As an athlete you're used to pushing your body to get better, faster and stronger. But what if your workouts aren’t the only source of stress impacting your performance? Whether it’s work deadlines, relationship tension or financial pressure, your body doesn’t distinguish between stressors. Stress is stress - and too much of it can break you down rather than build you up.

To truly improve as an athlete, you need to train smart. That means understanding not just the training load you're putting on your body but also your total stress load and how it affects recovery, adaptation and long-term performance.

Understanding the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

To understand how stress affects your body, start with the autonomic nervous system (ANS) – a system which controls automatic functions like heart rate, digestion and breathing. The ANS has two branches:

Sympathetic nervous system (SNS): Activates the ‘fight-or-flight’ response.
Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS): Supports ‘rest-and-digest’ functions.

When you face a stressful situation your SNS kicks in. Hormones like adrenaline and cortisol flood your system, raising your heart rate and blood pressure and diverting energy away from digestion and repair.

This stress response is helpful in short bursts but if it stays activated (because you're constantly busy, anxious, overtrained or under-rested) - it can wear down your body over time.

What Is Allostatic Load?

‘Allostatic load’ refers to the cumulative wear and tear on your body caused by repeated or chronic stress. It represents the total cost of adaptation as your body tries to maintain balance under pressure.

When stress is ongoing - whether physical, emotional or mental - your body can struggle to reset and recover. A high allostatic load increases your risk of:

Poor recovery
Overtraining
Illness or injury
Decreased performance

For athletes, especially those juggling work, family and training, this concept is critical. You can’t just look at your training volume in isolation - you need to consider everything else going on in your life.

Training Adds to the Stress Stack

Exercise is a stressor too. A well-designed training plan introduces manageable stress that prompts your body to adapt, grow stronger and become more efficient. If that exercise is layered on top of other unresolved stress - work pressure, lack of sleep, poor nutrition - it can push your body into overload, not adaptation.

Remember: all the good stuff (recovery, strength gains, resilience) happens after the workout, not during it. If your body never gets the chance to shift from ‘fight-or-flight’ into ‘rest-and-digest’, it can’t repair and rebuild effectively.

Don’t Stack Your Stressors

Avoid compounding stress by timing your workouts strategically. For example, if you’ve had a high-stress day at work think twice before diving into a high-intensity session. Instead, choose a recovery ride, a short walk or mobility work to support recovery and shift your body out of stress mode.

You wouldn’t do hill repeats with an already strained achilles. Likewise, don’t push your nervous system into overdrive when it’s already under pressure.

Monitor Stress With HRV

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is a useful tool for assessing how your body is coping with stress. HRV measures the variation in time between heartbeats - a higher HRV typically means your body is well-recovered and ready to take on more load.

Low HRV? That’s a sign your system may still be in recovery mode and pushing hard might do more harm than good.

There are now many apps and wearables that help monitor HRV, giving you another data point to guide smart training decisions.

Stress Symptoms Checklist

Here are some common signs that your stress load may be too high:

Feeling anxious, irritable or moody
Trouble focusing or feeling mentally foggy
Poor sleep quality
Fatigue that doesn’t go away
Increased caffeine or alcohol use
Frequent colds or illnesses
Muscle tightness or headaches
Feeling overwhelmed or out of control

If multiple symptoms resonate it might be time to reduce load, re-balance your schedule or prioritise recovery.

Strategies to Manage Stress

Reducing overall stress improves both your quality of life and your training outcomes. Here are a few proven strategies:

Identify and address your biggest non-training stressors
Take micro-breaks throughout the day to breathe, walk or reset
Practice relaxation techniques like meditation, yoga or deep breathing
Stick to a balanced diet
Prioritize 7–9 hours of sleep
Learn to say ‘no’ and delegate where possible
Schedule easy or recovery workouts during high-stress periods
Monitor stress symptoms weekly and adjust training accordingly

Final Thoughts: Train Smart by Managing Total Load

Your training plan may be dialled in but if your overall stress load is unchecked, performance will eventually suffer. As an athlete managing stress isn't just about mindset, it's about physiology.

By tuning into your body’s signals, monitoring HRV and adjusting workouts based on total stress, you give yourself the best shot at consistent, meaningful progress.

Train hard, recover harder and remember, stress is stress. Your body doesn’t care where it comes from.

Bevan McKinnon / July 2025

Stress is Stress: How Life Outside of Training Impacts your Fitness Potential