Stress: this evil that is good for you | Martial Arts Larry Foisy

Stress is a useful reaction that favors a specific action in relation to a situation in order to:

• to check it
• adapt to it
• or run away

Thus emotion, through the cerebral cortex, conveys a certain number of cardiovascular adaptations whose role is to cope with the demands of unusual situations.

For example, in sprinters we see a significant increase in heart rate in anticipation before the start. This increase would even be calibrated based on the duration of the test, and even more so as the subject is trained. It is possible to interpret these adjustments as an intelligent and unconscious reaction of the individual to combat the operational inertia of energy production systems. In this way the body’s reserves would be mobilized more quickly.

Likewise, stress will increase the athlete’s attention level. This will allow him to have a lower neuromuscular excitability threshold, and therefore to be more «reactive». In these conditions the basic metabolism will be more important and therefore more energy-consuming. We understand that stress will be helpful in the short run before exertion but more harmful in the long run.

However, it is very difficult to determine what the right amount of stress is, since this phenomenon is subject to the diversity and complexity of individuals and situations. Everyone must therefore learn to know themselves in this area to try to define their own optimal threshold, the one that allows them to transcend themselves. This will be especially beneficial for those who identify with either extreme. On the one hand those who are not sufficiently mobilized in action, on the other those who tend to lose part of their means.

If you want to know more and discover some techniques to control stress:

Stress, Jean Louis DUBIER and Isabelle INCHAUSPE Edizioni du Milan