There’s almost nothing that can affect your training as an athlete more than stress.  Stress can cause increased fatigue, reduced recovery, increased heart rate (HR) response, and increased perceived effort for a given output. 

First, stress is normal and natural.  Stressors are stimuli that surround us every minute of every day.  Stress can be good—stimuli prior to events have been proven to increase performance.  But too much stress, or stress not properly dealt with, can lead to problems such as physical or mental fatigue, reduces immune response, high blood pressure, moodiness, and even chemical imbalances in the brain. 

Second, stress can be caused by many things.  The easy causes are relationship problems, career issues, financial difficulty, poor time management, and an unknown future.  But there are a lot of underlying things that can cause stress as well:  lack of sleep, too much stimulus through a noisy office or rambunctious kids, and simply a busy mind and not taking time to just be quiet and still.

Training can add stress, too, but can also be a stress reliever.  If your focus is on what training you missed or how it did not go perfectly, then training is a stress builder for you.  Instead, focus on what went right or the training you did do or are doing.  Try these simple techniques for reducing stress in training and turn reducing overall life stress.

-        Instead of thinking “I have to go train,” think of the gift of health you have that allows you to train.  You “get to go train.”

-        Start the training day easing into the workout, rather than hitting it right out the door.  While easing into the workout, calm the brain and just breathe. 

-        After a workout, take 3 minutes and lay calmly on the grass or living room floor reflecting on your heart rate and muscles.  Breathe deeply and slowly, willing your heart rate to drop and your mind to relax.  Then get up, hit the recovery nutrition and get on with the day. 

-        At least once a week forget the iPod and just run or bike listening to your breathing and paying attention to your body.  Get inside yourself and listen to what your body is telling you. 

-        When things get busy, pause, take a deep breath, and then continue. 

-        Don’t sweat the stuff you can’t control, such as drivers cutting you off or waving a single finger, or walkers taking up the entire running path.  Just wave or smile, and get back to business. 

On another level, massage is a great stress relief.  The main benefits of massage are muscle rebuilding and rejuvenation, waste product removal, and the ‘resetting’ of the nerves, but mental and physical relaxation is a great by product.   

With these techniques you will feel stress diminish in short order, and your training will be more effective. 

As a good friend and coach says: “Train with joy or not at all.”