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Cortisol seems to be a hot topic lately in the health and fitness industry.
So I wanted to take this time to explain what cortisol is and why it can in fact greatly affect your goals - whether they are performance or physique related.
Cortisol is a steroid hormone, made in your adrenal glands as a response to stress. It can get a bad rep, as it is called your “stress hormone” but it’s not all bad. In fact, we need it to survive.
Cortisol can give your body the energy it needs to combat stress from trauma, illness, fright, etc. It helps maintain blood pressure, immune function and has anti inflammatory properties. The small increases in cortisol after a workout session also stimulate a response necessary to help your muscle tissues grow.
However, chronically high or low levels of cortisol, or imbalances, can affect your daily lifestyle, your energy levels, recovery, physique, and ultimately how you progress forward in your fitness goals.
Elevated cortisol can cause loss of muscle, increase fat storage, and can also increase appetite (leading to a surplus of calories). Low levels can lead to fatigue, pain, inability to handle stress (which may affect your consistency in the gym or with your nutrition), insomnia, and low libido.
With cortisol, you don’t want too little, but you also don’t want too much.
Your cortisol levels naturally fluctuate throughout the day, peaking in the morning between 6-8AM (to help you stay awake and focused during the day) and reaching it's lowest level at night (to help you wind down and sleep during the night). This pattern takes around 24 hours and is known as your circadian rhythm.
However, chronic stress, under eating, working a night shift schedule, and nutrient deficiencies are all factors that can affect this natural rhythm. Causing it to peak later in the day, or for it to be low early in the day.
If you have consistently HIGH cortisol levels, you may:
Be easily agitated
Have poor recovery after workouts and an inability to gain lean muscle mass
Suffer from mid-day slump and then get a second wind come night
Feel “wired and tired’ before bed
Have restless sleep and find that you are often waking up
Always feel stressed or anxious
Have abdominal belly fat (esp. when compared to your arms or legs)
Have trouble slowing down in your every day pace and speech
If you have consistently LOW levels of cortisol, you may:
Feel constantly fatigued and have muscle weakness
Feel dizzy or lightheaded (especially when rising from a sitting or lying position)
Have issues handling stress or social situations
Have brain fog
Crave salty or sweet foods
Have low libido
Suffer from PMS symptoms
As you can see, too much, or too little cortisol can significantly impact your physique and performance goals. These effects extend beyond just the physical, affecting your mental and emotional well-being. Cortisol imbalances may dampen your motivation to go to the gym, prepare healthy meals, or get a resultful night's sleep. Thus hindering the speed at which you may make progress.
In order to balance your cortisol levels naturally, here's what you should focus on:
Managing your stress - Work on adding in stress reduction techniques to your day to day like meditation, yoga, mindfulness walks, or deep breathing. When it comes to stress reduction, everyone is different so find something that helps clear your mind and feel at ease.
2. Prioritizing a strength training plan - Engaging in regular activity can help regulate cortisol and mitigate negative effects of chronic stress. Strength training also helps increase lean muscle mass and improve metabolic function, which can lead to better regulation of cortisol levels. However, if you are already under a lot of stress, adding in more exercise or exercise that is too intense on your body (such as HIIT style workouts) could backfire and make symptoms worse. You should also avoid intense workouts close to bed time as this can elevate cortisol levels, making it more difficult to sleep.
3. Moving your body when stressed - When you find yourself in a stressful situation or are feeling overwhelmed, move your body. Stress is energy that wants to be mobilized, so whenever you find yourself stressed or anxious, get up and go for a walk, jump around, or even dance it out.
4. Prioritizing a well balanced healthy diet - Eat a diet that focuses on getting in adequate lean protein and whole, nutrient-dense, fiber-rich foods over processed foods. Ensure each meal is well balanced and contains a mix of protein, complex carbs, healthy fats and fiber to help manage blood sugar.
5. Getting adequate sleep - Quality sleep is crucial for maintaining a healthy cortisol rhythm and a lack of sleep can cause more stress to your body. Often times when cortisol levels are chronically elevated you will find yourself waking up around 2-3AM or going to bed with racing thoughts (making it harder for you to sleep). If sleep is an issue for you, here are some things to consider:
Work on implementing a pre-sleep ritual before bed where you can get into "wind down mode" such as meditation, reading, taking a bath, putting on a face mask
Avoid blue light 2-3 hours before you go to sleep
Ensure your bedroom is clean and cool
Consider taking magnesium glycinate, valerian root or chamomile tea, or L-theanine
Journal out your thoughts and emotions on paper, or write out your to-do list for the following day
6. Limit caffeine - Avoid drinking caffeinated beverages at least 6 hours before bed to help keep your cortisol levels in its natural rhythm.
7. Support your circadian rhythm - Try to wake up and go to bed around the same time every day to support your natural circadian rhythm. Getting natural sunlight within an hour upon waking can increase cortisol release in the AM and prime the body later for a better nights sleep.
8. Stay hydrated - You're more likely to become dehydrated when you are under stress. Stress can also cause your electrolyte levels to dip so not only do you want to focus on drinking more water but it may be beneficial to add electrolytes to your water as well.
Cortisol aside, these above habits are all aspects of your health that you should be prioritizing in order to ensure that you are setting yourself up for a successful, and HEALTHY transformation journey.
In our coaching methods, clients spend anywhere between 1-6 months in the first Phase of our Freedom in Strength Method nailing down healthy habits, and making sure that they're stress levels are under control, and that they're hormones and gut health are optimal.
These foundational habits may not be as "sexy" but they make a BIG difference in your future transformation journey to avoid hitting a wall, as you can't build a house on a cracked foundation.
If you're curious whether or not you're prioritizing the right things to see body composition changes, or your progress is moving much slower than expected, click the link here to schedule a free 30 minute Roadmapping Call with me - we’ll dive into exactly what you’re doing now, and what you need to adjust and change in your diet or lifestyle to see long-lasting progress using our proven 4-step Freedom and Strength Method.
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