Hormone and Gut-Friendly Exercises
I know, I know “But Laura, I love HIIT + running”
Do you actually love these types of workouts or are you in the constant mind fuck of whether or not you are doing enough to earn your food and think intense exercise is the only way?
I’ve been there. I used to be a HIIT + running machine. If I didn’t get in an intense enough workout I was a failure, the guilt would kick + I would instantly be questioning every single thing I put in my mouth for the day.
If only I knew the damage I was causing to my metabolism.
What if I told you that all these high endurance exercises could be one of the reasons your hormones + gut are F’d up?
Why? Because these workouts are STRESSFUL. I can guarantee 99.9% of us are stressed out in one way shape or form (the damn world we are living in right now is stressful).
Add in these demanding workouts on top of other stressors in your life + you are asking for a disaster. During these workouts your body releases the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol while suppressing your thyroid. What does the thyroid do? Well, it’s the main conductor of your metabolism, in other words, it is responsible for every single process in the body.
If you already have stress driven hormonal conditions like PCOS, HA, endometriosis, low progesterone, estrogen dominance, struggling with infertility… Lets be real, all hormonal imbalances are stress driven- these workouts are not doing you any favors.
Our hormones are very sensitive to stress. For example, as the body uses up more progesterone to manufacture the stress hormone cortisol it will leave us with an excess of estrogen aka estrogen dominance.
Wondering why your digestion sucks?
During these high intensity workouts + running blood gets diverted away from your digestive system to your working muscles. Stress hormones are also released as your bodies main concern is making sure your muscles are functioning optimally so you can run away from that invisible bear. Stressed out body = poor digestion and absorption of nutrients.
Before you start thinking you need to run your body into the ground (literally) just know you don’t need to run, do HIIT or crossfit to be “healthy.”
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Offerings:
Membership: The Wild + Well-Fed Wellness Collective
Online Course: Rewild Your Gut