BY MARYELLEN JORDAN | GUEST COLUMNIST — It’s a familiar story. A client comes to the studio frustrated. Their current exercise routine is causing fatigue and injuries – and increasing their body fat instead of dropping it! Many new fitness methods tax the adrenal glands, adding excess stress on an already overly stressed body. Four out of five Americans report a need to reduce stress, which can come from our work or home environment, dietary choices, physical stress from injuries or overtraining and emotional stressors such as death or divorce. How we respond to negative stress depends on how much of it we are confronted with, our unique metabolic response to it, and if we have a stress reduction plan in effect. Our stress system is vital for our existence, but when excess stress is prolonged or overactive, damage can result, including: loss of muscle and gain of body fat, tissue aging, immune system malfunction, poor sleep, fatigue, mood swings, adrenal fatigue and adrenal burnout. This is what happens when our bodies encounter a stressor: the brain releases CRF (corticotropin-releasing factor), which immediately wakes up the entire central nervous system. In turn, the central nervous system triggers the sympathetic nervous system, which will release adrenaline and other hormones. The pituitary gland then releases multiple hormones, including ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) which causes the adrenal gland to put out cortisol. As a result of this cascade of events, we are instantly more alert, have more oxygen and sugar available, and more blood to the brain and muscles. This reaction is called the fight-or-flight phenomenon. Adrenaline can be considered a survival hormone, especially in the era of the cave man or for those in the military or law enforcement. However, many people are dealing with excess adrenaline on a daily basis even though they are not faced with a fight-or-flight situation. Many of these people will suffer from potentially serious adverse consequences, adrenal fatigue or adrenal burnout. Excess adrenaline also leads to an increase in sugar levels, which increases insulin levels – pushing sugar into fat cells, where it’s converted into fat. Excess adrenaline also raises cortisol levels to excess, which also contributes to an increase in body fat. Now you have two hormones that contribute to the increase of unwanted body fat. If you have upper back fat, belly fat and fat around your torso it’s likely due to excessive adrenaline and cortisol. If you are training and not monitoring your response to the stress of exercise you will just keep putting on body fat and contribute to the deterioration of your health. At Positively Fit we are using a method called Pulsercise and successfully changing our clients’ bodies without stressing the adrenals. We concentrate on building lean body mass along with some controlled high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to burn off belly fat. Weight training is the most important part of any person’s fitness routine. We need to build and maintain as much lean body mass as possible. Muscle is your metabolic furnace. The more muscle you have, the more calories (primarily fat) you burn at rest and during exercise. But weight training is stressful to the body so it is important to monitor sessions to avoid over-training. We want our clients walking out of our gym energized, not exhausted. Too many trainers like to make their clients throw up or crawl out of the gym. This type of training only generates excess stress. On the days our clients are not training with us they are resting or leisurely walking, biking or rollerblading. We calculate their ideal heart rate range. Based on their unique metabolism, most of our clients are limited to 30 minutes or less of this type of aerobic activity. Pulsercise is a unique technique of using a heart rate monitor to make sure the client is not being overly stressed. By using the method Pulsercise, the trainer can then vary the exercises, reps, tempo and duration of the exercise session based on the unique response of the client to the stress of the exercise. Each training session is also tailored based on sleeping patterns, nutrition and perceived stress levels. Pulsercise has helped our clients reach their goal of ideal body composition. For more information, visit www.bepositivelyfit.com or call (419) 893-5105