Exercise & anxiety have some things in common, they both increase your heart rate, breathing & make you sweat! Unlike exercise, however anxiety can have serious adverse effects & are a common cause of morbidity & mortality.
Anxiety & Exercise – Anxiety is something that most people will feel at one time or another. It can manifest in different ways for different people but is a natural reaction to a perceived threat which causes a stress response. In these situations your sympathetic nervous system is activated which causes the ‘fight or flight’ response. In some situations this can be beneficial as it sharpens your attention so that you can be completely focused on the task such as playing in an important sporting match or preparing for an exam.
The problem with anxiety is when there is no real threat and your body perceives you to be in danger which causes this stress response. This can effect someone to the point where they can’t function correctly, this is known as an anxiety disorder.
Research has shown that exercise is an effective treatment to help people reduce their anxiety symptoms. Exercise is good because it has minimal adverse effects and can be used in conjunction with antidepressant treatment. Both aerobic training (walking, running, cycling swimming) and non-aerobic training (progressive resistance training, weightlifting) have been shown to reduce anxiety symptoms.
The benefit of exercise is that it allows us to experience the symptoms of anxiety with increased sweating, heart rate and breathing, however resides when the exercise drops in intensity or stops. This allows the person to understand that these symptoms can be managed and don’t always result in an anxiety attack. This helps to build self-efficacy as you improve and work towards mastering a skill. Exercise can also act as a distraction from a stressful stimuli or can be used to progressively increase exposure to a stressful environment. There is also a range of physiological benefits from exercise that can be associated with reduced anxiety symptoms.
So the bottom line is if you want to manage your anxiety, exercise is a great way to start.
There is a variety of exercises that would be beneficial to help you manage your symptoms. If you are currently doing nothing, try something and if you are doing something try and do a little bit more.
If you are not sure about how to start or want some guidance about the best way to exercise for you and your goals make an appointment with an exercise physiologist at ProHealth and they can help develop a lifestyle program to improve your physical and mental health.
Sources:
Broman-Fulks, J. J., Berman, M. E., Rabian, B. A., & Webster, M. J. (2004). Effects of aerobic exercise on anxiety sensitivity. Behaviour research and therapy, 42(2), 125-136.
Salmon, P. (2001). Effects of physical exercise on anxiety, depression, and sensitivity to stress: a unifying theory. Clinical psychology review, 21(1), 33-61.
Jayakody, K., Gunadasa, S., & Hosker, C. (2014). Exercise for anxiety disorders: systematic review. British journal of sports medicine, 48(3), 187-196.
Ströhle, A. (2009). Physical activity, exercise, depression and anxiety disorders. Journal of neural transmission, 116(6), 777.