physical exercise?????

[Gracey]

Many people say that "meltdowns are emotional outbursts that happen when children (or adults) are overwhelmed by feelings and they come out in inappropriate ways."
How would physical exercise make one better at expressing emotions?

Directly, it doesn't.

Indirectly it may provide a kind of circuit breaker.

A break from rumination.
A break from the drip fed stress hormones continuously dumped into ones system as a result of thought patterns.

A cocktail of adrenaline and cortisol doesn't do much for my sense of wellbeing,
I prefer endorphins.

 

[Raggamuffin]

I'm staffing a lot more regularly. A brisk walk to the park on my lunch break. It's a 15 to 20 min walk at a leisurely pace, but I do it in 10. Then 40 mins of staffing, the staff is heavy and keeping the momentum whilst doing tricks is a really effective full body work out. It's high intensity, and 40 mins of that per day has my heart racing. Then a 10 min walk back to the office.

I get back and chug 3 pints of water as I'm pooped. But it's good. If I go at it too hard and haven't eaten or drunk enough during the day: then my lunch break exercise leaves me feeling off kilter. I often feel dizzy and out of sorts for an hour or so. But once I'm rehydrated and well fed, I feel a lot better, and happier.

I've got a 4 day weekend starting tomorrow and I want to do longer staffing sessions at the crack of dawn. The park is nice when it's empty and I get to witness the colours of the sunrise. With long sessions I find it's quite meditative.

As I've been staffing for 13 years now, it's second nature at this point. In fact, I can literally do it with my eyes closed. With it being so instinctive I find my mind body goes into autopilot, which allows my mind to drift off somewhere else. The whole combination is very relaxing. The longer the staffing session, the more relaxed I feel. So I think I'll make a day of it - bring a big bottle of water and some food and snacks. That way I could spend half a day at the park.

Anyone who sees it (who isn't glued to their phones) tends to stare, or comes up to me to talk to me about it. Whilst I'm quite an introvert person, I do enjoy the fact that my talents draw a lot of positive attention.

As for mood, the more I exercise, the happier I feel. Its no cure for my depression, but it helps reduce prolonged periods of depression. Even if it's only for a few hours a day - I'll take it. The next focus for me is my diet in the coming months. Ditching processed food isn't easy, and every time I've tried, I eventually buckle.

But, much like my addictions to alcohol and weed - eventually, you'll reach an attempt that finally sticks. So that is my plan with my diet: keep trying until my brain stops resisting what's good for it.

Ed

 

[Suzanne]

From a personal view, yes, it does help a little, because after just a little bit of exercise, I feel a sense of welbeing.

However, when anxious, the only thing that stops the anxiety, is either cancelling what caused it, or going through with it. Other than that, I am just not capable of doing much, let alone exercise.

 

[paloftoon]

If you aren't an exercise enthusiast and don't know a lot about different motions you can do, I'd recommend looking into Orange Theory if you can afford it. I'd recommend buy like a 20 session package rather than the unlimited monthly unless you have a lot of money and time. It's not cheap, but it's not over the top expensive either for what you get.

What I like about Orange Theory is that they setup a routine for you and you don't have to think too much about what to do. You just do your best to what's setup for you, and you can modify it to your needs.

Because of the pandemic, they do temp checks and require you to wear a mask except when stationary at your exercise station. There is a group trainer to help you to make sure you're doing the exercises correctly with your form as well.

 

[Raggamuffin]

I found in the early years of high anxiety - exercise would trigger a panic attack. But I grit my teeth and went through with it.

Took months mind you. I suppose it makes sense - a panic attack would have my heart racing, heavy breathing, sweating etc. When I exercised: the same symptoms, so my brain assumed I was in danger.

Still, it's worth perservering with, even simply walking more helps, especially if you get to take in some nice views around nature.

Ed

 

[Ihaveaspergers]

I found in the early years of high anxiety - exercise would trigger a panic attack. But I grit my teeth and went through with it.

Took months mind you. I suppose it makes sense - a panic attack would have my heart racing, heavy breathing, sweating etc. When I exercised: the same symptoms, so my brain assumed I was in danger.

Still, it's worth perservering with, even simply walking more helps, especially if you get to take in some nice views around nature.

Ed

What kind of exercise triggered the panic attacks?
I find that some kinds of physical exericise makes you pumped up give you an adrenaline kick that is very unpleasant. In many sports you see this. Just look at football players who scored a goal. Some look like animals in their goal celebrations.
I prefer not to experience something like this at all. How can people enjoy this at all?
This is why I prefer to practice dancing.

 

[Phlogiston101]

I've always sought out physical exercise, it helps me a lot. I just finished my daily weight lifting, and am tired,but feel much better.

 

[Ihaveaspergers]

I've always sought out physical exercise, it helps me a lot. I just finished my daily weight lifting, and am tired,but feel much better.

What is the thing about weight lifting that is enjoyable? I am confused. It seems kind of unpleasant. Like something I don't want to do. The gym seems like an unpleasant place (even before the virus). Perhaps one can exercise one's muscles outside of the gym (I live near an outside gym). Or maybe do exercices without machines or dumbbells.

 

[Au Naturel]

I learned to love weightlifting. I started out in an effort to become an "athlete" in high school. It gained me a little respect and the bullies left me alone. Might also have been the Tai Kwon Do I was studying. Somewhere along the way, I noticed that I was starting to like the way I looked. I'd always considered myself fat, unathletic, and ugly. Having that tiny bit of vanity was a tremendous help to my mental well being. Being strong and thinking I knew how to fight gave me confidence.

But the weight lifting itself? There is a lot of similarity between benching a heavy weight and punching someone in the face. Work out and all that adrenaline and cortisol finds a useful application. It is a safe place to let that particular demon come out and play. The body starts cranking out endorphins and any pain is nullified. (Work out long enough and something akin to runner's high sets in.) Afterward, you get to the point of being pleasantly exhausted. Your body is flushed and it is a good feeling.

I don't think most people ever get to that point because they are so averse to exercise to begin with.

If you don't like weights, there is always running or bicycling. I only hike because my joints won't take the impact anymore. I should probably take up biking but hiking is prettier.

 

[paloftoon]

If you don't want to be an athlete, here's something that has helped me.

One thing nice about doing exercise on your own is that you can try different things until you find things and levels of activity that work for you. Remember, you aren't competing with anyone else. Also, when doing exercise on your own, don't do something that's too painful because then you might be doing it wrong. It should strain you, but probably not "kill" you. Doing anything is better than nothing. It could be 100 sit-ups a day. If you can't do a full sit-up, as long as it's a strain for you that definitely won't be too much for your back, you can try this. Try to keep your form. If sit-ups seem too strenuous, start with stretches. Stretches are easier to regulate and you can even watch TV while you do some stretches. At least if you have more flexibility, that's something.

At an office job, you can possibly do leg stretches underneath your desk with no one else needing to know

 

[Matthias]

Stress has been shown to cause cognitive rigidity in males. Acute stress impairs cognitive flexibility in men, not women - PubMed

Since exercise can help reduce stress, it can help men become more cognitively flexible.

 

[Phlogiston101]

What is the thing about weight lifting that is enjoyable? I am confused. It seems kind of unpleasant. Like something I don't want to do. The gym seems like an unpleasant place (even before the virus). Perhaps one can exercise one's muscles outside of the gym (I live near an outside gym). Or maybe do exercices without machines or dumbbells.

I don't go to a gym, I would definitely not enjoy that. I workout at home, it wasn't enjoyable at first really tedious and boring. I learned to enjoy it because it makes my body feel good, then I feel better. But yes it's just lifting heavy things and repetitive.