Tracking stress/anxiety and sleep on an RPE basis.

[dherko]

So I’ve been running the press template as many may know. I also like many have been dealing with anxiety/stress issues. In the template I’ve been rating my anxiety/stress levels on an RPE scale along with sleep (by hours) and the results have been fascinating to see. We all have heard it but to see it on the graph really brings it home. On the analysis tabs you can see that a high average RPE in stress level usually correlated to lower numbers on the bar as well as skewed sleep numbers. I also recorded my anxiety/stress RPE at a different time of the day than my training as not to have one affect the other. It’s helped me and may be of some use to others.

[WhatCouldGoWrong]

Tracking this stuff is not helpful for most people, because they're likely to nocebo themselves by thinking "I've been very stressed lately and I will probably need to take weight off the bar", even though you might have otherwise had a great workout. Almost everybody has had the experience of going to the gym hungover/sick/tired and breaking PRs. However, if you think it's helping, keep going. You might want to look at TRAC in the free RTS app https://www.reactivetrainingsystems....tion/LoginPage (haven't tried it myself). Personally I'd rather spend the time it takes to play around with the data by relaxing or sleeping.

If you're having issues sleeping, try this guide https://www.painscience.com/articles/insomnia.php
The same site has a bunch of articles relating to stress and anxiety, e.g. https://www.painscience.com/articles/anxiety.php

[Dhruv4]

If tracking sleep can help you manage anxiety/stress better then im all for it. Me personally, earlier in the semester i only slept 5 hours a night and noticed that i was experiencing the side effects of sleep deprivation and was lacking in attention and couldnt retain alot of information and my memory was a bit worse. Fast forward 2 months and im getting 7 hours of sleep on average a night and my grades and cognitive ability have noticeably increased proved by my grades.
Tldr - do it if you need to and helps you feel better and manage stress better even if it is a placebo.

[Kristara]

Tracking stress and anxiety can be fine if used in an appropriate and helpful way. I often have patients track in an app such as daylio a couple of times a day but mainly so we can look at the data and put in strategies to work through those times of stress and anxiety or talk through them to alleviate the those symptoms/reasons before they begin. Tracking them is only helpful if it is to work on what is causing them. It can be helpful to learn some breathing and mindfulness strategies and practice them daily. We need a toolbelt full of strategies to help with anxiety and practice them. Here is why, we know 2+2=4 right? Why do we know this without even thinking because we practiced it over and over. Same thing with the breathing and mindfulness strategies in order to help reduce symptoms we need to practice the strategies daily so we have them automatically with us when we need them...plus practicing can reduce the anxiety as well. There is also an app called Be Okay that you can program to help you breathe such as a 4 squared breathing technique so when we can't think due to anxiety the app will tell us when to breathe in and out. Good luck!! You got this!!!

[bennett.michael0]

I find that I am fairly resistant to nocebos. I came off a ten hour connection flight and went right into a gym I've never been to, hit the numbers I was expecting, and I actually had trained the day before (I normally have a day or two of rest).

The main benefit I see to BBM's information is it applies to less-than-ideal circumstances. Some of the fitness industry seems to imply that too many things "kill gainz". I like the "what are you gonna do, not train?" approach because even when my sleep and diet aren't ideal, I avoid the nocebo.

Is powerlifting your priority in life? Or is it a backburner activity? I keep up with my training well, but diet and sleep are difficult with school or a full time job. If I personally collected this data, I don't think I'd actually be able to do anything with it. Your dedication is impressive though, especially if you manage nonproductive stresses.

[NatalieHartCNp]

Hi, everyone, here are some ideas you might like to try for managing symptoms of depression. Of course everyone's different, so let us know what works for you, and please feel free to add to the list...
Mindfulness – through breathing or engaging the 5 senses
Distress Tolerance – Accepting Emotions and Self Soothing
Distraction – Put the thoughts/feelings aside and come back to them when you are ready to deal with them
Use the right pills - the best Anti-Depressant - Etizolam
Positive Affirmations – Have some affirmations written down repeat them to yourself daily
Sleep/Exercise/Diet – All 3 aspects of our lifestyle can impact the way we think/feel
Increasing Pleasurable Activities – Engage in at least one pleasurable activity per day