just curious...

XFitMojoMom

Can working out make you fat?
I'm asking because I read that if you are working out really hard and stressing your body, it can get your body to start producing cortisol. I suppose i tested the theory because my PF was acting up so I didn't work out and I lost 3 pounds! How can I work out without it stressing me out?!!:huh:

Maybe Banks or some other smart members could shed some light on this?

Thanks!:flowerforyou:

LittleSpy

I'm no Banks, but I do know that when you work out hard, and your muscles aren't used to it, they cling to water. So, the weight you lost when you stopped working out could have just been water weight (you weren't working out, so your muscles didn't need to retain the water any longer). The same happened to me when I took a week off running to rest my knees. Working out certainly doesn't stress me out though. I exercise almost every day and I've been steadily losing since September.

klybarger

I thought the stress that caused cortisol was worry-type stress and not physical activity. I think there's a significant difference.

SHBoss1673

Make you fat? No not really. Yes your body increases stress levels when you work out which, in turn, raises cortisol levels; BUT it does this for specific reasons, namely because this process kicks off the ability to release more sugar into the blood stream for fast energy. This could, and would be a problem, if thats all that happened, but along with cortisol production, when you work out, you also ARE increasing the energy you burn, and you are also increasing HGH and Testosterone levels, both of which also increase the amount of glucose used.

NOW, this is the main reason why stress (namely stress from NOT exercising) can cause an increase in fat storage, it's also why stress can leave you drained. You increase the cortisol levels without increasing the responses that are supposed to occur in response to those increases (I.E. exercising) and you'll have all this extra free floating blood sugar in your system, which the body can do nothing with besides store as fat.

Essentially the body has only one mechanism for handling situations which cause fear or anxiety, and that's raising stress levels. Why? Because back when our bodies developed these responses, there were only a couple of reasons you'd have them, being chased by something nasty (fight or flight response), or hunting, or maybe something closely related to those two. In all 3 of these situations, a fast and powerful boost to energy would be needed (run, fight, or hunt), thus raise the free glucose levels.

Hope this helps.

MisdemeanorM

No Banks here either

But my understanding of cortisol is that it is a natural and necessary hormone but that it can help cause cravings and decide where your fat will be stored (midsection, close to organs).

I also think that normal (light/ moderate / hard) exercise LOWERS cortisol levels but that prolonged EXTREME exercise can raise it temporarily. I doubt that you are doing any exercising to this level - this is like professional athlete training hours and hours a day levels. There is a difference between using / fatiguing your muscles and truly stressing / straining them. (Some normal hard exercise can slightly raise it temporarily too but not to these chronic levels. Just a level to help give you that little rush after working out.)

It is released as part of a stress reaction and can make someone crave sugars and starches (I can relate to this stress cravings!) and then deposit those calories in the mid region in a hard to burn area, and also a very unhealthy area.

BUT - the hormone itself does not make you get fat! If you are eating correctly and not eating high starch and sugar (while super stressed) the cortisol won't have anything to work with. Maybe you have high cortisol levels which cause cravings, but giving in to those cravings will make you gain weight - not the cortisol itself!

If still, you feel that there is some reason that you think your cortisol levels are too high you can have them tested via fairly simple tests. Low or high cortisol levels ARE related to (or possible cause) different ailments.

I agree that the weight you lost would be water weight in your muscles or even just determined by what time of day you weighed yourself or how recently you have eaten, drank, or used the bathroom.

XFitMojoMom

Thanks for your replies. I found this article and read elsewhere about this http://www.lifeorganizers.com/Organize-Your-Wellness-/The-Organized-Good-Life/Too-much-exercise-can-make-you-fat.html

I'm just wondering how much of it is true.

LittleSpy

I think folks who are concerned about high cortisol levels and "belly fat" should focus on de-stressing their normal daily lives. The article repeatedly states that adding overly strenuous exercise routine ON TOP OF an overly stressful mental or emotional life situation may cause a problem when it comes to losing "belly fat." It does not suggest that regular exercise on top of a regularly stressful life will be an issue.

The article even says if you think cortisol is causing you to gain or retain "belly fat" you should still exercise, but try low-intensity aerobic exercise 3x week for 60 minutes instead of whatever high-intensity/high-stress workout you were doing before.

I think the article could very well contain factual information. But it's focusing on "belly fat," not overall body fat, and it's telling you to keep exercising, though lower the intensity, if you think "belly fat"/cortisol levels are a problem for you. I think what it all boils down to is that exercise is good for you.

SHBoss1673

there's a lot of half truths and 1 or two flat out lies in that article. Wow, who IS this person.

and to respond to some other posts above this, no, cortisol isn't raised only in very high levels of exercise, it's produced all the time, the levels go up as our stress levels rise (even by minute amounts).

The article's inaccurate because A) cortisol does NOT trigger the storage of belly fat, it suppresses insulin, which causes more sugar to be in the bloodstream, which allows your body to use more glucose as energy instead of transporting it away. It also increases the process of glycogen synthesis in the liver, further helping to create fast energy.
And This article doesn't even touch on the other hormones which are increased when we exercise, namely growth hormones (mainly HGH and Testosterone) which both stimulate muscle to grow and repair, which requires more energy.
And C) Exercise actually has the effect of lowering stress levels (this has been proven time and time again in clinical studies).

The ONLY caveat I'll say to this is that there is some proof (not conclusive, but interesting non-the-less) that moderate cardio has the lowest release of growth hormones, and in a very small window, the cortisol released is higher than the growth hormones can counteract (somewhere in the 65 to 75% Max Heart Rate range depending on the person), but even then, it's just about even, only slightly tipping in cortosol's favor for a short period post workout (far shorter than the workout itself).

Low intensity doesn't release enough cortisol to cause an issue, and high intensity produces plenty of growth hormones to counteract any negatives, so really, that article is just plain make believe.

XFitMojoMom

Alright, thanks to everyone who responded. I'm looking forward to getting my elliptical after Christmas so I can enjoy some lower impact, high intensity training...
In the meantime, just to keep me active my trainer devised a high intensity low impact routine for me.
*Treadmill (or elliptical) warm up - brisk walk 5 minutes
*30 dynamic squats (basically double time)
*25 cross body kicks each leg
*15 push ups
*20 weighted (10 lb) over-head straight leg sit up
*1 minute bicycle (abs)
*30 weighted (5-10 lb) v-sit twists
_____________________________________
Repeat 3 times

"cool down" with weight training.
*15 pound bicep curl
*10 pound tricep kick-back
*15 pound chest press
*15 pound overhead shoulder press
*10 pound flies
* tricep dips
_____________________________________
repeat twice

I did some shoveling today, good workout using a lot of core group muscles and worked up a good sweat too. At least I'm not impacting my PF...