Anxiety destroying motivation in the gym?

[sebastianm10]

Well, I'm not diagnosed but I been suffering from anxiety for about three years now, I been trying to study enough about different types of anxiety but the symptoms I get are:

Mild Depression
Sweat flashes (Hot flashes)
OCD

It's not as bad as it may seem but it is annoying, it actually makes my life a bit distracted and unmotivating. I can forget about it if i'm like working and i'll feel and seem like a perfect human, but it's times when i'm not really using my head.

NOW, my question is, and please only serious answers, Does anxiety destroy motivation or spike it, or somehow mess it up in the gym?

When days that I feel actually pretty good, and not have sooo much anxiety, I drink my PWO (Redline half bottle). And I enter the gym, and usually I dominate, and I feel great and do an amazing job in the gym, but on days that I do have minor or major anxiety, it causes me to feel super exhausted at the gym after only like 2 sets of my first workout, and my whole workout ends up being dragged.... Any idea how to reduce this? Thanks guys.

[BruserBeast]

I was kinda in the same boat as you.You just need to remember why your in the gym and that is to kick some butt and relieve any stress you may have.Also if you listen to music turn it all the way up and just get into a zone where nothing will stop you especially not some pathetic anxiety. Anxiety is annoying but its overcomable.

[NaturalHG]

I suffer from anxiety sometimes but really its no concern at all. When i feel anxious or like **** i get up, get my back and go straight to the gym. I find that it helps relieve my anxiety and stress. When i leave the gym especially if its still early in the day i feel like a ****ing warrior physically but more importantly mentally.

Try and listen to music once you get there to pump you up and also look into dieting, certain foods will help lower anxiety levels and obviously increase energy levels too.

[Cantlive4ever]

Bro I totally know how you feel some tips from me that can really help you would be ditch the pwo and any other stimulants such as caffiene totally

I know you like your pwo but you will feel much better


stimulants cause more anxiety for most people...

I also think a balanced diet helps sure your diet is pretty good though

The key for me is to stay mentally engaged in activities so less time to worry its not a permanent fix but my quality of life has improved from it wish I could not give a crap about anything but havent figures tjat one out yet

Good luck dude and music seems to help as others have said

[J-Cubed]

I do not have anxiety, but caffiene can worsen it temporarily. Ditch the pre-workout or find a caffiene free one like Hemavol if you really desire to use one.

Remember that by lifting you are carving your body into what you want it to be. Take pride in the journey to get to that final goal you set for yourself. Stay consistent, patient and you can only feel better every day.

[LATSandTRAPS]

i have severe anxiety. home gym for me. Anyone know this?

[rosschef91]

Yeah I hear ya mate. Kind of. I worry about everything and I mean everything, it's very distracting and like you said can make it hard to get motivated. But that's one reason I go to the gym. Loud music and lifting seems to help take my mind off all the stuff I'm worrying about.

I think that concentrating on all the positives in my life helps me out. I'm healthy, have enough money to feed and clothe my little family, have a job and I lift!

Think about all the good things goin on and hopefully that'll help! Good luck brah!

[flyp313]

bro its Ur body telling you something big is gonna happen lifting so just use it to lift
get rid of pre workout srs
and simple solution work harder in life and this wont happen

[Demonchylde]

It's about head space. I get anxiety on occasion and coffee or caffeine can increase it pre gym. If you are going to have a coffee, do it a couple of hours before the gym. Because anxiety almost always increases your heart rate, when you are working out on a severe anxiety day it can feel exhausting. Even when you are calmed down when you start lifting your heart rate will go up and sometimes convince you that you are having anxiety, leading to an attack.

Focus on your breathing in the gym and out of the gym.

[FutureMrO786]

It's about head space. I get anxiety on occasion and coffee or caffeine can increase it pre gym. If you are going to have a coffee, do it a couple of hours before the gym. Because anxiety almost always increases your heart rate, when you are working out on a severe anxiety day it can feel exhausting. Even when you are calmed down when you start lifting your heart rate will go up and sometimes convince you that you are having anxiety, leading to an attack.

Focus on your breathing in the gym and out of the gym.

I suffer as well I had to leave the room one day because of it I think people are looking at me thinking this dude is tiny but there not saying its all in my head.

[macgem]

Not sure on the PWO but generally working out should help to alleviate some of the symptoms of depression and anxiety, however it can also be a catch-22 with certain people because they may suffer a severe comedown a few hours afterwards which can sometimes leave you feeling the same way, and sometimes even worse.

Depression and anxiety are obviously two very different things, and manifest completely differently from person to person so initially it is important to take a bit of time to really try and understand what exactly makes you feel those specific feelings and it's not always easy to pin point them. If you can pin point clear triggers, you may also be able to find solutions to either avoid or deal with them. In the UK, you can gain access to Self Help Cognitive Behavioural Therapy through your GP and some free local counselling services. To the OP, although you are in the US I am sure there are likely to be some online self help CBT resources which you could maybe look into, it takes a bit of time to work through many of the exercises but CBT can be very effective in helping people to manage their anxiety (and other issues) little bit better.