Physical TheraPT

Stress Isn’t Good, or Bad.

Stress may not always deserve the bad reputation it’s gained, but it does require our attention. At its core, stress is simply a “physical, mental or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension.” Going for a run is a type of stress, so is that pre-race excitement you feel. Scrolling through too many tweets on COVID-19 causes stress, just like being sick can cause stress. What if we have the power to change how we interact with stress?

You Do You

Let’s talk about load. Researcher Tim Gabbett defines load simply as “the act of performing work in preparation for, or carrying out an event.” This includes your workout and everything else that makes up your day. Load response is “the physiological, psychological or biomechanical response to performing that work.” These responses can be positive, negative or neutral depending on how prepared we were for said load.To do this, we need to ask ourselves two key questions:

  • What does my current physical activity look like?

  • What are my goals?

Can You Outrun Illness?

General common sense, as well as scientific research, tells us that lifelong physical activity acts as a protecting agent against chronic illness and disease. If you’re able to consistently rack up 300 minutes of moderate intensity activity per week, you’re at much lower risk for things like cancer, cardiovascular disease and other inflammatory disorders. Regular physical activity also increases your resilience against communicable diseases, like bacteria and viral infections. However, here’s where the research starts to diverge.

A Well Balanced Workout

Why all this wacky balance work? Injury doesn’t just impact bony or soft tissues; nerves are often impacted as well. Mechanoreceptors are sensory neurons found within joint capsular tissues, ligaments, tendons, muscles and skin. These cells respond to movement and touch, and contribute to our sense of proprioception, or a sense of where the body is in space. Proprioceptive training programs are effective at reducing the rate of ankle sprains in sporting participants, particularly those with a history of ankle sprain.