Anxiety Shouldn't Be Your "Cardio"


Apr 4, 2022

 by Josh Thorn
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Hi All,

Ever thought you were having a panic attack while you were working out?

There's a common meme  that goes: 'Anxiety is my cardio'. Well, exercise certainly has biological responses in common with anxiety - your heart pounds, you perspire, you feel uncomfortable, i've definitely had that thought "Oh no, when wil this end!?". It's no surprise why someone would avoid the gym if, every time they exercised, it felt like having a panic attack!

The difference is in the details. Exercising the way you should, which is the way we do it - with a warmup, intentional programming, and high level coaching feedback, is like being in a racecar. As you warmup you are idling and letting the engine components circulate oil and regulate pressures. As you approach strength based lifts and progressively add weight - you are shifting gears from first to second, third to fourth. As you move into a higher intensity workout you add faster movements, compound lifts, and dynamic transitions. You should be in fifth gear, moving fast but in control, humming around corners with speed and balance. As the driver you must be monitoring the engine RPMs the whole time and making sure you don't push over the redline. 

A panic attack is what happens when you crash and your vehicle goes into a wheeling spinning free-for-all; you've lost control and everything is disorienting. 

It does take practice and control and focus, but just as you learned to drive a stick shift growing up, soon it becomes automatic, and you can learn to control your performance to higher and higher levels. 

Be well, and drive safe,

Josh