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Stress and walking

That Paleo Guy (Jamie) tweeted about the infographic below (more here). It is superb - great find Jamie.

It got me thinking about stress, something I am going to write about in TGO. A friend was telling me recently about his experience as a guide taking a guy up a mountain. It wasn't really a tough route, more of a walk, but the fella got very scared. The various stress hormones did their jobs - sugar dump in the blood, elevated heart rate, worse digestion etc. He got immediately exhausted and had to be physically led down the hill on a short rope. The stress response actually got him into a very dangerous situation not in terms of location but because of how his body reacted.

We need to think of strategies to deal with stress to improve performance.

Of couse we are also at risk from long term chronic stress........but that is another issue.

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Comments

Jason Sandeman said…
I LOVE this infographic. I currently suffer from Panic disorder, and this is EXACTLY what happens with the fear-adrenalin-fear cycle. Have you heard of Claire Weekes? She was an author/physcologist that helped people deal with anxiety. It is VERY hard to find her books these days because they are out of print. I am currently scanning them into my computer so I can have them. This infographic sums her message up PERFECTLY.
September 13, 2011 at 6:50 AM
Anonymous said…
weird but i found myself thinking that a massage with a happy ending would be great for most people as a tremendous stress relief. should be done every once in a while and should be socially and legally acceptable as to not also became a source of stress. unfortunately in most cultures, this is unrealistic.
September 13, 2011 at 8:32 AM
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