Many people tout the benefits of working out, especially when it comes to managing stress and anxiety. Science is clear that exercise isn’t just good for your body, it’s good for your mind, too.
But the connection between exercise and anxiety is far from straightforward.
For some people, breaking a sweat can actually bring on feelings of anxiety. And when exercise makes your anxiety worse, it might be enough to make you want to toss your sneakers into the deep, dark corner of your closet and stop working out for good.
Here, therapists who specialize in the connection between exercise and anxiety explain why some people have workout-induced anxiety and the best ways to overcome it. Because, spoiler alert: It’s absolutely possible to turn working out from something that causes anxiety to something that calms it.
Nancy Irwin, PsyD, a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles, defines anxiety as a physical and/or mental state during which people feel a sense of impending doom or dread that something bad will happen.
This feeling may happen along with psychological and physical symptoms, such as:
- Feelings of panic or dread
- Uncontrollable thoughts
- Rapid heartbeat or feelings of having a fluttering or pounding heart
- Shortness of breath
- Muscle tension
This is why people with a history of panic attacks can often feel anxious when exercising, says Sepideh Saremi, LCSW, the founder of Run Walk Talk in Redondo Beach, California. The physical changes that happen to your body while you’re working out — shortness of breath, a fast heart rate, sweating — can mimic the symptoms of anxiety.
“It can start to feel [physically] similar to their panic attacks and take them back to their mindset at that time,” she says.
The same way that our minds retain information about past experiences, so do our bodies, according to older research published in the journal
Cortex.
Just like we have five senses for perceiving the outside world, our internal body has “senses” that help alert the brain to respond to specific stimuli. Whether there’s a lion chasing us or a running personal record to attain, our brains aren’t always fully capable of separating the idea of running from the biological response to a threat.
So when you put your body into “flight” mode to run a few miles or catch a cycling class with friends, this can cause your mind to pick up the pace with anxious or racing thoughts as well.
Fears of physical limitations, too, can cause anxiety to spike.
Sports psychologist Julie Elion, founder of the Center for Athletic Performance Enhancement in Washington, D.C., says that if someone has experienced a health issue while exercising in the past or if they have a preexisting condition, they can become consumed with worry that working out may have unintended health consequences.
“It’s something I hear quite often from people who are over 50, or even 40, and have concerns about heart health,” she says.
This is why her first piece of advice is to get a check-up from a doctor, so you can have the all-clear before working out.
“This will provide peace of mind that you don’t have any health issues and you’re physically able to withstand exercise,” Elion says.
For most people, exercise is a net positive. Getting your sweat on increases serotonin naturally, plus raises dopamine and noradrenaline, all of which are mood lifters, Dr. Irwin says. And those endorphins, she says, are known to decrease anxiety.
“While physical exercise is no guarantee to erase anxiety or any other unpleasant state, it can certainly decrease it to some degree, allowing one’s creativity and more positive mood/attitude to resolve issues,” Irwin says.
But if you’re experiencing the opposite effect and find that working up a sweat causes more anxiety than it resolves, here are steps you can take to change how your body responds to exercise.
Talk With a Professional to Find the Root Cause
Finding the core reasons for your anxiety is the most important step in balancing mental health and fitness, Saremi says.
Distracting your mind with music or a podcast can feel like a helpful short-term strategy. But “it’s not necessarily going to help you actually face the problem and learn to cope with it,” she says.
That means you might want to book yourself some time with a therapist, even virtually.
A mental health expert who knows your exact experience can help you work through your feelings and reactions, as well as come up with a plan to move forward.
So if you’re feeling anxious, make sure to talk with a licensed professional to get to the root of your stress and anxiety triggers during workouts.
Find a Workout Buddy
Working out with a friend can also help. This way, if you start to feel anxious, you won’t be alone.
“Running [or working out] with someone that you feel comfortable with and that, if you do start to panic, they feel OK being there for you, can be really powerful,” Saremi says.
Plus, working out with a friend is also a way to turn anxiety into excitement when you’re looking forward to spending time with them.
Try Lower-Impact Exercises
You might be able to curb your feelings of anxiety by switching up your workout.
“If the feeling of your heart starting to beat faster makes you feel anxious, try lower-impact workouts instead,” Elion says. “Movement is really key for managing anxiety, but it doesn’t have to be high-impact. Exercises like yoga or Pilates can be incredibly beneficial for both physical and mental health.”
Saremi says that many of her clients with anxiety are overachievers who often put pressure on themselves to go above and beyond with their workouts.
“Something I often have to train them out of is the thinking that a workout ‘doesn’t count’ if they walk instead of run or they don’t go a certain pace,” she says. “You get to decide what works for you.”
And even low- and moderate-intensity exercise has benefits for your mental health.
Increase the Intensity Gradually
Once you start to feel less anxious working out at a lower intensity, you can then increase the pace slowly, Elion says.
Saremi recommends this, too, and says you don’t have to “push through” feeling anxious in an effort to prove to yourself that you’re OK. In fact, she recommends not doing this. “If you start feeling anxious, slow down to bring your heart rate down.”
Other anxiety reduction techniques include using meditation apps or doing deep-breathing exercises.
Do Grounding Exercises
Saremi also recommends a grounding exercise to try in the moment if you get anxious while working out: Notice five things you can see, four things you can feel, three things you can smell, two things you can hear, and one thing you can taste.
When you work your senses into your exercise, you can train your body to respond to fitness in a more calming and stress-relieving way.
“This brings yourself back to the present moment,” she says. In doing so, your body will realize that you’re safe and not under threat.
