Exercise can change how your body handles stress by rewiring the system that controls cortisol, the stress hormone.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (4)
Community contributions welcome
Physical Activity and Cortisol Regulation: A Meta-Analysis.
The study looked at how exercise affects the body's stress hormone, cortisol, and found that people who are more active have healthier daily cortisol patterns, which means their bodies handle stress better.
Acute effects of physical activity patterns on plasma cortisol and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in relation to corticospinal excitability.
The study found that moving regularly or exercising changes cortisol levels, and these changes are linked to brain adaptability, which suggests physical activity can help the body manage stress better.
Effects of physical training on the metabolic profile of rats exposed to chronic restraint stress
The study found that rats who exercised handled stress better and had lower stress hormone levels than those who didn’t exercise, which supports the idea that physical activity can change how the body responds to stress.
Hypothalamic Crh/Avp, Plasmatic Glucose and Lactate Remain Unchanged During Habituation to Forced Exercise
The study found that when rats get used to exercise, their stress systems don’t overreact, which suggests exercise helps the body manage stress better over time.
Contradicting (0)
Community contributions welcome
Gold Standard Evidence Needed
According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.