5 tips for better stress management

Five Tips for Better Stress Management

In today's fast-paced world, stress has become an inevitable part of our lives. Whether it's work-related pressure, financial worries, or personal challenges, stress can take a toll on our mental and physical well-being. However, there are ways to manage and reduce stress in our lives. Here are five effective tips for better stress management:

1. Prioritize Self-Care

Self-care is crucial for managing stress. It's essential to take time for yourself and engage in activities that promote relaxation and well-being. This can include practices such as meditation, yoga, or deep breathing exercises. 

There is an ocean of apps, and free content on YouTube to follow. Here is an article of the best meditation apps. Find the approach and presenter that you find works for you. 

Additionally, getting adequate sleep, eating a balanced diet, and engaging in regular physical activity can significantly impact stress levels. Prioritizing self-care allows individuals to recharge and better cope with the demands of daily life.

Obviously, this is a long list of things that can help with your self-care, and it would be foolhardy to try and address more than one at a time, lest you create even more stress for yourself!

2. Time Management and Organization

Feeling overwhelmed by an endless to-do list can significantly contribute to stress. Implementing effective time management and organization techniques can help alleviate this burden. Breaking tasks into smaller, manageable steps, creating to-do lists, and utilizing organizational tools such as planners or digital apps can aid in reducing stress associated with feeling unprepared or disorganized. 

It's a losing battle to try and keep all of your tasks in your head. You will inevitably forget something important, which in turn will stress you out, especially if there are consequences (for example, not paying for a parking ticket on time etc.)

If you are keen on tech, there are several apps that can help create efficient task lists by prioritizing them in order of importance and time sensitivity. Here is an article on the best time management apps. Alternatively, a good old-fashioned written task list can work well too. 

Another angle of improving time management involves eliminating things that both waste your time and may also contribute to stressing you out (even if it is in the subconscious). For example- 

The news media is rarely good news and is full of things you have little power to change anyway, so why invest so much time in it? 

Although you can find some great information (like this blog), let's be honest that social media are largely bubblegum for the brain. They're literally designed that way to keep you hooked. It can also be a very toxic environment, creating false comparisons of a perfect life. As the saying goes, “comparison is the thief of joy”.

Is the podcast you are dedicating an hour to actually helping you move your goals forward or is it a distraction and part of a strategy of procrastination & avoidance behavior? Self-help feels great, but it doesn’t actually get you very far unless you actually enact some strategies!

How about your sofa time? Do you really need to watch three episodes of a true-crime series simultaneously? Maybe one would be better, which would free up two more hours to do more important tasks?

You get the picture.

3. Establish Boundaries

Setting boundaries is crucial for maintaining a healthy work-life balance and reducing stress. It's important to learn to say no to additional commitments when feeling overwhelmed and to carve out time for relaxation and leisure activities. Whether it's unplugging from work emails after a certain time or designating specific days for personal time, establishing boundaries can prevent stress from encroaching on personal well-being. I understand that this can be difficult, especially during tougher economic times when more people feel like their head is potentially on the chopping block. 

Boundaries can also include the people you spend social time with. If you have friends or acquaintances who are almost always negative or worse are negative towards you in order to bring your energy down to theirs, are they the best people to dedicate a lot of time to? 

If it's an unavoidable relationship, I.E. family members, you can still make efforts to reduce the amount of interaction. Further to this, you can also work on strategies to improve how you react to them when you do have to interact.

4. Seek Support

Talking about stress and its effects can be a powerful way to manage it. Don’t try and fight all of your battles alone. Seeking support from friends, family, or a professional can provide a sense of relief and perspective. Whether it's sharing concerns with a trusted confidant or seeking the guidance of a therapist or support group, having a supportive network can help alleviate stress and prevent feelings of isolation. These feelings of isolation have become especially prevalent during and following the Covid-19 era.

Even joining a sports team or a sport where you will bond with your training partners can be a powerful place to share your thoughts. Some of the deepest and most vulnerable discussions I have had have been with people who I train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with. There's another level of trust you build with someone when you essentially give them permission to try and

5. Practice Mindfulness

Practicing mindfulness involves being fully present in the current moment and accepting it without judgment. Mindfulness techniques, such as mindfulness meditation or simply taking moments throughout the day to focus on breathing and sensations, can help reduce stress and promote a sense of calm. By practicing mindfulness, individuals can develop greater resilience in the face of stress-inducing situations.

In conclusion, stress management is a vital component of maintaining overall well-being. By prioritizing self-care, practicing effective time management, establishing boundaries, seeking support, and incorporating mindfulness techniques, individuals can better manage and reduce stress in their lives.  Remember, it's essential to find the strategies that work best for you and to consistently incorporate them into your daily routine. 

When incorporating these strategies, try and address only one at a time so you don’t become overwhelmed. Introduce it, refine it and make it part of your daily habits before adding more things. With a proactive approach to stress management, individuals can navigate life's challenges with greater ease and resilience..

Why stress is like a nuclear reactor

Stress: The Nuclear Reactor Within Us

The comparison of stress to a nuclear reactor is an intriguing analogy that offers a multi-faceted perspective on the nature of stress and its impact on our lives. Much like a nuclear reactor, stress possesses the capacity to generate immense power when harnessed effectively, yet it harbors the potential for catastrophic consequences when left uncontrolled.

Harnessing the Power of Stress

Firstly, it is important to recognize that stress, in moderate doses, can function as a catalyst for productivity and motivation. Similar to how a nuclear reactor generates energy when carefully managed, stress can push individuals to excel, meet deadlines, and achieve their goals. A certain level of stress can evoke a heightened state of alertness and focus, enabling individuals to perform at their peak capacity and overcome challenges.

In this context, stress is not inherently negative; rather, it serves as a driving force that propels individuals towards success. It ignites a sense of urgency and determination, leading to enhanced performance and the accomplishment of tasks that might otherwise have been overlooked. Therefore, it is crucial to comprehend that stress, when channeled effectively, can be a potent source of motivation and achievement.

Stress is also something that you can train yourself to get better at handling. Small exposures to something that you find stressful can help you get better at handling it. For example, a common stressful situation for someone may be public speaking, but by performing the act over time, you can get better and more confident at it, which in turn makes it feel less stressful. Starting with a small audience and increasing it over time would be the best strategy. 

Unchecked Stress: A Potential Disaster

However, much like an uncontrolled nuclear reactor, unmitigated stress poses a threat of significant magnitude. When stress accumulates and goes unaddressed, it can have profound adverse effects on both the body and mind. Emotional turmoil, impaired decision-making abilities, and a decline in overall well-being are among the repercussions that arise when stress is left to fester.

The impact of chronic stress is comparable to the heightened pressure within a nuclear reactor that exceeds safety parameters. Analogous to the potential meltdown of a reactor, prolonged and unmanaged stress can cause a breakdown in an individual's mental and physical resilience. The immune system may weaken, rendering the body vulnerable to illness, and the mind may succumb to anxiety, depression, autoimmune conditions and burnout.

Why You Shouldn't Bury Stress, But Release It

Given the compelling analogy of stress to a nuclear reactor, it becomes evident that vigorous efforts must be directed towards regulating and effectively managing stress. When dealing with nuclear reactors, rigorous safety measures and control mechanisms are implemented to avert disaster. Likewise, similar diligence should be exercised in relation to stress management in our lives.

When faced with stress, it can be tempting to bury it deep down and soldier on. However, this approach can have long-term negative effects on both physical and mental well-being.
Burying stress can lead to increased tension in the body, which can manifest as muscle pain, headaches, or even more serious health issues over time. Furthermore, it can also result in heightened anxiety, irritability, and difficulty concentrating, impacting both personal and professional relationships.

Instead of burying stress, it is essential to find healthy ways to release it. Engaging in physical activity, such as exercise, not only helps to reduce tension in the body but also triggers the release of endorphins, which are natural mood lifters. Sex can be a great source of release too, if you are fortunate to have a good partner. Meditation and deep breathing exercises can also be effective in calming the mind and reducing stress levels. Effective stress release can also involve seeking support from friends, family, or mental health professionals. Talking about stress and its impact can provide relief and clarity, offering a different perspective on the underlying issues.

Burying stress can have detrimental effects on both physical and mental well-being. By finding healthy ways to release stress, whether through exercise, meditation, or seeking support, individuals can better manage their overall health and enjoy a more balanced lifestyle.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the analogy of stress to a nuclear reactor illuminates the dual aspect of stress – as both a potential source of power and a looming hazard. By understanding and harnessing stress as a motivator, while simultaneously prioritizing its regulation to avert potential disaster, individuals can navigate the complexities of stress more effectively. It is crucial to recognize the impact of stress on our well-being and proactively implement measures to manage it, ensuring that its powerful potential is channeled constructively rather than destructively.

Why most new years resolutions fail

It’s that time of year when gyms are flooded with a new wave of members.

Gym owners and sales teams rub their hands together in anticipation of this cycle every year. They do their best to get new members to sign up to a minimum commitment period when they know that a good percentage of them won’t be attending after a few weeks, and even less in the following months. 

Why Most New Year's Resolutions Fail

Every year, countless people set ambitious New Year's resolutions with the hope of making positive changes in their lives. However, despite good intentions, a large majority of these resolutions ultimately fizzle out. 

There are several reasons why this happens-

Over-Ambition

First and foremost, many people set unrealistic or overly ambitious goals. While it's wonderful to aim high, setting unattainable or vague objectives can quickly lead to feelings of frustration and failure. For instance, someone resolving to completely overhaul their diet and exercise routine overnight may find it difficult to sustain such drastic changes, leading to eventual abandonment of their resolution.

If you can barely run, or inefficiently at best then jumping up to attempt a 5k run after seeing a motivational video from Dave Goggins screaming at you to “Stay Hard MOFO” isn’t going to end well.

If you read a Fitness article telling you that a "real man" should be able to lift 2 times his body weight on a Deadlift, but you don’t even know how to hinge your hips properly, then you can predict that outcome!?

If you go from being completely sedentary at a desk all day to going to the gym six days per week, you will quickly burn out. 

If you are really unfortunate, then from these three scenarios above something may get broken in the process. Physiotherapists make a lot of money off the catastrophes created by this pitfall of over-ambition.

Poor Planning

In addition, lack of a clear plan and accountability can contribute to resolution failures. Simply stating a goal without breaking it down into manageable steps and establishing a support system makes it easier to lose motivation and momentum. Furthermore, many people underestimate the mental and emotional challenges that come with making significant lifestyle changes. Without addressing the underlying mindset and habits, it becomes difficult to sustain meaningful progress.

A vague idea of wanting to lose fat without a proper reference point of where you start either through a caliper test, DEXA scan etc. isn’t going to cut it. It's akin to saying I want my company to make a profit of a million pounds when you don’t even know what your monthly profit and loss is. 

Getting to the gym is great, but what do you do when you are there? Do you just randomly do a bit of this and a bit of that? Do you follow that latest workout from Men's Health demonstrated by some adonis personal trainer that is completely inappropriate for your level? For a guy, the first thing that comes to mind is probably training a bit of chest & biceps. How about Deadlift to help build your booty?

Appropriate exercise selection that is scaled to your current level is very important. If you are unable to do a proper push-up, then don’t even think about trying to do a parallel bar dip. A barbell squat might be totally inappropriate for a person who doesn’t have the shoulder mobility to properly secure the bar onto their back. 

A personal trainer is a value ally here and can help properly plan out the steps in a progressive and structured fashion. Additionally, they are someone who can hold you to account. Let's be honest, most of us are generally poor at doing this for ourselves.

Life Gets In The Way

Finally, life's inevitable curveballs often disrupt people's New Year's resolutions. Unexpected challenges, stressors, and time constraints can derail even the most dedicated individuals, making it difficult to prioritize their resolutions over immediate demands.

This ties in with the previous two points. You need to plan a regime that properly takes into account your individual lifestyle factors. 

For example-

If you are a young twenty-something at university without the commitments of a part-time job, then you may well be able to sustain getting to the gym five to six times per week. Recovery from bouts of exercise is generally better when you are younger. 

However, if you are a mid-forties busy city professional with two children under the age of 10 then getting to the gym twice per week might be the most sustainable approach. It’s possible you could plan time to do more short bouts of exercise at home, but it would need to be planned carefully. Your ability to recovery properly from exercising needs to be factored in too. The more external stressors you already have in your life, the less ‘resources’ you will have to commit to exercise. This is where the expertise of a personal trainer can help balance you this carefully.

Summary

Understanding these common pitfalls can help individuals approach their New Year's resolutions with greater mindfulness and intention, increasing their chances of success. By setting realistic goals, creating a solid plan, addressing mindset and habits, and preparing for potential obstacles, people can increase their likelihood of making lasting changes in the new year.

It Feels Hard So It Must Be Good Right?

A common misconception when comes to exercising is that if it feels difficult or hurts then it must be good.

Yeehaw!

Now there certainly is a niche in society for this type sadomasochistic pleasure and I’m not judging as we all have our tastes, but the gym is not the place you should seek it!

Picture this-

Your Online Personal Trainer gets you to perform a circuit of as many Push-Ups, Sit-Ups and Burpees as possible, changing the exercise every minute until you’ve done this circuit 10 times.

It would feel hard right?

Certainly this would feel difficult even to an experienced trainee, but is it really going to get you closer towards you goals?

Are they giving you this because they like to inflict pain or under the mistaken concept of trying to ‘burn calories’ in the gym!

It is really helping you to move forward when because of fatigue, your form is going to shit and you start to feel your lower back complaining?

A time lost due to an injury can be weeks and sometimes months.

Working hard for the sake of working hard isn’t a smart strategy.

John managed to burn 20,000 calories in this weeks WOD…

Exercise itself is a STRESS and this needs to be prescribed with CARE & CONSIDERATION of the persons current level and progressively increased over time.

Thats the whole point, and why exercise works. You expose your body to something challenging which gives you body a signal to get stronger in order to better handle this experience next time it happens.

It’s very easy to just ‘smash’ someone in the gym but this isn’t necessarily good.

It’s finding a good balance in the ‘prescription’ of the programme which is a bit of an art.

Now don’t get me wrong in thinking if you come work with me you won’t be working hard. All of my clients work very hard but this effort is aimed strategically into exercises that are appropriate for their level, mitigate the risk of injury and will give them the best bang for buck of the time invested.

The plan must fit the person and the goal

Things feeling hard is relative

Perceived effort and fitness can be very specific. You can make the most elite athlete participate in a sport/activity that they are unaccustomed too and they are going to feel fatigued very quickly.

Lance Armstrong would be knackered after a few minutes of vigorous Zumba and Micheal Phelps would gas quickly in a Muay Thai Class. You get better & more efficient at what your practice.

The time you spend in the gym needs to fit what are trying to achieve and leaving with a good sweat and pounding lungs isn’t a good measure of progress.

• Is a full splits necessary for most sports? Nope

• Do you need to be able to run a half marathon in order to build a healthy cardiovascular system? Absolutely not.

• Do you need to 3 x bodyweight in order to be able to play with your kids safely? Negative!

Aim Your Efforts Wisely: Strength Is The Answer

Through my 17 years experience training clients, research and self experimentation on my own body i’ve honed down the principles that actually work.

Your time in the gym should primarily be strength training. This is not a place to think about burning calories.

Your effort’s in the kitchen are what counts to ensure you are loosing weight if that is your goal.

It’s far more efficient to not eat calories than to burn them off.

The best way of thinking of strength training is-

“Armouring the body”

I promise your skin will be look better than this little fella…!

Your super structure; your bones, tendons & ligaments get stronger and become more resilient as does your muscle.

This doesn’t mean you get ‘bulky’ though, especially for Women. Muscle isn’t that easy to grow, it takes years of specific training, eating and patience to build anything resembling a bodybuilding physique.

This armour building is important for everyone from the average person raising a family to the professional athlete.

1, If you are picking up your squirming 15 month old toddler its important your hips & back are strong & mobile.

2. If you are a Jiu Jitsu player and you want to be able to invert safely without messing up your neck you need to ensure the rest of your back & shoulders are feeling connected and moving well.

3, If running is your thing then its crucial that your foot can efficiently absorb impact and transfer force into the ground. A poorly functioning foot it’s akin to driving around on a flat tyre and with duff shock absorbers.

If there’s one thing the covid era has highlighted for us very comfortable ‘1st world people’ its that life can be tough and sh*t happens. It’s a sound investment to prepare your body to deal with the challenges that life throws at you be it Physical, Mental or Immunological.

Your Health Is Your Greatest Investment

The saying goes-

“You don’t know how important health is until you don’t have it anymore.”

Life today is increasingly busy and stressful. Work is demanding more hours and onto of this you have family commitments you have to attend to.

A huge amount of jobs today are sedentary or requite only light activity. Correlated with this is super easy access to calorific food, increasing levels of obesity and lifestyle related illnesses.

The number of deaths caused by heart and circulatory diseases in under 65s is increasing, peaking at 18,668 in 2017, up from 17,982 five years earlier. This represents a 4% rise in the last five years.

Just over a quarter of the worlds adult population is insufficiently active.

Much of the illness and poor health we experience today is lifestyle related, due to lack of exercise combined, poor management of stress and an overabundance of calorie dense food.

Life up until very recent history except for a very small percentage of wealthy population was physically hard. In order to survive you had to graft as there were few labour saving devices, even washing your clothes by hand took some effort!

Our bodies over a very long time have adapted to work best in an environment where they are physically challenged. We are designed to move and our health expresses itself positively when we do.

A Very Personal Story

I come from a family with a history of poor health. My father died of heart disease when I was 14, from his third and final heart attack. He was obese, ate poorly, didn’t manage his stress well and had poor sleep. It was the perfect storm for illness.

His first ‘warning’ heart attack when I was 10.

A second and much larger one that also led to a stroke hit him when I was 11. He was resustitaed a number of times and he was then intensive care for a number of weeks.

Following this his battled with poor health for another 3 years but aside from some physio therapy to help him to learn to walk again after the stroke he didn’t really make any other changes.

I firmly believe had he taken more proactive measures to improve his health by exercising, eating better, managing his stress and sleeping better he would have lived for many more years than he did. He died at 63 years old.

A brother of mine from the same side of the family died at the age of 55, he too was obese.

Exercise has a massive positive effect on your health

Just a few benefits include

Improved longevity

Reduced risk of heart disease

Improved sleep

Improved regulation of blood sugar

Positive effect on mental health & stress

Helps fight age related mental decline

Reduce risk of some cancers

Reduced waistline & visceral fat

Improved bone density

Improved sexual health

Increased muscle mass

Improved coordination & balance

So with all the irrefutable evidence at to the importance of exercising you should hopefully be asking yourself how much is your health worth to you?

What sort of investment is better than one into your health?

Can you realistically afford a health episode which could potentially make you unable to work for a number of months?

Its your responsibility to take preemptive measures and start investing in your health.

Where does personal training fit into this?

When your time is limited you want to ensure that the time you invest is spent wisely.

Just 2-3 hours of focused training in the gym per week can be enough to reap most of the health benefits of exercise.

In addition to this I encourage incorporating small daily habits to up your overall level of movement in addition to this. These an be simple things such as waking more, using the stairs, having a stand up desk. Creating these habits as part of your lifestyle is a key component.

Joining a gym with a vague idea of exercising is a recipe for failure and frustration.

If you were to make a financial investment you would seek the help of a financial advisor. The same logic should apply to your health & fitness and you should seek expert advise from an experienced trainer on how to exercise effectively.

Your health is Your Greatest Investment.