Don't Fear the Workout

People have known for years that exercise can help reduce anxiety. But given that over 18% of Americans suffer from anxiety, and roughly half of Americans don’t get the recommended amount of exercise, there are clearly a lot of people not taking advantage of this. I’ve wondered why–until I read this article.

The Journal of Health Psychology reviewed a study showing that people who are more fearful of the physical and emotional symptoms of anxiety tend to be less active.

The article quotes Dr. Bridget A. Hearon, an assistant professor of psychology at Albright College, who says, “I was also struck by patients that I saw in clinical practice who described exercise as torturous experience or simply reported not experiencing any of the positive benefits like feeling better physically stress reduction having a sense of accomplishment, etc.”

When I was a teenager I was (and still am) active, power-lifting as well as getting aerobic exercises and yes, I was very concerned about my heart, breathing, and the constant feelings questioning, “will something happen to me doing these exercises?”

This happened visiting various gyms while I was on the road selling for my plastic bottle company, and in the commercial gyms I owned back home. In fact, I often used it as an excuse to stop training! I’ve seen many people with anxiety shy away from physical activity.

To push through this mental block, I developed a program called IFT (Intense Focus Training) that taught me to be present and live in the moment. I forced myself out of my comfort zone with the utmost intensity so there could be no room to think about anything EXCEPT what I was doing. This was a physical component to my healing thought process.

The article goes on to say that, fortunately, anxiety sensitivity can be lowered pretty quickly with behavioral treatment, including systematic exposure to unpleasant sensations like sweating, shortness of breath, or tailored exercise programs. Since overcoming my agoraphobia at 37 years of age, and still actively training at 59, I am not concerned at all about my feelings while lifting heavy weights or doing aerobic activity. But I feel for those people who haven’t yet overcome those feelings, and who aren’t getting the mental and physical benefits of regular exercise.

Again, anxiety and panic is an emotional response to irrational fear, and once you get past that, and live in the present, irrational concerns will soon subside. And if you doubt researchers, studies, or all that data, you can always remember the older guy in the gym–I’m living proof!

Be well,

–Brian