Emotional workouts?

[61stRevolt]

In the past I've had issues with working out for the wrong reasons. I used to push myself because of low self esteem but that mentality always sent me backwards to square one. NF is DEFINITELY changing my mentality but I'm still fuzzy on a few things.

Is it ok to work out when I'm feeling down on myself? I don't want to exercise with the wrong intentions, hurt myself because I'm distracted or make the wrong kind of emotional progress.

But I'm worried that if I don't work out on the days I'm feeling down that I'll be validating that behavior and creating a new vicious cycle.

Kinda emo, I know, but HELP!... please?

[esteel]

Guess it depends.. i usually like working out even when feeling down but thats because after a good workout i usually feel better. Doing something to improve your health and body is a good thing and it also prevents you from getting lazy by skipping a workout and then an other and finally stopping. Also i usually eat supper after working out and i love to eat, so i feel twice as good

However i try to train focused only. If thats not possible i try to do things that are easy.. some biking, some pullups or pushups. Or going for a swim, sauna or walk. That way you still have done something, gotten fresh air but should hardly be able to hurt yourself.

Also maybe it helps to have some goals that make you feel really good. I like that quote by Mark Rippetoe: "Strong people are harder to kill and more useful in general'.. I think its great to be useful What kind of goals do you have?

[Ghost]

I believe you can channel all emotions into energy.

Angry, sad, happy you name it.

I often feel good happy after a moderate intensity workout, nothing too hard.

And doesn't exercise trigger an increase in dopamine? The "runner's high" for example.

And the more you exercise the fitter you are, the fitter you are the better you look.

And I guess the better you look the more self esteem you have?

[61stRevolt]

So far I've set fitness goals for myself with emotional connections... like the arm hang from the fitness test I used to have to do in high school and the embarrassment of getting 1 second "just for trying". I know that if I can actually hang in chin-up position for a second or more I'll have kicked my lazy high school self in the ass and it'll feel awesome. But does that goal have too much emotion connected to it?

[realbrickwall]

The only possible negative of it is the possibility of you giving up on the chance you don't meet it. Ask yourself this: will I be able to be sufficiently positive in the face of failing this goal that I am emotionally attached to? Will I be able to keep working?

If the answer is "no", then maybe it's something you should build up to (give yourself a goal in back strength that doesn't have that specific attachment). But most people can pick themselves back up after they get sat down. And it's especially easy when you have a support group that understands what it's like to fall and have to get back up. That's us. We know it's hard. We know that sometimes you have to keep trying way longer than you ever thought you'd need to. We know that sometimes you feel like you can't do it, and you do give up, and that you need a real kick to get back in the game. So, if you want to go for it, know that NerdFitness is here.

[Ghost]

I think that is a good goal.

Think, completing a goal such as that means you have improved.

And knowing you are getting better makes you happy.

The emotion attached to the goal means you have even more reason to complete said goal.

Having emotions attached can only serve to fuel the goal. It gives extra conviction.

However failing an emotionally connected goal may serve to harm.

But failing brings more emotion, then you harvest the energy of those emotions and go at the goal again !

But to answer your question, yes, working out is fine when under the influence of an emotion

[CyningaDena]

You've already gotten some great feedback from folks, so I mostly just want to pop in for moral support and say, "You can doo eet!" And also reinforce some of the awesomeness from others, like this:

i usually like working out even when feeling down but thats because after a good workout i usually feel better. Doing something to improve your health and body is a good thing and it also prevents you from getting lazy by skipping a workout and then an other and finally stopping. Also i usually eat supper after working out and i love to eat, so i feel twice as good

However i try to train focused only. If thats not possible i try to do things that are easy.. some biking, some pullups or pushups. Or going for a swim, sauna or walk. That way you still have done something, gotten fresh air but should hardly be able to hurt yourself.

And this:

I believe you can channel all emotions into energy.

Angry, sad, happy you name it.

And plus also this:

The only possible negative of it is the possibility of you giving up on the chance you don't meet it. Ask yourself this: will I be able to be sufficiently positive in the face of failing this goal that I am emotionally attached to? Will I be able to keep working?

I think esteel has some excellent practical advice, Ghost has a good handle on how emotions are tied to the body, and brick is offering you some great goal-setting tools. It's like you've got the Triumvirate here.

Give yourself a month to six weeks. It'll be tough at first, but if you stick it through, you'll find two things: (1) being active will turn into its own reward, and you'll feel good about it when you're done (those endorphins Ghost was talking about), and (2) it will become a general mood-elevator for the entire day, not just the times you're working out. I've found (and those always-nebulous "studies" show) that depression-type symptoms actually decrease for people who are physically active. Sure, there are days when I fall into the trap of comparing myself to other people and I get pretty down on how I look. But overall, I'm proud of the work I've accomplished, and when I look at progress pics I can say, "Damn, I'm turning into a sexy beast." I think that turning point usually happens a month or so in, when you start seeing obvious results. So hang in there!

[TheSavageBean]

I don't think I can say anything new, but I can relate my own experiences.

A few times I've been on my way to gym, thinking about PhD: "Man, I'm so stupid" "How come I can't get this out." "I'm really wasting my time in gym." "I could get a head start, I could be working right now instead of lifting shit." "Maybe if I wasn't pretending I was a meathead throwing weights around I'd get some fucking math done."

Or thinking about girls: "It's not like muscles = girlfriend anyway" "Let's face it... you're ugly." "They don't like you because you're boring." "You spend all your time in gym and wonder why you don't have anything to talk about." "They dig confidence and strength, you've got neither." "You can't even bench BW, why even bother going?"

Or about life in general: "You can't afford this lifestyle." "You've gotta get serious about your life." "You're NOT a weightlifter and you NEVER will be." "You're just going to hurt yourself." "It's cold, you should be in bed." "Everyone else is making something of themselves and you're fucking around picking shit up." "What are you going to do when things are harder? You can't do this all the time." "Just quit, noone even cares that you're doing it anyway."

Then by the time I get to the gym, the only thoughts in my head are: "Alright, HIIT, 10 intervals 30/30, today's Tuesday so... running." "Gotta ask about 400m sprints" "Just one more set" "I can go up next week, alright!" "Fucked that one... damn." "Aw shit... deadlift day, this half hour isn't going to be fun." "And to think I used to be a useless fuck-up who'd be asleep right now."

Then after gym, I can't wait to do it again tomorrow.

Hopefully this illustrates why gym is probably the highlight of my days.

[61stRevolt]

Thanks so much everyone you've been a huge help. It's really nice to have so much support =D

[The Tin Man]

I don't really have much to add in that hasn't been said better already, but count me as tossing in my support for your journey awesomeness and fighting internal demons.

[DaygloNirvana]

Everyone seems to have covered all the bases. The only thing I could think of when I read your OP was that there are so much worse things you could do when you're in that mindset.

[cammocat@gmail.com]

Hey there! I totally get what you mean with emotional workouts. I can only speak for myself, but I find on days where I am like "Blah I don't want to do anything grr argh," I just have to do slightly better than I would have. So if I get dressed and go for a walk, hey, it's better than nothing!

Obviously, this isn't great in the long term, but it's great for those days when you feel crappy.

As for emotional connections, I think there's nothing wrong with it unless you will be furious with yourself for not succeding. I know some of mine are emotional. I climb fences because I keep thinking about what would happen if I was running away from something and I couldn't make it.

I may have missed the point here.

So, that said, you are super awesome and excellent and I firmly believe you can do anything you set your mind to.

[Erick the Red]

Just another quick note of support. I have found that keeping to an exercise schedule has been a source of support, since even if I screwed up everything else at least I got that one thing right.