THE FRAZZLED FREELANCER

Nick Harding, 50

A battle through Surrey’s strike-hit rail system leaves me with a morning cortisol reading of 390nmol, which Matt Roberts assures me is perfectly normal for 9am – so long as its gently curves down for the rest of the day.

But mine doesn’t. After my morning test, I put in five hours of desk work, then at 2pm I have an intense gym session with a personal trainer, doing press-ups until I can no longer lift myself from the floor. Generally, this is how I work out in the gym, five to six times a week. I go for maximum exertion and maximum exhaustion, in the hope that it counteracts my sedentary, office-based work life, and therefore reduces my stress levels.

The second test, at 4pm, reveals the problem with my logic. “You have an afternoon level of 272nmol,” explains Roberts. “There was only a slight drop in your cortisol levels.” He puts the blame squarely at the door of my high-intensity gym habit, and says that, while periodic daytime cortisol spikes are normal, regular OTT workouts can cause dangerously prolonged, elevated levels of the hormone.

“When you are in a high cortisol state, your body burns stored sugars, rather than body fats,” says Roberts. “Over a sustained period, you stop burning fat deposits. You also develop cravings for high sugar sources of energy. Consequently, you gain visceral, internal fat. This is serious for men as visceral fat is the biggest risk factor for heart conditions.”

The analysis explains why men like me, who push themselves through multiple high-intensity workouts a week, can struggle to lose fat around our middles. Frustratingly, the harder you work to lose the fat, the more chance you have of maintaining it.

The good news is that I have healthy sleep patterns, no digestive problems and functional adrenal glands – all indicators that my body copes well with the stress I put it under. Roberts advises that I shouldn’t give up the high- intensity workouts completely; in moderation, they assist in a healthy balance of other hormones including testosterone, serotonin and melatonin. Instead, the way forward is to limit them to two times a week, and replace the other sessions with more moderated exercise.

It would probably help if the trains stopped striking, too.

‘When you are in a high-cortisol state, your body burns stored sugars, rather than body fats’

‘A full body scan at Matt’s gym proved that my highintensity gym isn’t helping as much as I thought’