Health Anxiety & Exercising - any tips?

[Andromeda]

I can 'manage' my health anxiety in any other situation...just not when i'm exercising!

I want to get fit and start running and it's really getting me down because i feel so restricted.

I can do gentle exercise at the gym but i want to push myself and every time i do I have a panic attack and have to leave because i'm worried my heart will give out.

In any other situation a super fast heart rate is a trigger for me so i just can't switch my brain to accept that i will have a high heart rate when doing cardio!

Does anyone have any tips or experiences they'd like to share?

[Mrs.Anxiety]

I could have written this post half a year ago, literally, this was me. I was so scared to get on the elliptical we have at home, I just couldn't get myself to experience my own fast heart rate. Now I love it! I know, it's weird but it helps me feel like I'm being healthy by taking control of my cardio health.

I'm a cardiophobe so I knew that by being sedentary and out of shape, I wasn't going to help myself or prolong my life. I decided to start out slow like 10 minutes tops each session. I'm not overweight, but I'm definitely not in shape, so at the beginning, I was out of breath and my heart was pounding. I made the mistake of checking my HR and it was somewhere in the lines of 180, which made me super nervous and for a while I didn't want to go back on it. But I did it! Now I'm on my elliptical 4-5 times a week! I only do 30 minutes. It's enough for me to feel healthy and less winded now that I do some more exercises. I play music, podcasts, or watch Youtube videos and it makes the time fly by easier for me. I've been at it for two months now and my HR doesn't get as high anymore, and it slows down faster after exercise.

[Andromeda]

I could have written this post half a year ago, literally, this was me. I was so scared to get on the elliptical we have at home, I just couldn't get myself to experience my own fast heart rate. Now I love it! I know, it's weird but it helps me feel like I'm being healthy by taking control of my cardio health.

I'm a cardiophobe so I knew that by being sedentary and out of shape, I wasn't going to help myself or prolong my life. I decided to start out slow like 10 minutes tops each session. I'm not overweight, but I'm definitely not in shape, so at the beginning, I was out of breath and my heart was pounding. I made the mistake of checking my HR and it was somewhere in the lines of 180, which made me super nervous and for a while I didn't want to go back on it. But I did it! Now I'm on my elliptical 4-5 times a week! I only do 30 minutes. It's enough for me to feel healthy and less winded now that I do some more exercises. I play music, podcasts, or watch Youtube videos and it makes the time fly by easier for me. I've been at it for two months now and my HR doesn't get as high anymore, and it slows down faster after exercise.

Thank you for sharing your story.

I will start out slow and keep trying to push myself little by little...

[melvin]

I was like this as well untill my therapists came to the gym with me i haven't looked back since

[Joe171091]

I have the exact same as you. My anxiety over heart is unbelievable. Just went for a walk/jog as it's meant to help "anxiety" isn't it? It's made me 10x worse. So many pains in chest and under armpits now. I can't deal with this much more :(

[Andromeda]

I tried a Zumba class for the first time last night.

Only managed 30 mins of a 45 minute session, I made my excuses and left because I was on the brink of a panic attack...walked home sobbing my heart out feeling like such a failure.

I'm not lazy, I really want to do this but my brain is putting up a wall when I try to push myself and I just can't deal with the anxious thoughts.

I don't know what to do anymore, I feel the same, just so fed up

[DREAMER05]

Keep on trying just little by little and maybe no group exercise? That might be adding too much pressure for you to push yourself.

Go for brisk walks and see how you feel bringing your heart up little by little. Maybe running (even if for short periods of time) brings up the heart rate too much too fast. Power walking is what I usually do. Hope this helps. Hope you feel better.

*hugs*

[poppadr3w]

Hey there,

I felt the same exact way for exercising for quite some time. I had worked out a lot prior with strength training, but after anxiety struck me in several ways, the anxiety bled into my training! My stress reliever!

It was a huge mental leap for me, but I eventually got over it. I continue to do strength training to this day without issue. In fact, exercise is one of my biggest weapons to help ward off anxiety. Without it, I'd be a lump lol

My blog has a post about it (sadly I cannot link it from this computer). The URL is www.anxietypress.com if you'd like to search there. I think there are only 30 posts. I've been lagging behind on posting lately due to my own issues at home, but I hope to put forth more effort in the near future.

[Cece6]

Hope you don't mind me following this thread with interest!

[goldie84]

I have severe health anxiety and exercise has been one of my only saving graces. Can you try to start with a gentle yoga sesh at home? There's plenty online you can follow along with. Personally I do HIIT workouts mostly at home but they've gotten me in the best shape of my life and I feel amAzing after. Why don't you try a low impact HIIT workout at home where you can take a break and work your way up into harder stuff?