Stress

STRESS
Even the word gives me a feeling in the pit of my stomach. But is stress always bad?

Whether its physical or psychological, stress can be an important ingredient in adaptation and ultimately becoming more resilient.

Cold water immersion and saunas have long been used to apply stress to the body, massage is effectively applying stress to the body's soft tissues to elicit a response.

One of the most important of these mechanisms is exercise.
How do you get stronger? Lift heavy things to apply stress to your muscles.
How do you run faster? Keep running to apply stress to your cardiovascular system.

The more we study these things, the more we find our body is designed to adapt to stress and get stronger. Muscles, joints, discs and bones will all get stronger after stress is applied.

Of course too much stress can be a bad thing if it is outside of our ability to cope with it, or if our recovery isn't adequate.
But ultimately stress is not just the key to getting stronger and more resilient it is an essential component to our survival as humans.