reassuring. What are your key takeaways, Alex?

Alex: I really like the idea around some of the techniques we talked about — deep breathing, meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, even yoga — because I think a lot of people default to "I'll just go for a run" when they're stressed, but it's worth trying some of these other things if you haven't. I can't say enough about meditation, or even just, if you're having a stressful day and you've got five or ten minutes at work, finding a quiet space and doing some breathing, or firing up a meditation app. It can make a huge difference, so I think people should try that if they haven't. I'll throw out one more, pretty unconventional one, that we haven't even talked about, which I've found super helpful when I'm hitting almost an anxiety level — not just regular stress, but when real anxiety is creeping in. I've done this a few times over the past few months, and it's been amazing: when you're in that fight-or-flight mode and not feeling good, one thing that's really pulled me out of it — and it's not the most pleasant thing in the world — is a cold shower. They've actually done research on this, and it can really mute your body's fight-or-flight response. The way I do it — I've tried it both ways, and just getting straight into a cold shower is miserable — what I really like is starting under a normal, warm shower, then slowly turning the knob until the water goes cold. I've found that really pulls me out of that stressed, fight-or-flight feeling. So, unconventional one — if you try it, let me know how it works for you.

Wrap-Up

Jen: Probably works better in Texas than San Francisco, I'll just say that.

Alex: Yeah, probably so, probably so.

Jen: We learned a lot about stress in this episode, and ways to mitigate it, which is really important, since we all have to deal with stress from time to time. I know things slow down a little over the summer, but we're going to be talking to some more guests — I really enjoyed the conversation we had with the other Jen on the episode before this one, and I'm looking forward to hearing more stories from our listeners, as well as other experts.

Alex: That's right, we've got some people we're lining up for the podcast — we don't want to spoil it yet, but we've got some great guests coming up, so looking forward to that. And if you know somebody with an amazing story, feel free to refer them to us — they can shoot us an email at alex@practically.fit. As always, please go check out practically.fit and sign up — you get great weekly content straight to your inbox. Jen had a great piece this past week on making peace with her aging body, which was really inspiring, so go check that out over at practically.fit. Feel free to comment on the podcast too, you can do that right on the website, and again, shoot us an email if you have a question, an idea, or a story — alex@practically.fit. So until the next episode, remember: fitness is for everybody.