Advice for exercising to help anxiety/fatigue

[Kiletravis09]

Ok guys here is my delima, i want to start exercising but im just so tired everyday to even do small things around the house. Do some of you deal with horrible fatigue and does exercise help with it? I think some of my fatigue is just from sitting around not being active. I give in to the fatigue and just rest all day which i thin k is making me lose stamina (also cant have sex for as long as i used to). How have some of you dealt with the fatigue aspect? Do you take any supplements that help with the "always tired" feeling? I'm also kinda scared ill have a heart attack but that's just my HA acting up :P Thanks for the help everyone!

[PR83]

I have the same issues as you, and have been dealing with fatigue for 6+ months now, sometimes it seems like the smallest task is overwhelming. Exercise helps with this, and helps with your overall mood. It's tough to get it though because you're already so fatigued! Trust me, I know all this. What has helped me so far is a lot of stretching, yoga, and I try to go for a walk every day. I'm going to start to force myself to go to the gym, but not overdo it at the gym because you want to give your adrenal glands rest. I'm going to start a regime this week, so maybe you could try to go 2-3 X to the gym or some other type of exercise. I hope it makes a big difference with my fatigue! Also, I've been taking a b complex which has helped a lot, look into taking a b complex or a good multi vitamin. Good luck!

[jessed03]

I second the B Complex idea. Gave me some extra energy when my fatigue was brutal. If you can handle it.

Exercise didn't help my fatigue. It will do for some, but unfortunately just made mine worse and gave me a fatigue hangover the next day. You can try it though and see if you get fatigue hangovers. If you don't, your energy levels will increase as you go, and it may just be a case of depression like feeling in your body that you'll snap out of.

If you do it for 2 weeks and you do still get fatigue hangovers long after exercise. Your stress levels are too high, or you have a minor health ailment (anaemia, anything like that) preventing you from returning to your normal energy level.

In the end I went on an SSRI to help, and it did. Many many things to do before that point though :)

[Kabukicho]

Half of your brain (for whatever reason, I don't know, probably evolution) doesn't want you to exercise. It wants you to sit in a dark cave and eat and make babies all day. That's just how we're wired.

To start an exercise habit, you need to trick that part of your brain. It's not too hard to do. And once you have established the habit, then the habit-loving part of your brain will kick in and (it's an awesome feeling, btw) you will almost NEED to exercise every day.

Some tips:
1. Don't think "Oh, I'm going to run for 30 minutes." That will seem like an insurmountable goal. Just think "I'm going to run for five minutes and see how I feel." Or just "One minute."
2. Put on your running shoes / clothes and walk out the door WITHOUT thinking about anything. Once that happens, it suddenly becomes easier to run than not run, right? Easy trick.
3. Reward yourself! Have a big hamburger or something after you exercise. Take a hot shower. Watch Netflix. Do something to associate running with reward--although it should become its own reward relatively quickly.

Good luck!

[jessed03]

Half of your brain (for whatever reason, I don't know, probably evolution) doesn't want you to exercise. It wants you to sit in a dark cave and eat and make babies all day. That's just how we're wired.

To start an exercise habit, you need to trick that part of your brain. It's not too hard to do. And once you have established the habit, then the habit-loving part of your brain will kick in and (it's an awesome feeling, btw) you will almost NEED to exercise every day.

Some tips:
1. Don't think "Oh, I'm going to run for 30 minutes." That will seem like an insurmountable goal. Just think "I'm going to run for five minutes and see how I feel." Or just "One minute."
2. Put on your running shoes / clothes and walk out the door WITHOUT thinking about anything. Once that happens, it suddenly becomes easier to run than not run, right? Easy trick.
3. Reward yourself! Have a big hamburger or something after you exercise. Take a hot shower. Watch Netflix. Do something to associate running with reward--although it should become its own reward relatively quickly.

Good luck!

Great post.

When I did eventually get back into regular exercise, these were the types of steps I sort of lucked into doing!