Limitless with Chris Hemsworth

Stress, it definitely affects my sleep.

And this is just going back a few years, you know.

This is not such a big issue these days. But, actually that's not true, it is.

Yeah, like I’ll go to sleep fine, and then at 2:30.

There’s a shot of adrenaline

and my brain will just start going through a checklist of things.

Be like, "Does that bother me? Does that... Oh, that one, yeah good,

"let’s think about that, let’s tear that apart."

Are you getting nervous a bit now?

I have a little wave of nausea.

Sometimes, I don’t know even why.

And I wish I could deal with that stress better.

Just got a whole lot realer, didn't it?

Not just because it sucks...

Gotcha.

...but also, it could be killing me.

But it turns out, one of the best ways

to protect myself from the ravages of stress

is to confront it head on.

So, here goes.

So, tell me, what are some of the things that stress you out?

My God, the usual stuff, I guess. And different things at different times.

- Like? - Um...

- Sorry. - For goodness sake.

What makes me nervous is driving this... car.

Stress can often be a big part of my life.

So, that's why I’m here with Dr. Modupe Akinola.

A renowned social psychologist with a ground-breaking approach to stress.

You had to have something that was stressful?

- Think of like your most stressful... - Yeah, I’ve got three kids,

- that’s pretty intense. - last week.

- You know. - Yeah. Yes, it is.

- You're trying to manage three kids... - Yeah.

- ...keep them all happy, healthy. - Yep.

Then if I’m working

- on top of that and training. - Yeah.

And then, like on the weekend I got, you know, incredibly overwhelmed

and the kids are losing it. We're in a restaurant,

people are watching, they're like, probably taking photos as well.

You have a short temper

- and you’re trying... - Okay.

...not to sort of get angry.

And I feel my heart rate go up, short of breath, that kind of thing.

It’s important for Chris to make a change,

because stress isn't just about feeling bad.

Over time, it can be a killer,

contributing to illnesses like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

One of the things we're gonna do is teach you some ways

to change your mindset in overcoming some of the stress that you feel.

- Yeah. - I call it, kind of dating your stress.

- Yeah. - You need to date your stress.

- I’ve got a really solid relationship... - See what it likes, Yeah?

- ...with my stress. - Well, yeah.

Well, we need to make it a healthier relationship.

It’s a little dysfunctional.

All of us have the ability to control our stress.

But in order to do that, we need to face it head-on.

So, I'm going to teach Chris tools and techniques

to help him address the stress that’s unavoidable in life.

It might seem crazy, but to do that,

I’ll be asking Chris to put himself in an incredibly stressful situation.

Okay. In three days, you’ll be walking across that crane.

Um...

That tower is 900 feet high, that's 275 meters.

Hang on.

Yeah, that's high.

- You sound a little nervous right now. - I'm just kinda wonder...

No, the... I am nervous. Very nervous.

What’s making you nervous about that?

- Because part of this... - Death is usually a big role.

- Death is a little part of it? - Yeah, yeah. I don’t like heights, really.

This isn’t about the feat of it,

this is about preparing you to be able to manage and be present

with the emotions that you are feeling right now.

- It's kind of like... - Yep.

...training your mindset to be okay and embrace the stress,

- so that it doesn’t kill us later. - Yeah, right.

And by the time we do this, you’ll be ready.

I’m both curious, excited and scared...

And at this point, I know what you're thinking.

What the hell am I doing this for?

Truth is, most days I feel pretty young.

But, the clock is ticking.

Things that might shorten my life...

...are already at work within me.

The good news, there's something I can do about it.

So, over the next year

I'm taking on six extraordinary challenges.

- Let's go! - Pushing myself to the very limit.

To discover how we can all unlock

the secrets of living a healthier, longer life.

- There it is! - Yeah. Let's go.

- There she is, mate. - That big tall skinny thing.

And this big tall skinny thing is gonna be taking the walk of doom!

It doesn’t look any smaller from over here!

With just three days till I'm meant to be doing this crazy challenge,

I'm hoping that I can lean on my good friends,

Aaron Grist and Luke Zocchi, for a bit of moral support.

- Looking at it again makes me sick. - I can see the crane up there dude,

- it’s up there already, it’s ready to go! - Looks like it's kinda wobbling a bit.

Well, looks so sketchy!

- That is huge. - Yeah, mate, have fun.

Hopefully, the wind dies down but generally through the day

it gets windier so...

Come to think of it, I'm not sure why I've brought them along.

Especially as the plan for today is

for Modupe to give me my first lesson in dealing with stress.

Okay, so, here's what I need you to do. I need you to take your shirt off.

- Woah! - Yeah.

And what we’re gonna do is, I'm gonna put that shirt on you

because that allows me to measure your physiological responses.

Looks like a dress. Mini skirt, what is this?

- No, it’s like a singlet and... - Okay.

...these are worn by NASA astronauts, actually.

- Are they? - So, just gonna take off your shirt!

Guys, give me a hand.

- Okay. - Okay, here we go.

He’s definitely done push-ups before he's done this.

He’s definitely flexing. He’s holding his breath.

I’m not flexing at all!

It needs to be tight enough, so that we get the signal

but that feels good?

- Just to relax posture as well. - Look at you showing off.

And what I also need you to do is to put this over your head...

- All right. - ...and this part

should be right around there.

And that's going to measure your blood pressure.

To prepare Chris for the crane walk,

I want to start by making him experience a stressful situation

designed to help him get a better understanding

of how his mind affects his body.

MODUPE; So, you see your blood pressure...

Blood pressure, huh?

...we see your breathing rate, your heart rate here.

- Got it. - You know, right now,

you're at 65 beats per minute.

So, this is going to be what I consider your baseline

and then compare everything to that.

So, I've checked Chris’s heart rate when he's relaxed,

and I'm gonna see how it changes

when he's doing something that's stressful for him.

- That's... I can see that hand. - Yeah?

So, I want him to experience

a virtual reality version of the crane walk.

Okay, so, all I want you to do is walk across that plank.

And off you go.

Woah! See you guys.

- It’s a long way up, huh? - Yep.

The VR experience is fascinating.

Whoa.

Wow.

One part of my brain is very aware that it’s not real.

The other part of it is screaming, "This is crazy! What are we doing?

"We’re gonna die!” I feel it in my stomach.

The same nervous energy that I’d have if I was actually standing on a building.

So, his heart rate was at like 65 and it’s definitely going up.

His breathing rate is going up, it was around 12 before.

There’s definitely some fear.

It feels super unsteady now!

This is... I can’t do it!

Even though there’s no real danger to Chris

his brain is perceiving threat, his stress is kicking in.

It’s the classic fight-or-flight response.

When my brain senses something stressful,

it’s like a switch is flipped.

My nerves send my whole system into overdrive...

triggering a flood of hormones into my bloodstream.

My breathing speeds up, my heart starts racing, I feel wired.

In moments of danger, that energy surge would help me fight or run away.

Then when it's over, my stress circuit should switch off. No harm done.

But when our stress doesn't go away,

one of those hormones, cortisol, keeps on flowing...

and our fight or flight circuit can’t fully shut down.

Over time, we get burnt out, which can lead to high blood pressure,

a misfiring immune system, and elevated blood sugar.

All increasing the risk of deadly disease.

So weird.

How did my heart rate increase?

So, here’s what’s really interesting is that you... it was...

as you were going up, it increased to give you the energy

and mobilize you to do what you need to do.

The problem is, if you end up having that elevated level like,

throughout the day, that’s when things become,

um, less healthy, less functional.

Because that would mean that your body is not shutting down

and turning off, and resting the way it needs to.

What it made me think was, like, "This is gonna suck when I really do it."

And that is what we’re gonna be working on!

Yeah. Zoc. You've got to have a go!

My buddy, Zoc really doesn’t like heights...

- Now, here we go. - Oh, my God.

...so I figure this is a chance to push his fight or flight to the max.

Oh, what the...

Oh, boy.

No. No.

- Go. Let's go. Go. - Oh, man. I'm full shaking, dude.

- Look at his legs. - Go.

- I can't do it. - Do it.

- Do it. - Come on, Zoc.

- Go, go, go. - Come on, come on, come on.