Stress Isn't Always the Enemy — Sometimes It's Peak Readiness
A lot of the conversation around stress focuses on what happens when it becomes too much. That’s important, but it’s only half the picture. Stress itself isn’t the villain, it’s a normal physiological state, and sometimes it looks exactly like being at your absolute best.
The Sprinter on the Blocks Is in a Stress State
Picture an athlete about to run 100 metres at the Olympic Games, the race they’ve trained twenty years for. On the blocks, ready to go, they are, technically speaking, in a stress state. Heart rate up, adrenaline flowing, senses sharpened. That doesn’t mean something has gone wrong. It means their body is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do at exactly the right moment.
The Same Physiology, a Completely Different Outcome
Here’s the part that surprises people: the actual physiological response, the heightened arousal, the adrenaline, the narrowed focus, looks remarkably similar whether it’s helping someone or overwhelming them. The biology isn’t the deciding factor. What differs is the context around it, how prepared someone is, how much control they have, and whether the demand matches their current capacity.
Why “Stress” Became a Dirty Word
Stress gets a bad reputation largely because we notice it most when it’s gone wrong, when it tips into overwhelm rather than sitting in a useful range. But the underlying stress response itself is just your body mobilising resources for a demand. That machinery isn’t inherently good or bad, it’s simply doing its job. Whether that job ends well depends on more than the stress response alone.
What Determines Whether Stress Helps or Hurts You
The sprinter’s twenty years of training is what turns that exact same biological state into an asset rather than a liability. Preparation, recovery capacity, and a sense of control over the situation all shape whether a stress response translates into peak performance or into overwhelm. The same intensity that sharpens one person can be exactly what tips another person over the edge, depending on what they’re bringing to the moment.
Understanding Your Own Relationship With Stress
Rather than treating all stress as something to eliminate, it’s more useful to understand where your own capacity currently sits relative to what’s being asked of you. Our team at Spinewise in Maidstone offers thorough, functional assessments that look at nervous system and recovery capacity, so you get a clearer picture of whether your current stress load is working for you or against you. Call us on (03) 9318 7758 or book online to talk it through.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. In the right amount and the right context, stress sharpens focus, lifts performance, and helps you rise to a genuine demand. It’s a normal, often useful, part of how the body responds to challenge.
Largely preparation, recovery capacity, and control. The sprinter has trained for years and has genuine control over the moment. Burnout tends to involve demand that’s outpaced someone’s current capacity to recover, often without much sense of control.
Because the underlying physiological response, adrenaline, heightened arousal, is the same mechanism either way. What changes the outcome is everything around that response, not the response itself.
A rough guide is whether you’re recovering well between demands and performing consistently, or feeling progressively more depleted over time. If you’re not sure, it’s worth having your recovery capacity properly assessed.
About the Author
Dr Trevor Chetcuti, B.Chiro.Sc, B.App.Sc (Clin), DIBAK, CNET
Dr Trevor Chetcuti is Clinical Director at Spinewise in Maidstone, holding dual degrees in Chiropractic and Clinical Science from RMIT University and a Teaching Diplomate in Applied Kinesiology through the International College of Applied Kinesiology (ICAK). He is chairman of ICAK International’s Board of Research and Standards and has spent over 20 years helping patients work through complex health, neurological and pain-related concerns.