Stress! Just the thought and sound of the word can get the blood pumping and the nostrils flaring. Are you stressed? Let's be honest most of us are!

As a personal trainer I tend to work with many busy CEO's, business owners and on the go mothers who all complain of living a highly stressful life. From my point of view highly stressed people have the ability to gain extra weight and can struggle to lose it. I'll explain why.

The human body comes equipped with a very effective inbuilt stress mechanism known as the 'fight or flight response'. This response was initially useful for short-term responses to danger or stress like defending your cave against tigers or running away from a hairy mammoth. The challenge through in today's wired up society is that we have so many factors that will turn on our stress receptors and keep them on!

When we become engaged in a stressful situation, it may be a crying baby, constant phone calls, meeting sharp deadlines or working without beaks you body turns on the 'fight or flight' hormones which are adrenaline and cortisol. Know this is ok if it's for a short time, or a dangerous situation, but for most of us it's neither. So what ends up happening is you have too much adrenaline and cortisol pumping around your system all the time.

What does this mean? Adrenaline and cortisol are produced to give you rapid energy by releasing emergency energy from your liver and also breaks down your muscles so that it can turn that into energy. So in the end people who consistently live a highly stressed out life end up losing muscle which will makes their metabolism slower.

So what's the solution?

Effectively managing stress and learning to relax will recharge your batteries, increase resilience and ultimately enhance performance. This is critical to prolonged success in weight loss. Not to mention the fact that recent evidence reports associations between prolonged emotional stress or strain and poor health.

Does anyone remember the T.V series the Jetsons? I saw a glimpse of it the other day. Our world is becoming more and more like the Jetsons. We have more gismos, gadgets and technical stuff then we know what to do with. The reality is our world is becoming more automated every day!

The reality for some people is that they have moved from the Flintstones where we did everything ourselves to the Jetsons where so much of life is automated or at least pretty sedentary.

While you may laugh, it is amazing how many of us are falling way behind when it comes to movement or exercise.

Movement Facts

• The average Aussie moves 7 to 10 kms less per day than in 1970
• Brisk walking is one of the most effective modes of aerobic exercise
Enhanced brain function, energy levels, body perception, self-esteem and improved academic performance have been linked to physical activity.
• Regular activity is an excellent antidote for daily stress

How much each week?

This will depend on where your fitness is at but a base I recommend is the 5+3+2 rule. Investing only 2 to 3 hours towards your fitness only represents only 2 percent of your total time you have available each week. What are you waiting for?