Is Running Raising Cortisol and Preventing Weight Loss?
This week, a 20-something woman told me that she was considering GIVING UP running (temporarily) in order to lose weight for her wedding. She was concerned that she just couldn’t lose weight while running because of its impact on her cortisol.
WAIT A MINUTE.
Why Cortisol Has Become the “Enemy” in Fitness
As someone who uses Instagram for my livelihood – I almost wanted to quit the internet. Why have things gotten SO EXTREME in the health and fitness world lately? Runners are fighting over whether LA Marathoners deserve a medal for finishing at mile18 on a hot day or arguing whether the fastest runners should more priority into the New York marathon – honestly it’s been a bit disappointing.
I guess here I am, adding to the noise by calling out people who make cortisol the enemy, but I just can’t help but chime in.
What Cortisol Actually Does in Your Body
Cortisol is a stress hormone – the one that prepares you for “fight or flight” – aka what creates that buzzing sensation in your body when you almost get in a car accident.
Why Cortisol Increases During Running
When it comes to exercise, including running, cortisol increases in order to supply energy. The harder you run or longer you run, the greater the temporary spike in cortisol.
Acute vs. Chronic Cortisol
While ONE session of running temporarily increases cortisol (as a natural, healthy acute reaction), and long term consistent exercise, including running, LOWERS chronic cortisol levels.
When Running Can Contribute to High Cortisol
The caveat: if you train really hard but don’t give yourself the recovery time or fuel you need, you can create chronically elevated cortisol levels.
Signs of Elevated Cortisol in Runners
Some signs you DO have elevated cortisol in part as a result of running include chronic fatigue, poor sleep, frequent illness, increased resting heart rate, and increased belly fat. These are often also signs of under-recovering and under-fueling.
Why Stress (Not Running) Is the Bigger Problem
One thing to remember: All stress is treated the same to the body, and hard running (and any other exercise) is a stress.
How to Balance Running, Stress, and Recovery
If you’re going through a particularly challenging time in your life -whether it’s changing careers, caring for an ill parent, child behavior issues, relationship problems, financial strain, etc – and you’re also running really hard, not taking rest days, not getting at least 7 hours of sleep, not eating enough… you probably DO need to think about how this is impacting your body – and yes, you could have chronically elevated cortisol levels.
But running isn’t the thing to blame here. Even in stressful times, you can still run and even train or races, but you need to be more careful to balance training intensity and rest (another reason why having a run coach is helpful – if I notice that an athlete is consistently noting in their training notes that they are tired, dragging, etc, we immediately adjust training so get ahead of this BEFORE it can create longer term issues).
A Real-Life Example of Training During Stress
Last year was a stressful year for me personally. And it definitely impacted my running capacity. Mentally, I wasn’t fully engaged in the process of training. I wasn’t able to push as hard in races & training, but I accepted that. I changed my goal for the fall marathon and still ran a really solid race, but just didn’t race the way I had planned. That being said, I managed my stress well. I still slept (my average sleep score is 90!), my resting heart rate was normal, I was eating high quality food and fueling my running the same as if I was going after a PR.
What My Cortisol Levels Showed
I did blood work through Function Health last year during this time, and one of the tests was cortisol. Mine was in the normal range, even during a stressful time while training for a marathon and running a higher weekly mileage. (However, if you truly want to test cortisol, the best test is a 4 part saliva test, not a blood test).
The Bottom Line: Cortisol Isn’t the Enemy
My hope for you in reading this blog is not to feel like you need to go out and measure your cortisol. It’s that you will realize that cortisol isn’t the enemy for runners.
What Actually Matters
The enemy is stress & unbalanced training & fueling. And if scrolling social media is stressing you out, I’d recommend limiting your time there & sticking with trusted sources of information that don’t fear monger. (Last weekend I didn’t go on Instagram for 24 hours while away with Mike for his birthday and my HRV – a measure of the nervous system – improved 10 points!).
Remember – the human body is pretty freaking resilient. Even if you’re not doing it all perfectly (no one is), you can still thrive. But if you feel like something is up, speak with trusted coaches & health professionals before applying blanket Instagram advice (including mine!).
Happy running,
Nicole Dobransky
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