Do Workouts Cause You Anxiety?

 Living in an age where information is just a tap or click away, it can be stressful finding a workout that gives you meaning and suited to your goals. A major anxiety problem in fitness is that you have to count your macros, do this many reps, that many sets, do this amount of exercise per week and if that isn't stressful enough, you need to be in the right position to hit the right set of muscles otherwise results don't ever come. Now with all that, when you actually get to the workout, does it become stressful to even try to keep up with the "curriculum" of what you're supposed to do? 

Personally, there have been times with my own workouts where I felt I had to follow every step someone else said to do and it just made me feel like crap. The truth is, I really don't like it when a book or a person orders me to do this or that and if I did it wrong I'm a horrible person; fuck that LOL. My philosophy has always been to study the principles, experiment and see what works and what doesn't that pertains to me, nobody else. A workout should never have to cause an anxiety attack, it's supposed to help push it aside and give you an endorphin high and feel good about what you're doing.

There are times where your mind isn't even there and if you're trying to do a workout, it'll feel like at times you're resisting yourself and at the same time it just doesn't feel right, that can cause some anxiety and you feel forced. Not all workouts are going to cause you anxiety but it could lead to a way of doing things where if you do have anxiety, you do things to calm you down. Being hyperactive can also be a factor in certain things and that's where you need to train yourself to understand what's causing the anxiety and what is possible for me to do to pull the plug on it?

In case you haven't figured it out, I do suffer some form of anxiety and it's been that way with me for as long as I can remember and that's where my workouts are a blessing to me. When I do Hill Sprints now, they tone down the anxiety and release that high where it just feels great afterwards and I'm better focused and I handle tasks better. When I do my animal workouts, I keep going until I feel I've had enough and my mind is calmer, my body feels more relaxed and it keeps me from being all over the place. 

If you read my previous article on workouts being a form of therapy or meditation, than you understand that for some people who suffer depression, anxiety, ADD, ADHD, being Bipolar and other sources of mental/physical issues can't always practice standard programs like seated meditation and mainstream forms of therapy. Exercise should be a blessing and not a chore or something to feel forced on. Working out should be about taking your aggression or raising your endorphin levels or you being hyperactive and making something great out of it so you can feel like a functioning human being.

I do understand that there are medications for those ailments and for some people, medication is needed in certain cases but not everyone needs to be popping pills and looking like a damn zombie. I know what it's like to be on medication, I was on Ritalin for years when I was younger because of the meningitis and I needed to stay focused. I hated it so much that by the time I was about 8-10, I completely went off of them and it took adjusting especially for the people in my life but I managed to live my life for nearly 30 years without it. I'm not saying you should do the same, just telling you what I did.

Anxiety can be harmful, at times dangerous but it's also a teacher and we need to be aware of it and what it is causing beyond what's going on in our heads or in our bodies. Sometimes it can be harmless and you're just over anxious and nervous, it's a very human thing. If someone is suffering from Anxiety or Depression or other mental ailments, don't poke fun at them, it's not cool and it can drive a person to a place they never wanted to go but do because they just want the ridicule and mocking to stop. Do what you possibly can to not let ailments like these ruin your life and do something productive that keeps them from popping up frequently. If at all possible if you manage to rid yourself of these things, I'm very proud of you and you are amazingly awesome for overcoming them. 

Do what is right for you and if you do use exercise to get yourself off of medications, that's great.