# Does Exercise really help with anxiety?



## Lex Love (Oct 24, 2009)

I have started working out and excercising as well as going to a mixed martial arts class but yesterday and today I have felt lower than I ahve felt in a while. I dont get why exercising and actually joining a class doing it hasnt even helped a little bit yet? I have been doing the Mixed Martial Arts for 3 weeks now (1 session a week) but have felt worse emotionally after doing this?

Any tips or advice on why this might be, and does exercise even help you feeling less anxious and depressed, or do I need to give it more time?


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## Barbapapa (Mar 5, 2010)

YES

http://scholar.google.si/scholar?hl...ercise+depression+OR+anxiety&as_ylo=&as_vis=1


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## rainbowOne (Sep 26, 2010)

Hasn't for me but I'm probably not doing the right exercise or whatever. I know apparantly scientific studies or something say it helps.


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## Fantas Eyes (Mar 23, 2011)

Exercise hasn't been working for me either.


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## abenford (Jun 29, 2011)

Hi new poster here - but I saw the thread and couldn't help but respond.

Exercise definitely DOES help but you have to really invest in it seriously to get some returns. By that I mean an hours running or an hours swimming daily, rather than just a few push-ups in the morning.

Whenever I have to have a big meeting, or even a small encounter that gets me feeling anxious, I try to ensure that I can get at least 60 minutes swimtime, with about 45 minutes recovery time before the 'trigger' situation. This is just enough to produce a practical amount of seratonin which calms the brain down enormously.

I relayed this to my doctor once, shortly after I had declined to try taking Sertraline and other SSRIs. His response was a positive one, and added that by doing this exercise before 'trigger situations', in effect I was doing exactly what SSRI's do anyway - i.e increasing serotonin. So if you have found that SSRi's work for you, but like me you're not happy about taking meds, then exercise is definitely the way forward.


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## pudz (May 15, 2011)

you get out how much you put in. is there a pile of sweat and 2 empty water bottles that were oncce full next to you? if there isnt, go harder. diet also helps noy only physically but also mentally. so watch what youre puttig into your body!

- pudz


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## PaysageDHiver (Jun 18, 2011)

There clearly are physiological benefits for many people. But the psychological benefits are very pronounced for me. When things are going well in the weight room, I feel very powerful outside the weight room, and consistent strength training makes me look better (buffer). All this gives me a significant confidence boost, and I do better in social situations.


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## jkquatre (May 30, 2011)

Doesn't help in the least. It just takes my mind off whatever is bothering me for the time I'm lifting. When I'm running my mind is still going on whatever is bothering me. Completely useless, I keep getting told about a runner's high... yeah right.


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## Charizard (Feb 16, 2011)

I can't say exercise has ever helped with my anxiety, but it does help with depression- which tends to lead to anxiety. So in an indirect way its helped me.


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## CopadoMexicano (Aug 21, 2004)

Exercise relieves my physical symptoms but the thoughts are still there


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## seafolly (Jun 17, 2010)

I was insanely active up until age 16 when I chose a social life over sports. I can't help noting that as I gradually ditched skating, skiing, and eventually swimming after my Bronze Medallion, I only had badminton left. I wonder if leaving that kinda pushed me over the edge? In my final year of high school I chose to coach because it looked good on university applications. Not very active.

I certainly believe it helps with the right amount of effort. My boyfriend went through a bout of depression a few years ago and we figured out that the more active he is, the happier he is. He is an All Canadian athlete and was no longer active due to injuring the Achilles tendon. But once he forced himself out of bed and started integrating sports again, he gradually tapered off the meds and didn't need them. Right now he plays team sports three to four times a week and it's a good solid hour or two of hard cardio.

That, I believe, is the key. Cardio.  My personal opinion anyway. I'm nudging my way onto his baseball team this summer so we'll see if it helps me as well. For now, I work out four times a week (started June 4) and I can't say I've noticed a difference but I'm absolutely going to stick with it. I don't think 3 weeks is enough time to judge. I DO like feeling stronger though!


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## SPC (May 14, 2011)

to each his own and its not gona work for everyone but it works for me, especially when i have some definative way to measure progress. makes me feel like im movin' on up in life and taking better care of myself.


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## MissElley (May 15, 2011)

For me, it helps alot!! It's a way of escaping and entering another world. It's all I do these days, it's all I want to do. Exercising is the most gratifying thing, helps alot with my aniexty.


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## Classified (Dec 7, 2004)

It depends on what exercise you do. Riding a bike for an hour or two is better than 3 sets of situps. 

But, being around other people or team sports (where you are successful at least some of the time) will be helpful in the long run. Getting in-shape can only help as well.


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## reck0n3r (Jul 2, 2011)

Hey folks, I'm new here and apologize for not knowing your specific situations, but I'll chime in:

Exercise certainly helps many people with social anxiety, due to all the physiological changes taking place within the body, which also help boost certain (positive) chemicals to the brain, such that a person should become at least a little more naturally at peace with themselves and feeling better and healthier/stronger overall. It's a perpetual state of feeling awesome.

Now to me, personally, the other benefit has always been that I just feel that I LOOK better and feel stronger, and for those of us who are vain, for one reason or another, this is huge. If a large part of your anxiety is caused by what people think of you physically, it would make a much bigger difference, than say, being only worried about how people will react to things you say...or whatever other reasons there may be for the SA.

So it all depends on what the root causes are of your anxiety. At least that's what I think.


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## Zen Mechanics (Aug 3, 2007)

i suppose getting up and moving will always lift my mood a bit from just sitting down and moping around.. but i find the most pronounced effects come from increased confidence.. ie working out with weights and getting bigger makes me more self assured and confidence and hence less anxious in a lot of social situations. i'm also looking into starting MMA training myself to increase self confidence


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## reck0n3r (Jul 2, 2011)

Zen Mechanics said:


> i suppose getting up and moving will always lift my mood a bit from just sitting down and moping around.. but i find the most pronounced effects come from increased confidence.. ie working out with weights and getting bigger makes me more self assured and confidence and hence less anxious in a lot of social situations. i'm also looking into starting MMA training myself to increase self confidence


Definitely. I forgot to mention any added mood 'boost' is almost always from lifting heavy weights, ie: to build muscle (6-10 reps, maxing out to failure, 3-4 sets each exercise).

Toning/cardio/high rep training (15+) does not even come CLOSE to giving me the same continuous adrenaline rush as heavy weight training. It just makes you feel like an animal. It helps immensely from a psychological perspective, even if you have no intentions to get into a bar fight (or knocking out a fellow co-worker).

Not to mention weight training is good for your libido as well, also more than cardio (in my experience).

Zen, btw, it'd be awesome to do some MMA training. From what I've read, it's usually best to specialize in one first and then branch out to learning other styles (to give you MMA), so learning Jiu Jitsu, TKD, Karate, Muay thai etc...on their own would be preferable. I personally like muay thai because of how raw it is. The training is pretty intense, and its less of an "art" compared to karate or TKD, and more blunt force, rigorous cardiovascular training. It really gets you into phenomenal shape, especially with the legs and abdominals.

There's always arguments about what is the 'best' martial art...they're all good in their own right and its really the skill level of the fighter and how well he knows his craft, versus which style of fighting it is. That usually means go with what interests you.


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## jennthompson (Jun 5, 2011)

To anyone interested in learning more about the neurological benefits of exercise (for anxiety, depression, ADHD, learning, addictions, etc.) AND how to use exercise to maximize those benefits, I HIGHLY recommend the book "Spark" by John Ratey, M.D. Easy to understand for lay people, lots of information and references to empirical studies, and personal anecdotes. I just finished it the other day, and it's amazing and motivating as well!


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## reck0n3r (Jul 2, 2011)

jennthompson said:


> To anyone interested in learning more about the neurological benefits of exercise (for anxiety, depression, ADHD, learning, addictions, etc.) AND how to use exercise to maximize those benefits, I HIGHLY recommend the book "Spark" by John Ratey, M.D. Easy to understand for lay people, lots of information and references to empirical studies, and personal anecdotes. I just finished it the other day, and it's amazing and motivating as well!


That sounds great, I'll have to check that out. Thanks!

Does it mention anything about what I said above? About heavy lifting vs cardio bringing out the primordial side in people. It'd be great to see it from a scientific perspective than simply going by what I've experienced, along with a few others. But yeah, it would absolutely be worth reading for people that don't know ALL the benefits of exercise.

One of my closest friends who happens to be a pharmacist owns a Shoppers Drug Mart (large pharmacy chain, here in Canada). And when I mentioned somthing similar to the above, he was in complete agreement that just about everyone who was picking up a Rx for antidepressants and the like, he said that he noticed that just about every single one of the customers did NOT look healthy, whether it be due to obesity, or otherwise, you can get a sense of how healthy someone is by observing movement, tone/colour of skin, smoothness of skin, health of hair, bags under eyes, in speech, health of their eyes, and so on and so forth. To me, that's enough proof that being in good shape really makes a world of difference.

Sound body, sound mind.


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## thaswasup (Mar 20, 2009)

It definitely helps with anxiety/depression. When I would feel down I would just go to my garage (i have a home gym) blast some music and go as hard as I can. By the end of my workout I feel so confident its like I never had anxiety lmao.


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## Toad Licker (Nov 2, 2007)

It helps with my depression, to a certain extent, but does nothing at all for my anxiety.


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## Titanic Explorer (Feb 22, 2009)

YES!!!!

Just today, I was isolating myself in my apt- I went outside and took a nice hour long power walk- I feel alot better


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## RUFB2327 (Sep 28, 2008)

It takes my mind off things while I'm working out, but my anxiety has not improved at all because of exercising/working out


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## Aphexfan (Jan 12, 2011)

Oh yea it helps me alot!! Always feel absolutely fantastic after running a couple of miles


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## reck0n3r (Jul 2, 2011)

Toad Licker said:


> It helps with my depression, to a certain extent, but does nothing at all for my anxiety.


What's the cause of your anxiety?


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## super (Sep 9, 2009)

id just like to also say that 

cardio > weight lifting, when it comes to mood lifting.
weights should definatly be part of a weekly routine but to make you feel great cardio is a MUST.

if your goal is to feel good dont ride a bike or even jog for 2 hours. pushing yourself to the limit in an hour or less is what makes you feel good.

take a few short breaks throughout the exercise then push harder than youve ever gone.


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## farfegnugen (Aug 16, 2010)

It definitely helps me. It doesn't help me to socialize any better beyond giving you more opportunity to do so. But I do generally feel better and I am less drawn to being hypercritical of myself.

Maybe you should avoid doing activities that make you feel like a failure if you can't do them well as other people initially, at least until you've built some confidence in yourself. I basically stick to running, lifting, and outdoor activities these days which really aren't competitive by nature.


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## MarcusAurelius (Jul 6, 2011)

*Exercise can help...*

I have seen an increase in my mood levels since I began exercising regularly. My belief is that you must do it more than once a week to see any results in your mood (3x a week at least). Try power walking a couple of miles a day with your routine. In addition, your diet can play a huge part in this endeavor. You really must eat the right foods and get away from processed and restaurant foods. The fact that you are probably working out in a Dojo instead of outside in the fresh air and sunshine, is probably a factor as well. Eat healthy, live healthy, enjoy life longer!


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## darksoul71 (Dec 22, 2010)

Walks usually help lift my mood. Getting outside seeing nature. Keeping my music off so I can focus on the sounds around me to ground me in the now. Plus it's a good way to lose weight.


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## daniel11206 (Jul 1, 2009)

try running intensely for 20 minutes or more that usually relieves a lot of stress, and sometimes u get the runners high

weights help also but its more of a long term thing till u actually notice any effect,


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## Zero0 (Jun 8, 2011)

Lex Love said:


> I have started working out and excercising as well as going to a mixed martial arts class but yesterday and today I have felt lower than I ahve felt in a while. I dont get why exercising and actually joining a class doing it hasnt even helped a little bit yet? I have been doing the Mixed Martial Arts for 3 weeks now (1 session a week) but have felt worse emotionally after doing this?
> 
> Any tips or advice on why this might be, and does exercise even help you feeling less anxious and depressed, or do I need to give it more time?


You are just worn out. You have to get used to it before it starts helping your anxiety.


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## I_Dazed_I (Apr 13, 2011)

super said:


> id just like to also say that
> 
> cardio > weight lifting, when it comes to mood lifting.
> weights should definatly be part of a weekly routine but to make you feel great cardio is a MUST.
> ...


I am being told that that is incorrect. I have never been a heathy dude, but recently took up cardio and lifting and have been getting really into it... so slap me if you think I am wrong, but the following is what I have heard, and it makes sense to me.

1) Cardio: Don't waste your time doing it inside. A lot of people with SA get agoraphobic, myself being one of them, and getting myself out to run every other day has made a HUGE improvement. When I first started going I would drive around until I found a place I could jog that had no other people. Now I find myself actually looking for a place with a few people, mainly female prospects 

Cardio gets the heart rate up, and will make you dizzy, feel faint, etc. all which are symptoms of a panic attack. So this also helps you normalize what you body is feeling. I find that when I am having an attack coming on now (which has been rare since I started working out) that I just tell myself, well if you ran xx laps today and didn't just flop over then it's pretty unlikely that it's going to happen right now standing here.

2) Lifting (or whatever its called): I heard about a study recently that lifting is very good to get rid of anxiety. As most people already know most anxiety is your body producing adrenaline for no reason, this gives you the trembles and triggers fight or flight along with a few other really awesome feelings (not). Lifting tears your muscles and the extra adrenaline will go to repair your muscles and get used up, killing just about all of the symptoms.

So far I have found this to be true. I work from home so I have the luxury of being able to have my Gym wherever I want, but I found that when I am having a bad day with the big time jitters, and other anxiety symptoms, if I take 10 minutes to do a few curls I feel a lot better after. Now the only time I get jitters is when I have lifted too much. Even when i have an attack my hands will stay calm and my heart will be steady, my attacks lately have been 100% vision and dizzy related. I've only been working out for ~ 1 month.

I think in general both types of exercise will not work unless you tell yourself that it will. We all deal with an issue that is almost 100% in how we think, so if you go running and are telling yourself "this isn't doing sh%t" then it probably wont. Stay positive!


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## LynnNBoys (Jul 13, 2011)

I'm not sure about anxiety, but it definitely helps my depression. So maybe by default it helps my anxiety too. I think it's more cumulative effect.

I'd try some heavy muscle work too. Weights definitely. Maybe push ups. Punching bag. Things like that.

Also weighted vests or blankets are very calming. I bought weighted blankets for my sons who have sensory processing disorder. Now and then, I'll borrow one. I find it very calming, get a sense of peace if I've been agitated during the day.


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## honeybear1990 (Sep 15, 2010)

You must find something you enjoy, this may just not be for you. Personally i enjoy things I can do "solo". Biking, walking, weight training at home. It does help for sure, but you have to find something that works for you.


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## Bothain (Jul 20, 2011)

Yes I have come to know that Exercises have overcome Anxiety . In my view ,The best exercise to cure Anxiety is Yoga which gives you satisfaction .


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## Xande (Jul 18, 2011)

Exercise helps out with my depression a lot, helps a bit with anxiety too. Problem sometimes is getting the motivation to go to the gym, but once I get to the gym, I enjoy working out listening to my mp3 player. And by the time I usually get home, I'm too exhausted to worry about much.


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## Rap (Apr 29, 2011)

YES! It helps SIGNIFICANTLY!

But, don't expect to be instantly cured of social anxiety. It will take several months of exercise before you start noticing huge improvements. For more information, check out my thread at http://www.socialanxietysupport.com...d-naturally-overcoming-social-anxiety-133218/ .. It has all the information you need to naturally overcoming social anxiety.


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## uffie (May 11, 2010)

stop reading , start doing push ups


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## bobbyleeds (Jan 2, 2011)

It helps me, whenever i'm in the gym it takes my mind off the anxiety


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## DeeperUnderstanding (May 19, 2007)

It helps with depression, which is tied to anxiety.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

I can run out my frustration - it helps for my anxiety.


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## Taichou (Jul 25, 2011)

For me it depends on my performance, In track when I set a personal record, like 
when I jumped 6"2' in high jump and qualified for states it was a dramatic morale boost. Now when I perform badly I regret even joining the track team and feel like I've wasted my time. Track also gives me some stuff to talk to with others, so all in all I think exercise is a helpful thing in dealing with anxiety.


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## amene (Mar 28, 2010)

Not for me.


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## Kon (Oct 21, 2010)

To the extent that it improves my build, it helps a lot. It relaxes me a bit during and bit after my workout, but that doesn't last all that long.


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## proximo20 (Nov 25, 2006)

Lex Love said:


> I have started working out and excercising as well as going to a mixed martial arts class but yesterday and today I have felt lower than I ahve felt in a while. I dont get why exercising and actually joining a class doing it hasnt even helped a little bit yet? I have been doing the Mixed Martial Arts for 3 weeks now (1 session a week) but have felt worse emotionally after doing this?
> 
> Any tips or advice on why this might be, and does exercise even help you feeling less anxious and depressed, or do I need to give it more time?


This used to happen to me too.

The key is stretching after your workout. You have to get rid of the lactic acid.


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## Elleire (Jul 24, 2011)

It hasn't been helping me much. I feel good for having done it immediately after a workout, but it's pretty much gone as quick as it came. Hopefully it'll get better. I'm probably just not doing enough of it yet.


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## ams (Jul 23, 2011)

*does excercise help with anxiety?*

Yes it does
It's a natural way to increase your heart rate, and you are in control!
So going to the gym and increasing your heart rate naturally is good!


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## slushie87 (Jul 28, 2011)

Yeah, the more intense workouts help my depression and usually help my anxiety...but there have been a few times where my anxiety has stirred up during a workout...it worse when I'm at the gym aside from yoga classes.


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## DazdNConfuzd (Jul 11, 2011)

Doesn't help with anxiety, although I do feel fairly confident in the gym, mainly because I'm stronger than everyone else!  Big fish in a little pond I guess. 

But one thing I have noticed is when I train I'm not depressed, when I stop training I get depressed. Exercise has done more for me than anti-depressants ever will!


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