Finding Balance: Beneficial Stress for Stronger Bones and Muscles

April marks Stress Awareness Month, and as a women's health and performance coach, I believe this is the perfect opportunity to explore how stress impacts women's bodies differently. Most importantly, let's look at how we can harness certain types of stress while minimising others for optimal health and performance.

Not All Stress Is Created Equal
When we hear the word "stress," most of us immediately think of the negative: racing thoughts, tight shoulders, disrupted sleep. But I want to reframe our understanding of stress.
Some stress is actually beneficial - even necessary - for our growth and development. This "eustress" or good stress is what helps build stronger bones and muscles when we lift weights. It's what triggers our bodies to adapt and become more resilient after cold water immersion. It's the temporary challenge that makes us stronger.
The problem arises when we experience chronic stress without adequate recovery periods, particularly as our hormonal landscapes shift throughout our lives.

Understanding Female Physiology and Stress
Our hormonal fluctuations throughout the month and across different life stages significantly impact how our bodies respond to stress.
During perimenopause and menopause, declining oestrogen levels affect everything from bone density to muscle mass maintenance, making certain types of physical stress even more important. However, these same hormonal shifts can make us more vulnerable to the negative impacts of chronic stress.

Cortisol: The Double-Edged Sword
Cortisol, often called the "stress hormone," plays a vital role in our daily functioning. It helps regulate metabolism, reduce inflammation, and control sleep-wake cycles. The natural peak of cortisol in the morning helps us get out of bed and start our day with energy.
However, when stress becomes chronic, cortisol levels can remain elevated, creating a cascade of effects particularly problematic for women:

• Disrupted hormone balance: Chronic stress can interfere with reproductive hormone production, potentially worsening PMS, perimenopause, or menopausal symptoms
• Compromised recovery: High cortisol levels can impair muscle repair after exercise
• Reduced bone density: Prolonged elevated cortisol can contribute to bone loss, especially concerning for women already at higher risk of osteoporosis
• Increased abdominal fat storage: Stress-related weight gain often centres around the midsection, which carries higher cardiometabolic risk

Harnessing Good Stress for Stronger Bodies
Let's have a look at how we can distinguish between beneficial stress that builds resilience and chronic stress that depletes you. Here's how we can harness good stress for strength and vitality....

Bone-strengthening stress: Progressive resistance training creates the mechanical stress needed to stimulate bone growth and prevent age-related bone loss. This becomes increasingly important during perimenopause and beyond, when declining oestrogen accelerates bone density loss.
Muscle-building stress: Strategic strength training creates the microtears in muscle tissue that, when properly recovered from, lead to stronger, more metabolically active muscles. This is crucial for maintaining metabolism and functional strength as we age.
Metabolic stress: Brief intervals of high-intensity exercise can create beneficial metabolic stress that improves insulin sensitivity and cardiovascular health without overwhelming your system.
Hormetic stress: Practices like cold water therapy create temporary stress that triggers adaptation and resilience when done appropriately. This can strengthen your nervous system's response to all forms of stress.

Managing Detrimental Stress
While embracing beneficial forms of physical stress, we must simultaneously develop strategies to minimise chronic, harmful stress:
Periodisation and recovery: Understanding your menstrual cycle (if applicable) or your unique response patterns allows us to structure training intensity appropriately, emphasising recovery during higher-sensitivity phases.
Stress-hormone harmonising: Specific nutrition strategies, timed appropriately around exercise and throughout your hormonal cycles, can help mitigate stress responses and support recovery.
Mindful movement practices: Incorporating restorative movement like yoga or tai chi can activate the parasympathetic "rest and digest" system, countering the effects of chronic stress.
Sleep optimisation: Creating personalised sleep rituals that work with your hormonal stage helps address one of the most powerful anti-stress tools available to women.
Timing: The timing of our training and recovery are very important - have a look at a separate blog post I wrote here for some interesting insights on this.

Your Personalised Approach to Stress
I don't believe in one-size-fits-all approaches. The optimal balance of beneficial stress and recovery depends on your:

• Current hormonal stage
• Existing stress load (work, family, etc.)
• Recovery capacity
• Health history
• Goals and priorities

This Stress Awareness Month, I invite you to reconsider your relationship with stress. Rather than attempting to eliminate all stress (an impossible and counterproductive goal), try to identify which stressors serve your strength and vitality, and which ones need management strategies.
If you are interested in hearing more, why not book in a free, no obligation call with me here, or sign up to my monthly newsletter here.