I wouldn’t say exercise helps people with anxiety more than it helps people with depression; I would agree that it is generally easier for people with anxiety to exercise because they are bouncing off the walls and unable to sit still, instead of not able to drag themselves out of bed. Of course, people with anxiety that revolves around being hot or out of breath might not find exercise easy, either. I’m not saying exercise takes the place of medication and therapy, but it is one of the first, simplest things to do when you start feeling rough.
I would agree. I used to work out regularly all during the worst of my depression and all it did was tire me out even more. I’d wake up, work out, and then collapse back in bed and spend the rest of the day there.
It does seem to help my anxiety though.
See, and here the stair climber is the only damn machine that I can stand. Treadmills hurt my feet, and ellipticals make me sick, and the bike stuff is just strange, somehow. To each his/her own.
You might also be pushing too hard. Pick a speed that will leave you slightly sweaty, but that you can maintain for thirty minutes. No one can sprint for thirty minutes solid; pick a pace just fast enough that you can feel a smidgen of unsteadiness in your legs as you walk out the door.
The gym I go to (very new, very well-equipped for cardio) has cardio machines with televisions in the display. Thirty minutes of workout is much better when accompanied by Ninja Warrior! If you can’t find that, use an mp3 player or even a magazine to read as you step, pedal, or run.
Thanks for the great viewpoints, everyone. I"m finding that I’m feeling better each time I go. Today I used the circuit room and went 45 minutes on a stationary bike for a change. I like the bike more, I think.
I’ve also learned that I like the strength training exercises more than the fat burning ones. I enjoy the circuit room, and I’ve also started the 200 Situps and 100 Pushups programs that I learned about right here on the Dope.
So far, I haven’t noticed much of an effect on the depression, but the anxiety seems to be getting better. I’m not feeling as nervous as I was when I first started. 
Too much mileage is probably what it is. I have decent cardio, so it’s not problem for me to be running 2 or 3 miles after 2 or 3 days.
statsman1982, I’m glad to hear that you’re finding workouts that work for you!
I just wanted to add that if you develop a headache during or shortly after working out, particularly if you feel overheated, you may be dehydrating yourself. Dehydration can also cause muscle soreness for a day or two following your workout. Make sure you’re drinking enough liquids before, during, and after your workout. (I always end up chugging a few glasses of water after running.) If you feel a heat headache coming on, take an ibuprofin and chug some more water.
Good luck!
Just in case anyone is morbidly curious about how exercising is going for me, let me tell you that it’s still a real battle for me to get over to the gym. A lot of it–maybe all of it–is psychological. I’ve had to work out a lot of negative associations between exercise and self-worth that began years ago in elementary P.E. and extended through junior high.
Going into the locker room here at the rec center smelling that mixture of sweat, cologne, and deodorant brought all that I’d associated with exercise–the taunting of better-skilled classmates about my body shape and my consistent failure to measure up to my coaches’ and classmates’ idea of athletic prowess–right back into focus. I’ve also been dealing with some very negative views of “those people who work out.” I still to this day have to suppress the thought that I’m becoming my imaginary gym stereotype: A pretentious jerk who loves to abbreviate everything (cardio, lats, glutes, quads, abs) and who loves to share how great a workout they just had.
I’m hoping that I’ll start getting some more energy, though. The other day, I set out to do the bike, and my legs immediately told me that they were tired from the exercise of the day before. I feel as if I just don’t have the endurance that I should. And I still hate the feel of sweat on my body.
I thought about joining a group that plays basketball once a week, but again, my psychology comes in. I don’t really like any sports; hell, I fell asleep during the Superbowl. Conversely, the guys I know who play really like basketball and seem very competitive. If I were to play, I would like it to be only friendly stuff, maybe not even keeping score.
But I’m going to stick with it, if for no other reason than I might want to live a long life, depending on how things turn out.
I’d be extremely surprised (given the nature of the boards) if anyone came in and said “Actually, there are quite a few people for whom meaningful exercise will make them feel considerably worse no matter how much they do it, and it’s probably best for them that they not bother and just watch what they eat.”
Personally, I like to walk, but I’ve had rather a lot of gym-junkies basically saying “If you’re not working up a sweat, you’re wasting your time” which strikes me as a spectacularly counter-productive approach to encouraging people to remain (or become) fit.
It may be counterproductive, but is it true? From Markxxx’s earlier post, it seems that only sustained activity can change the body.
The Government here is of the official view that any activity is beneficial; a 30-minute walk, cycling, swimming, etc. Walking works for me, but I know a lot of people who find even that to be unpleasant and being told “Walking’s not good enough” means they’re just going to say “fuck it” and collapse onto the couch with a six-pack and a pizza.
But walking can be sustained activity. Walking doesn’t mean “moving from your sofa to a chair in the kitchen at a speed not surpassing 3km/h.” My notion of “a nice walk” involves walking for over 3h, which may not make it count as “strenous activity” but I do think counts as “sustained.” Less than one hour is “going around the block.” Walking on flat carpeting <> walking on flat tarmac <> walking on flat clay soil <> walking up a clay hill <> walking up a karstic hillside, etc.
The key to reaping health / look benefits and keeping things interesting, excercise-wise, is progressive resistance. Meaning near-constant tweaking of one’s program, concentrating on curing specific weaknessess while sufficiently challenging one’s strengths.
Honestly, “stuff like 150 bicep curls each arm” sounds like something out of a What NOT to do! -section in a Fitness for Dummies book. Very high-repetition regimes do next to nothing to one’s strength or muscle size, where hard-to-do reps in the 3 to 12 range are needed. There are much better bang-for-the-buck excercises for the arms than curls. Situps are now frowned upon by many experts, stressing the lower back while non-optimal even for the abdominals. For a healthy adult male, unloaded pushups become just too easy within a month or so of strength training.
In addition to not getting appreciably stronger, I guess most would be bored to death with such a program. To keep things interesting, I change my workout at least every two weeks, and try to improve as much as I can within that time before switching to different excercises. Upping one’s deadlift personal best by 20 lbs. is a thrill, as is pulling 15 full-range chinups instead of the old max of 12. By keeping a workout diary I can see improvement that’d be hard to realize without. The numbers show I’m way stronger, fitter and more muscular than I used to be. That’s motivation right there.
Yeah, but people who are likely to say, “eh, fuck it” and sit on the couch with pizza instead of walking are not gonna go out and walk for 3 hours in one go.
Walking burns calories and helps conditioning. If you will walk regularly, you are better off than not walking. Don’t listen to the “pros”. They are selling their regimen as the best. What is best for you is one that will become part of your life longterm. I find dogs as pushers of exercise. My dogs are nuts at walk time. It is the push I need . I do not really enjoy walking, but I go every day.
I hate treadmills/stationary bikes/elipticals/running or aerobics. I felt that I wasn’t genetically designed for exercise. But you know what? I discovered I LOVE hiking, walking, bike riding, yoga, weights, and stretching. Find what you LIKE. I like lower-intensity, but toning, exercises. They bring peace my my anxiety-filled mind. The others don’t. Not a BIT.
I joined a gym about 2 monthes ago and at first I hated it. REALLY hated it. I was also discouraged that this activity seemed to have little or no effect on my weight loss goals…but I kept it up because I sincerely want to be healthier and feel better.
About a month into my gym membership,I was surprised to find I started to look forward to working out. I really was feeling better and I had been sleeping better than I ever have in my entire life. If I don’t go to the gym now,I feel guilty and mad at myself for not going. I think you just need to find a routine that you like. I enjoy the gym because I use several different types of equipment so I never get bored.