Anxiety is definitely the worst possible thing ever. Going to the gym will heighten your anxiety levels, which is something I don’t recommend. Any kind of anxiety attack sucks, but if you’re at the gym when one hits, it feels like you have nowhere to go. With all this being said, here’s why you shouldn’t go to the gym if you have anxiety.
Your anxiety will have you believe that everyone at the gym is watching your every move, when really, they are focusing on their own workout. But your anxiety doesn’t know that. Every glance that someone throws you will feel like daggers once your anxiety hits and it will make you feel like all eyes are on you just because one person glanced your way. If you don’t want to feel this way, there are plenty of home workouts that you can try out so you can workout without the crowd!
Even though you may have been going to the gym more times than you can count, once anxiety hits, it’ll feel like you’re doing every set of reps wrong. The weights will feel heavier and you’ll be lifting your anxiety up, as well. Along with doing the reps wrong (or at least feeling that way), you’ll feel like everyone is watching you do them wrong. Trust me when I say that the gym will worsen your anxiety when I know you’re only working on lessening it.
If you’re an avid gym-goer, you’ll know that focus and precision are key for having a good workout that leaves you feeling the right kind of way. But once your anxiety sneaks up on you, it will cut off your focus and you’ll be left scrambling to remember which machines you still need to use and how many reps you’ve already done. You’ll be questioning yourself more than you’ll actually be working out. And there’s the potential that you could get so distracted by your anxiety, you could hurt yourself in the process. And you definitely don’t want to get hurt.
You’ll be going to the gym expecting an hour or more session, but once your anxiety comes, it will drain your energy so fast, you’ll only be there for about 30-45 minutes. My last gym session was about 45 minutes because my anxiety kept making me believe everyone was watching me. After a good while of thinking this and fighting my anxiety off, I noticed I was exhausted way sooner than I thought and ended my session. This was super dangerous, too, because if I had kept going, I could’ve injured myself on a machine from my exhaustion.
Just know that it’s OK to end your session early because of your anxiety. Don’t let your anxiety make you think that it was a bad session just because it ended early.
Every time you go to the gym after you’ve been there while an anxiety attack is going on, you’ll hate it. It will become a place where you dread to go and you’ll make excuses not to go just so you won’t have another attack. And that’s perfectly OK if you don’t go to the gym because of that. And I know you’ll want to get in your workout somehow, someway. So if the gym starts becoming a place you hate, look into home workouts and your own machines!
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