When considering the stress of exercise, which category is NOT typically recognized?

The concept of stress in the context of exercise often categorizes stress into types that acknowledge the impact that exercise has on the body, distinguishing between beneficial and detrimental forms of stress. Good stress typically refers to eustress, which is positive stress that can motivate and enhance performance, while bad stress refers to distress, which can lead to negative outcomes such as injury or burnout. Ugly stress is less common in terminology but can refer to stressors that are hard to classify as simply good or bad, often associated with complex situations that may have mixed effects.

Neutral stress, however, is not a recognized category within common stress frameworks in exercise science. Stress responses are usually viewed through the lens of their consequences on health and performance, aligning more closely with either beneficial or harmful outcomes. Therefore, the absence of a category that simply neutralizes stress demonstrates a lack of acknowledgment in the field for a stress response that has neither positive nor negative implications on the body’s ability to cope with exercise.