There may be moments when moving your body feels like the last thing you want to do if you suffer from anxiety. However, due to the strong connection between your physical and mental health, exercise can be quite helpful in treating your symptoms.
Exercise and other forms of physical activity can lessen the symptoms of depression or anxiety and help you feel better. In contrast, the connections between depression, anxiety, and exercise are not obvious.
Anxiety can have a high cost because it raises a person’s risk for other psychiatric conditions like depression and is linked to diabetes and cardiovascular issues. One alarming study found that those with anxiety tend to be more sedentary if they engage in physical activity. Ironically, the best non-medical anxiety prevention and treatment we currently have involves lacing up your sneakers, getting outside, and moving around.
According to research, aerobic exercise is particularly beneficial. For people with persistent anxiety, a short bike ride, dance class, or even a quick stroll can be a very effective tool. People who feel excessively apprehensive about a test that is coming up, a large presentation or a crucial meeting benefit from engaging in activities like these.
How Does Physical Activity Reduce Anxiety?
- It is mindfulness in action. You might discover that you’ve forgotten the day’s annoyances and focused only on your body’s movements after a lengthy walk or run. You could discover that this concentration on a single job, together with the energy and optimism it generates, can help you stay composed, clear-headed, and concentrated in everything you do as you start to release your daily tensions through movement and physical activity.
- It lifts your spirits. Regular exercise helps lessen the symptoms of mild depression and anxiety and boosts confidence, mood, and relaxation. Your sleep, which is frequently disturbed by stress, depression, and worry, can also be improved by exercise.
- Exercise serves to distract you from the source of your anxiety.
- Muscle tension is reduced through movement, which lessens the body’s contribution to anxiety.
- Increasing heart rate alters brain chemistry and makes essential anti-anxiety neurochemicals.
- The exercise engages executive function-related frontal brain regions, which helps control the amygdala, our body’s natural reaction system, to threats to our survival, whether they are real or imagined.
- Regular exercise increases resources that strengthen resilience against turbulent emotions.
- It increases endorphin production. The feel-good chemicals known as endorphins in your brain may produce more when you exercise. Any cardiovascular activity, such as a competitive tennis match or a scenic hike, might produce it.
Cardio Exercise
You don’t have to be an outstanding athlete to reap the rewards of physical activity for your mental health. According to research, any exercise that enhances your heart’s and lungs’ capacity to supply oxygen to your muscles as you work out will lessen anxiety. Additionally, there are several ways to exercise, including brisk walking, biking, swimming, and running.
One small study looked at how a single bout of aerobic exercise affected persons with various anxiety levels. It was published in the journal Cognitive Behaviour Therapy in 2015.
Running can be beneficial as well if that’s your thing. Serotonin and norepinephrine, our body’s “feel good” neurotransmitters, are altered during and after running. He stated that exercising could make it simpler to sleep at night. Your mood will improve, your stress levels will decrease, and your ability to think clearly will all be improved by getting enough sleep. It is better when you have personal training software in your phone or watch to track the exercise.
Interval Training
Some anxious persons may want to try HIIT (high-intensity interval training). This kind of exercise entails recurrent bursts of intense effort separated by rest intervals. In fair trials, HIIT has shown promise in easing anxiety symptoms. A personal training management software for this type of training is a plus to monitor and track your progress in the training
A trial of the home-based exercise was conducted by Spanish researchers on 67 otherwise healthy persons who were cooped up in their houses during the COVID-19 lockdown. To which volunteers were randomly assigned, HIIT or moderate-intensity aerobics were the two exercise groups. The amount of time, 40 minutes, was spent working out in each group each day for six days. According to study findings published in 2024 in Frontiers in Psychology, each training style reduced anxiety and stress after six weeks.
Nature strolls/Walks
How about some help from Mother Nature to calm your nerves? According to an emerging body of studies, moving your body in natural environments may have therapeutic effects, at least temporarily. The presence of nature might help to quiet the mind.
For instance, a 2015 study found that when young people went on a 50-minute nature walk, they felt less worried and had better memory performance. The study was published in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning.
According to a review and analysis published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in 2024, several studies indicate that strolling through a lush, green environment, or “forest bathing,” may help reduce anxiety symptoms.
Similarly, an analysis of 12 studies published between 2013 and 2020 discovered that going on nature walks can lower “state anxiety.” According to the 2024 review in Sustainability, the research did not demonstrate the same benefit for persons with generalized anxiety, which is the anxiety you experience in response to a perceived threat.
Yoga
According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, most people consider yoga safe. It may help regulate the anxious feelings that come in challenging life situations (NCCIH). Yoga might not be the first-line treatment for anxiety disorders, but there is evidence that it might be a helpful supplement.
Yoga is fantastic because, in addition to stretching and strengthening the core. There is a strong emphasis on breathing, which helps to slow down and relax the mind.
Trying some exercise, whether strenuous or light, may provide some relief, whether you’re seeking non-pharmaceutical ways to control anxiety or want to add some movement to your present anxiety therapy regimen. Despite any sore muscles, it won’t hurt.
Women doing Yoga – Image from pixabay by lograstudio
Weightlifting
Cardio exercises are not for everyone, so people should focus on enjoying themselves instead of forcing themselves to participate in activities they find unpleasant. People are more likely to maintain a regular daily activity schedule when fitness doesn’t feel like a chore.
Weightlifting is a popular exercise for specific people and can help with sadness and anxiety. Gaining muscle is the main benefit, which boosts people’s confidence. However, weightlifting releases the same endorphin—a molecule that improves mood—as jogging and exerts the same stress hormones. Therefore, those who decide to lift weights rather than jog are not missing out on any chemical advantages.
The ADAA advises emphasizing everyday exercise, even in small amounts, instead of one or two intense weekly practices. This entails five or six trips to the gym every week for 30 to 60 minutes rather than cramming everything into fewer, longer sessions. Even though the physical advantages may be the same, everyday exercise causes stress to be exerted and endorphins to be produced consistently rather than allowing anxiety to build up throughout the week. You can check some useful apps to remind you daily about exercise.
Progressive Relaxation
This method has a lot of calming potentials. It is a proven method for reducing anxiety and despair. Starting at your toes and working your way up, tense and relax every muscle in your body. Try to maintain a clear head. Observe your breathing.
Four-Square Breathing
A mindful breath exercise is known as “four-square breathing” or “box breathing.” You can quickly unwind with its aid. Sit up straight and take a slow, nasal breath. Hold your breath while counting slowly to four. Exhale through your mouth gradually. For four counts, hold your breath. Iterate as necessary.
How To Stay Motivated For Exercise
- Just getting started with an exercise routine is not enough. Here are some pointers for maintaining a brand-new regimen or revitalizing a stale workout:
- Set some targets. Taking walks during your lunch break three times a week might be one of your specific goals if your main objective is to lessen stress in your life. Try watching workout videos online at home. Or, if necessary, arrange for a babysitter to watch your kids while you attend a cycling lesson.
- Find a companion. It might be a solid motivator to go to the gym or the park if you know someone is waiting for you there. Make plans to go for walks or workouts with pals. Working out with a buddy, coworker, or family member frequently brings a new level of drive and dedication to your activities. And working out with pals might be more enjoyable.
- Modify your regimen. If you’ve always been a competitive runner, consider other, less intense activities that could help you decompress, like Pilates or yoga classes. Additionally, these kinder, gentler exercises might improve your running while lowering stress.
- Exercise in brief intervals. Exercise is beneficial, even for short bursts. For example, if you can’t squeeze in a single 30-minute walk, consider a few 10-minute walks instead. Daily activity can have a cumulative positive impact on one’s health. Take a walk, perform some pushups, or move about during a mid-morning or mid-afternoon break.
Different personality types could prefer more participatory and engaging hobbies, such as team sports. Playing pickup basketball or joining a softball league with friends can help you burn energy, relieve stress, produce endorphins, enhance your physical health, and satisfy your need for social connection.
Social interaction may be desired by those with mental illnesses related to how others view them, such as social anxiety. Loneliness and other destructive emotions can be reduced by even a simple activity like playing football and being a part of team-oriented leisure or competition.
