Cortisol and perceived fatigue?

Bulldogs1717

Hello all

I’ve been reading about the impact of cortisol on workouts and in particular on the level of perceived exertion in my runs or lifting sessions. I’ve been going through a stressful period of time with work, life, etc and suddenly my workouts are feeling more difficult too when that used to be my release. I’m just bummed because it used to be very helpful for me. Does anyone know if cortisol/stress hormones could be a culprit in this? Is there anything I can do nutritionally to offset?
Thank you in advance for any advice!

Orphia

I recommend seeing a doctor and getting blood tests.

Then you'll know more and might get referred to assistance to help with nutrition and stress.

With your workouts, don't overdo it, just do them to enjoy them.

I know it's hard to adjust from what you were once capable of, but if you're exerting yourself too much, you'll just get worse.

Best wishes.

spiriteagle99

Summer heat and humidity may be part of the problem, electrolyte depletion, low ferritin or vitamin D, etc. Get some blood work done to rule out a deficiency.

heybales

Are you in a diet?

How much deficit, and how much weight left to healthy weight?

What may be a perfectly reasonable deficit for average may not be for you if body is already stressed.

And too big a deficit can make workouts have less recovery, which means just more stress from them.

Are you correctly eating more when you do more to at least keep the planned deficit?

Many people cause their own cortisol problems and water weight gain.
Workouts start sucking and not really making improvements, because while it feels like giving it your all during the workout, it's not actually a good stress on the body to make improvements from.