How Mental Stress Affects Your Running Performance

Too much stress can feel exhausting. Not only does it leave you mentally drained, but it can also physically tax your body. This is why many of us turn to running as a way to cope with day-to-day stressors. But ironically enough, running is also a stressor—which just proves that not all stress is harmful and a little bit can actually help your health and performance. “Sometimes [stress] gets a bad rap, like if you have a presentation at work, are dealing with traffic, or have an interpersonal conflict—those things can be bad, but a little bit of stress can actually be good,” says Sarah Lyle, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and director of the health and wellbeing lab at Eckerd College in Florida. The Yerkes-Dodson law, which states a certain level of stress is needed to reach optimal performance, supports this idea. For example, you need to experience some level of stress on the body leading up to race day, so it can make adaptations and lead to a winning performance—it’s just that too much of it can bring you down, Lyle explains. Oftentimes, stress is misunderstood, but the better you understand it and how it affects your body, the better you can manage it. Here, we break down what stress is, as well as explain the relationship between physical and mental stress, and how it affects your runs. [View in Browser]( [Runner's World Logo]( [SHOP]( [RW+ EXCLUSIVE]( [SUBSCRIBE]( [How Mental Stress Affects Your Running Performance]( [How Mental Stress Affects Your Running Performance]( [How Mental Stress Affects Your Running Performance]( Too much stress can feel exhausting. Not only does it leave you mentally drained, but it can also physically tax your body. This is why many of us turn to running as a way to cope with day-to-day stressors. But ironically enough, running is also a stressor—which just proves that not all stress is harmful and a little bit can actually help your health and performance. “Sometimes [stress] gets a bad rap, like if you have a presentation at work, are dealing with traffic, or have an interpersonal conflict—those things can be bad, but a little bit of stress can actually be good,” says Sarah Lyle, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and director of the health and wellbeing lab at Eckerd College in Florida. The Yerkes-Dodson law, which states a certain level of stress is needed to reach optimal performance, supports this idea. For example, you need to experience some level of stress on the body leading up to race day, so it can make adaptations and lead to a winning performance—it’s just that too much of it can bring you down, Lyle explains. Oftentimes, stress is misunderstood, but the better you understand it and how it affects your body, the better you can manage it. Here, we break down what stress is, as well as explain the relationship between physical and mental stress, and how it affects your runs. Too much stress can feel exhausting. Not only does it leave you mentally drained, but it can also physically tax your body. This is why many of us turn to running as a way to cope with day-to-day stressors. But ironically enough, running is also a stressor—which just proves that not all stress is harmful and a little bit can actually help your health and performance. “Sometimes [stress] gets a bad rap, like if you have a presentation at work, are dealing with traffic, or have an interpersonal conflict—those things can be bad, but a little bit of stress can actually be good,” says Sarah Lyle, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and director of the health and wellbeing lab at Eckerd College in Florida. The Yerkes-Dodson law, which states a certain level of stress is needed to reach optimal performance, supports this idea. For example, you need to experience some level of stress on the body leading up to race day, so it can make adaptations and lead to a winning performance—it’s just that too much of it can bring you down, Lyle explains. Oftentimes, stress is misunderstood, but the better you understand it and how it affects your body, the better you can manage it. Here, we break down what stress is, as well as explain the relationship between physical and mental stress, and how it affects your runs. [Read More]( [Read More](   [Parker Valby Breaks Her Own Collegiate Record and Wins the NCAA 5,000 Meters]( [Parker Valby Breaks Her Own Collegiate Record and Wins the NCAA 5,000 Meters]( Valby was having fun en route to her 14:52.79, shaving a few seconds off her record to claim another NCAA title. 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