Anxiety and the Gym.

I will blog later in more detail on this subject but I just thought I’d introduce an old but good idea that the gym helps with anxiety. There is something to be said about taking control of your body. Gains in the gym come to represent gains in life in that if you put hard work into it, you will be rewarded. I never thought I’d be the type of girl to deadlift each morning but here I am. Thanks to a new gym membership at Top Dawgs Fitness and my girl, Amy, I have been setting goals and slowly reaching them. The gym can become a sort of metaphor for achieving your life goals. If you set a plan, work towards it then ultimately you can achieve it.

I am bipolar but I also suffer from anxiety and attend an Anxiety and Depression group once a week. Going to the gym and taking frequent walks help put my mind right, in addition to a very small dose of an anti-depressant called Cipralex. The gym is my happy place, its a place I can accomplish things. I set out to run a certain distance, lift a certain amount of weight and If I am motivated enough I can easily accomplish it. If i can apply this method to the gym then surely I can apply it to my life and start making some changes in how I approach things. Set goals, make plans, and hopefully crush them.

Another thing the gym teaches you is to try new things. I never thought I would ever deadlift in my life but suddenly I find myself living for it, wanting to do it as often as I can. Again this is something my friend Amy taught me and I am thankful for. It gives me something new to focus all my energy on and in my case anxious energy. It takes effort and literal sweat but its worth it in the end to say you did that thing, that thing you wanted to try. I started lifting roughly 60 pounds and can now dealift up to 105 pounds. It comes with practice, time, and ultimately determination  to achieve your goals and in this case my goal was to lift 100 pounds. Again, gains in the gym come to represent gains in life.

I am going to focus all my energy on accomplishing my goals this 2018 whether that be something as simple as getting my license or whether that be something bigger like returning to school. I am going to write a plan of action, carry it out and hopefully I’ll see results the same way I see them in the gym.

An Actual Image from One of my Workouts at Top Dawgs Fitness.