Lifting Heavy Things To Lighten My Mind

Lifting weights does much more for your overall health than just making your muscles grow. I have been working out consistently for the last four months. The most surprising benefit I gained from intense weight training six to seven times a week is improving my mental health.

On a daily basis, an hour of working out significantly reduces my anxiety, allowing me to enjoy each day more and more. There is a noticeable difference between how I feel before and after my daily workout. I now look forward to going to the gym daily; it is my happy place.

On a longer time scale, I’ve noticed a decrease in my depression and anxiety, as well as an increase in my confidence, energy levels, and motivation to do other things, such as writing.

Working out works better for me than any anti-anxiety medication, and I have tried them all. I suffer from general anxiety disorder (GAD). Instead of intense bursts of anxiety that dissipate rather quickly, such as panic attacks, I suffer from a form of anxiety that is less intense but is present most of the time.

Theres a constant sense of impending doom following me wherever I go. Almost as if there is a catastrophe always around the corner, waiting to ruin my life and everything I have been working towards.

After a solid hour of intense weight lifting, this feeling disappears completely for the rest of the day. I go to the gym every day at six in the evening. The difference between pre-gym Patrick and post-gym Patrick’s anxiety is like night and day.

Let’s explore the ways exercise can help manage anxiety.

Exercising is like a form of meditation

Doing anything that takes extreme concentration is like a form of meditation. It allows you to let go of everything that bothers you and focus on the task at hand.

Being completely focused on your workout is the perfect example of mindfulness. By consistently doing this, you are rewiring your brain to live in the present moment. This is where we find our inner peace.

Most of our anxieties come from ruminating about the past or worrying about the future. If we are completely in the present moment, there is no anxiety.

Healthy body, healthy mind

My anxiety manifests itself as nausea. As soon as anxious thoughts start swirling around in my brain I can feel my stomach begin to turn. The opposite also tends to occur. Whenever I feel nauseous due to food I ate or a stomach bug, I also start to get anxious.

Anxious thoughts often lead to physical symptoms such as nausea, sweating, or shaking. The reverse can also happen with physical symptoms leading to anxious thoughts.

An intense workout decreases overall muscle tension, making you feel more relaxed. Getting rid of any excess energy allows the brain to slow down and stop overthinking. A side-effect of this is less anxiety.

You can’t over think if you’re too exhausted to think at all, right?

Exercising affects brain chemistry

Brain chemistry also plays a factor in our anxiety. The brain is extremely complex and poorly understood but we do know that there are correlations between certain neurochemicals and depression and anxiety.

People who suffer from anxiety and depression tend to have lower than normal amounts of serotonin, Gaba, and other neurochemicals. Many anti-depressant medications are aimed at increasing the amount of serotonin in the brain.

When we work out, we increase our heart rate. This increases the amount of serotonin, GABA, BDNF, and endocannabinoids available in the brain. It allows our brains to get more use out of these neurochemicals, leading to lower levels of anxiety.

Exercise helps control the activity of important regions of the brain

Engaging in physical activity triggers the frontal brain regions associated with executive function. This process aids in the regulation of the amygdala, the part of our brain responsible for responding to both actual and perceived threats to our survival.

The amygdala is best known for being the part of the brain that controls our fight or flight response. The amygdala is the brain’s fear response center. When it is overactive, we become scared of everything and consumed by anxiety.

The amygdala is actually part of the reason people with addiction problems have such a difficult time in early sobriety. When people have used substances to regulate their emotions for a significant period of time then all of a sudden stop, the amygdala becomes extremely active. Exercise has been a life saver for me in early sobriety, providing me a healthy coping mechanism for dealing with the fear and anxiety.

Consistent exercise makes us mentally tough

Lastly, consistent exercise makes us more resilient. A good workout is like a battle against ourselves. The brain wants you to go for what's comfortable, but we fight and push through, completing our workout.

This skill is transferable to other areas of life. When you are more resilient, things become less scary because you know you can handle whatever life throws.

As David Goggins says, working out is like callousing the mind. It makes us stronger mentally. Small wins such as going to the gym everyday and having a good workout helps you build confidence, giving you a sense of security as you realize you can deal with adversity better than you have originally thought.

Conclusion

To summarize, exercising and strength training in particular has become a significant part of my self-care routine. Through the simple task of lifting things up and putting them back down repeatedly I an slowly becoming the person I’ve always wanted to be, both mentally and physically.

If you are suffering from anxiety and it is interfering with your life, you should definitely consider weight lifting, running, or any type of exercise you enjoy. Its important to do what you enjoy the most because you are more likely to stick to it. I promise, you won’t regret it.