There have been various studies that show regular exercise has a major impact on reducing or curing anxiety. The reasons are not clear as to why it is so effective but it is well known that exercise releases endorphins that give us a natural feel good factor. Experts agree that moderate amounts of light exercise can help with stress and anxiety, however, rigorous exercise can have a much bigger effect. No exercise should be overdone and if you are unsure how much that should be then I would advise seeking advice from a professional fitness trainer. For me personally, I normally exercise until I feel like I want to stop and then do just a little bit more. Don’t go mad with it but at the same time you do need to feel a degree of being worn out.
One thing to realise with exercise is the benefits aren’t shown immediately so you mustn’t get disheartened. Workout for a few weeks under an advised programme and you should start to see an improvement in your anxiety level which in turn will prevent panic attacks.
During my years of anxiety I never actually gave much thought to how exercise might aid my recovery, it’s only looking back on it now that I can clearly see how my two year break from anxiety, where I was completely free of it, (you can read my anxiety story here) started with me taking on a new job that required physical effort everyday. It was probably within a few months of starting that job that I became anxiety free. At the time I hadn’t put the two and two together, it’s not until my anxiety came back that I started tracing and remembering my previous years.
One of the hardest things with an exercise routine is keeping it up. I’m not lazy and I am more than capable of exerting myself physically everyday, no problem. The thing I find the most difficult is finding something that interests me enough to want to do it. If it’s a job then you just get on with it, it’s easy, but when you have to plan it then it’s easy to get idle, unless of course you enjoy it. I personally find the typical exercise routines extremely boring and hard to keep up the enthusiasm so whatever you do make sure it’s something you enjoy otherwise you might find yourself slipping back and skipping the exercises.
I love cycling so that’s what I do a lot of but I’m not so keen on it in the winter and I must admit I tend to lapse when it’s too cold out. I don’t mind walking in the cold so that’s what I do mostly in the winter, even though it isn’t as physical as cycling it’s better than doing nothing. Make yourself a plan and get physical, do it for at least a month or two and monitor the results. You might be pleasantly surprised just how much better you feel and your anxiety is greatly reduced, or better still, cured altogether. If that’s your result then remember to keep up the exercise routines to keep the anxiety away for good.
