exercise to reduce anxiety?

[amber1973]

I've just joined the gym and am going today for my first session and on my own, I'm so scared in case I can't do much or have a heart attack! I'm overweight by 2 stone but am quite active, have a horse, run round after my toddler.

I'm hoping that exercise will make me feel better and reduce anxiety, anyone found this works????

If so what exercise do you do.

[Oosh]

I find an easy one to start with is walking slow on a treadmill on a bit of an incline. Keep your shoulders back and don't lean forward. Alter the gradient until it feels like a pleasant hill hike you can do for 20mins or so.

Don't rush around doing things fast. Go at a slow pace. Just oxygenating and cleaning out your bloodstream will have a positive effect.

Any weights, make them light, to tone. Any excess strain and breaking down of the muscles will just leave you fatigued afterwards which won't help anxiety.

Rowing machine for upper body cardio and toning maybe. Put it on easy. Just using those areas of the body is a good start.

Take it all slow. Stay relaxed.

[amber1973]

Thank you I will try that, I went couple of years ago with a friend and enjoyed it , just scared as I'm on my own.

[Nat2015]

I'm considering joining a gym as well soon. I'm fairly active as I cycle and walk daily as it is the only way I can travel atm. I love exercising in general and find that the more active I am the calmer I feel overall. I sleep better and just feel physically and mentally "clearer". I also have the "heart attack" fear when doing vigorous exercise! lol I have to pace myself with intense exercise (ie aerobics etc) as the physical sensations of exercise can be quite triggering for me. I would like to join a gym so that I can use it as exposure therapy for the physical sensations so that I can have more confidence in how my body physically feels. I hope that makes sense! Going on my own will also be more fear inducing but I expect this to just be until I have been a few times and got used to it. :)

[thisisnotwhoiam]

I've joined the gym on numerous occasions during my anxiety periods. It makes me better in general - it makes me feel stronger and healthier if I do it regularly, but it rarely helps to cope with anxiety or depression.

Last week was my week 2 of new gym and the first day I spent sobbing through about 80% of my routine. I literally could not stop crying, didn't do all the reps and I think at the end, gym made it much worse because I also then to cope with crying in public (incl. 40 minutes on the tube on the way back!). The second time I went I was totally anxious. I did my routine at 110%, making all the movements perfectly and really challenging myself. The result: muscles felt nice/normal for about 1 hour and then went back to anxious stone-hard. This is what makes me think that gym is a good strategy, but not a good tactic. But it's certainly very good if you have physical ailments that benefit from staying fit. If I don't exercise or have regular sex for a few weeks, my back just breaks down and that inevitably leads to bad depression/anxiety.

Did you talk to a trainer at the gym? It's quite important to know how to perform exercise correctly, so you don't hurt yourself. I used to have huuuge anxiety over talking to trainers, and over going to gyms in general. Because I am a bit fat (95kg), they always tend to focus on losing me weight and it makes me very uncomfortable and like they are not really listening to what I need right now and like they are fat-shaming. And then I tend to feel like people at the gym are judging me. And I found a perfect solution finally! Now I go to rehab gyms - the usually little ones which are full of old people and injured people. Since I'm injured, I fit in very well and I love the relaxed vibe and the good-natured physiotherapists that walk around. Everyone knows that everyone is doing their best and when people look at you, it's really looks of encouragement, not pity or judgement (or at least it seems that way to me and I like it!). Anyway, I've known that I like the classic 15 min cardio+weight training routine, so I just made an appointment with the trainer and they showed me how to do everything. It's important to know that you may not get it all right and someone may come up and show you how you are doing something wrong, - but its a good thing. It's super scary to me, but now after a few sessions alone with headphones, I just come in and do my thing and have almost no anxiety over it.

In my worst agoraphobic times this woman helped me a million. Granted, I was a bit psycho then and did not realize that I was stuck in the house doing fitness for hours and that was kind of creepy, but I used her videos every day for a month for 1-3 hours a day (I'm telling you, i was fanatic about fitness) and it got me into WONDERFUL shape. And this shape and the skills I got gave me amazing confidence to later join the gym and not be utterly destroyed in panic by it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g48uajRAxGo&list=PL8GmlidqaTF1V820OQ8D0f2W7DXSBQSqL

[ricardo]

Being an OAP and never really into exercise bar raising my hand for a taxi :) having recently had a heart attack the rehab has to assess every single person and they use The Borg Scale.

I would say to a certain degree anyone of any age should be assessed first and slowly build up the various exercises.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that regular (and that is the key word) exercise will help your anxiety and definitely bring it down, hopefully to a manageable level.

[bekw89]

I can't recommend excerise enough for anxiety, it has literally saved me and is the only medicine I will have for anxiety. Hopefully your fear of heart attacks will go away as your anxiety reduces and you will be able to benefit more from it. Good luck!

[NotCool]

Sure, exercise works. Facing your health worries with a raised heart beat, sweating and exhaustion/fatigue can be cathartic for your body and mind.

[swgrl09]

I love yoga for anxiety.

[sial72]

I love swimming for anxiety

[blue moon]

I love walking î have a dog and she walks me:DI do my I must I must increase my bust every morning
Not that it has been working,at my age they are hanging to my. Knees,do any women out there have exercise for boobs?

[Zim]

I've managed to keep up my gym visits after starting for a month now. Been going 3-4 days a week for around 1 and a half hours each time.

I mainly do weight machines and free weights but also do the odd spell of cardio like cycling and running.

I definitely feel the benefits, personally. I get to put the excess adrenaline our bodies are producing to good use and it's also a decent way to generally relieve stress and feel like you've used your time constructively and accomplished something each day. Setting goals also helps as you can then start to apply similar methods to your life in general.

Not to mention, you notice an increase in physical strength and fitness, in turn feeling healthier which drives you on even more. After losing many of my hobbies, this has quickly become one of my main ones and I actually feel somewhat addicted now. It has definitely helped me with my anxiety in general, although you need to pair this with meds or therapy etc.

Also, it gets you out of the house which was one of my main reasons for beginning in the first place. :)

[GingerFish]

Exercise is amazing for anxiety. Its the last thing you feel like doing but it works wonders. Its finding the motivation to start it which is the hardest part! I have an exercise bike in my living room and even just five mins on that is enough to give me a boost and either keep the anxiety at bay or reduce any panic left over from a recent panic attack. I also go walks around my area with my mum and boyfriend which help. Going outside can make such a difference.

[poshpants]

I like walking and love to walk on the beach watch the sun go down and listen to the waves. I try to cycle as much as possible as I have heathland as my doorstep although I have been a bit slack lately. I decided to treat myself to a decent mountain bike and brought a Cannondale amazing difference so that encourages me to get out.
As for the boobs exercise I can't offer any advice on that one as I'm that well endowed in that department x

[BlueEyesShining]

I recommend Pilates, it`s really amazing, low-intensity and in the same time it strenghtens and tones the body. I do it for almost a year now, and i see amazing results, both for fighting my anxiety and for toning my body

[Greg101]

I cannot recommend exercise enough, the release of endorphins you get when exercising means that regular exercise is a very powerful tool available to all of us to reduce stress and anxiety naturally.

Yes the initial momentum can be difficult but know this take one step at a time and you will soon be reaping the rewards which will come in abundance from regular exercise.

Personally I run though I appreciate that is not for everyone.


Greg :)

[Jenwales]

Yoga I did do more strenous stuff and it felt good only yoga now dont pay for gym and tiny house