Stress is Not Linear

How a 30-minute plank changed my perspective of stress.

I’ve historically viewed stress like an internal fuse. Once I started experiencing a stress response, the fuse was lit and hopefully it was long enough to withstand the severity or amount of time a given stressor may be present. A shorter fuse could occur due to previous stress in the day, being sick, tired, or hungry. Once my figurative fuse burnt out, emotional reasoning ensued. My subsequent words, actions, and behavior were all excused because my fuse unfortunately burnt out. Not my fault.

Makes sense if you don’t think about it.

Stress often feels linear once we are aware of it and a stressor persists. Argument with a loved one, traffic progressively leading to your potential being late, children not listening, building hunger, fatigue, or discomfort. The feelings we encounter in response to stressors appear to have a mind of their own once the fuse is lit. Only good fortune in the stressor changing to our benefit can prevent an emotional outburst.

Uncontrollable stressors often feel like they produce uncontrollable stress. 

Stress management strategies can be quite effective in responding to life’s inevitable stress. Reactive strategies, however, are often difficult to consistently produce due to stressor complexity and emotional reasoning. Many of our thought processes and downstream reactions are habitual. Inserting space between an uncontrollable stressor and response is hard. Once emotional reasoning begins, it’s even harder to reverse. 

Many are governed by stimulus -> response. Perceived threat -> stress. Stressor -> lit fuse.

A little over two years ago, I was adding a prolonged forearms plank into my workout routine. Like anything else, I wasn’t great when I started. At best, I would be able to hold a plank for a few minutes before breaking. The more I practiced, the more time I could add onto my personal record. Before I knew it, I would set an intention to add at least a minute to my best time each subsequent attempt. I was able to build up to 41 minutes but you’ll have to take me on my word because I only recorded my 30 minute successful attempt: