Stress less

Muscle & Fitness, Nov, 2008 by Tim Scheett

THE LATEST HICH-PERFORMANCE FITNESS AND HEALTH NEWS FROM THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY

Cataloging the ways in which stress affects the body is a job for a Russian novelist. Working in what seems like a million different ways to undermine your health, stress is often implicated in increasing your susceptibility to illness and morbidity. If that's not bad enough, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin recently reported in The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research that it could negatively impact your strength and muscle growth, as well.

Researchers tested the one-rep max (1RM) strength on the bench press and squat and measured the arm and thigh muscle growth of 81 male and 54 female undergraduate college students before and after 12 weeks of weight training, which included three four-week periodized phases. The subjects also completed the college version of the Adolescent Perceived Events Scale to determine the amount of stress in each student's life.

Those who reported low stress during the 12-week period increased their 1RM on the bench press and squat over the highstress group by about 5% and 3%, respectively. The low-stress group also experienced 3% and 2% greater gains in arm and thigh muscle mass, respectively, compared to the high-stress group.

To help protect yourself from stress and its physiological disruptions, consider relaxation techniques, yoga, massage, meditation or whatever else helps keep you stress-free.

--TIM SCHEETT, PHD