The Food Medic - E5 Ask Dr Hazel: Exercise and burnout recovery

Episode Date: August 1, 2022

Hello and welcome back to another episode of Ask Dr Hazel. In these 5 minute episodes we answer questions submitted by you.This week's question: What is the best way to implement exercise when recovering from burnout or too much stress?Thank you to everyone who has sent in questions already and if you would like to submit a question to the podcast - on any topic related to health, fitness, nutrition, or mindset - please send your voice recorded question to [e-mail]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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exclusions and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over deliver. Hey everyone, and welcome back to another mini episode, Ask Dr. Hazel. In these mini episodes, I answer questions submitted by you. So let's hear from this week's listener. Hi, Dutchie here. I have a question regarding exercising and burnout or too much stress what is the best way to implement exercise or strength training during this period of recovering from burnout or a period of too much stress thank you love your podcast this is a really interesting question. And if you haven't listened to episode one on season six with Amelia Nagoski,

then definitely do because I think that's the podcast for you. But first off, what is burnout? Burnout is recognized really as a state of physical and emotional exhaustion. And the World Health Organization define it as having three dimensions. One, feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion. Two, increased mental distance from one's job or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job. And reduced professional efficiency. Although it doesn't necessarily have to be work related, just to say that from the offset, it can be related to other things in your life. Amelia and her sister Emily actually wrote the book Burnout and that's what we talk about in

that episode and they talk a lot about closing the stress cycle which if you follow me on social media you'll be familiar with it because I talk about it all the time on my stories and I'm often running or walking when I'm talking about it. So closing the stress cycle is basically finding a way to let our bodies know when we're no longer threatened or in danger and we can stop being stressed. So this can theoretically help us to avoid burnout and emotional exhaustion. Now there's no single thing that works for everyone and often rest is what's the most important thing when it comes to burnout but physical activity is actually one of the most effective ways to end the stress cycle and help your body to recover from it. So exercise can help. This doesn't have to be intense exercise,

it doesn't mean you have to go to a Barry's Boot Camp class every day. But it can be any form of movement. It could be dance, it could be swimming, it could be badminton, whatever. So perhaps finding something that's new to you or that you find relaxing or provides you with some social bonding. Things like a team sport or gym class might be the best thing for you. Personally, like I said, I try to end my working day with a walk or jog outside. And I'm not saying this removes all the stress from my life, but it just helps me, I guess, like Amelia and Emily say, close that stress cycle. If exercise is something that you want to avoid for whatever reason, or it's not working for you, breathwork, social interaction

and closeness like hugging and laughing are all ways that work. But do check out that episode. As I mentioned, Amelia offers many other solutions to helping and preventing burnout. But I would say that's burnout. And I mean, we haven't had a conversation together. but if your feelings of burnout or exhaustion are related to the amount of exercise you're doing, for example, you feel like you're overtraining and unable to recover appropriately, then that's a whole other topic. And in that situation, I would advise rest

and cutting back on what you're doing by at least 50%. And then when you're ready to return, do it slowly week on week. So hopefully that covers your question. It's always tricky when you get a short question, you don't have the full background. But I know from the questions that I answer on social media that lots of people are experiencing burnout at the moment. And it's especially problematic after the pandemic so hopefully this is helping not just the listener but anyone else listening if you do have any other questions or you want to feature on the food medic podcast make sure to send your questions

to lindsay at the food medic dakota uk and i will do my best to answer it