HIIT vs Restorative Yoga

We all know that moving our body is an essential part of staying healthy, strong, and mobile, but did you know the way you move your body can also support your nervous system regulation?

Let’s get something straight first, we whole heartedly support a good strong sweaty workout and we are not attempting to discourage any of the benefits of working hard in your body.  What we do want to talk about is why you might choose to move your body one way vs another. 

During times of stress our brain sends a distress signal through our nerves to our adrenal glands.  The adrenal glands respond by releasing the hormone epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) into the blood stream.  This process is so finely tuned that it happens before we can even perceive a change in our environment.  Essentially our gas pedal is accelerated, our blood pressure and pulse rate goes up, our sight and hearing sharpen.  We become hyper vigilant.  

Over a period of time, if the stress threat is not removed from our perception ie: our gas pedal is not released, the adrenal glands are signaled again to now release cortisol.  Once the stress or danger is removed our system starts to apply the brake to return to neutral.  But what if the stress isn’t removed? During chronic stress we may have trouble taking that gas pedal off and just like the engine of a car, if we apply the brake and the gas at the same time, eventually the engine starts to malfunction.  

Let’s get back to exercise.  If your day is one of chronic stress and hyper arousal or vigilance, then revving your engine more with a HIIT workout may be contributing to your continual cortisol loading.  Moderate to high intensity exercise provokes increases in circulating cortisol levels. Choosing to support your body to gently apply your brake may be a better choice if you’re already amped up.  

There are lots of different ways to move that support this downshift in the nervous system.   And many times we need an intermediary choice like taking a walk or mindful yoga or pilates to help bridge the gap.  To shift deeper into a state of calm and rest we recommend Restorative Yoga. Restorative Yoga leads us into non-sleep deep-rest a place where our body can trigger the relaxation response to counter our stress response and help bring us back to neutral. 

Want to learn more about your nervous system or Restorative Yoga? Come discover how to work with us.