Anybody for whom higher levels of exercise make anxiety worse?

[mathnerd]

I always exercise - I mix it up with running, yoga, stretching, biking and walking many miles a week. Recently, I have upped my exercise level mostly by running more than before - and the strange thing is that the more I exercise, the more my anxiety level goes up. This seems contrary to expectations. I am trying to see if others have a similar reaction to higher levels of exercise. TIA.

[Pawz4me]

Any kind of HIIT makes my anxiety skyrocket.

 

Also, are you having to rush to get in the time for increased exercise? When I have to rush and/or feel stressed for time while I'm exercising it makes me feel very anxious.

[Lecka]

Okay, I am not great on this.... but your body's state of arousal while your heat beat is high, your breath is short, etc., may be the same physical signs as stress. 

 

We had a program for my son where he exercised in order to work on staying calm while his state of arousal was higher.  This was to work on behavior issues for him. 

 

It is a thing though -- as far as I know, a recommendation is to work on breathing slowly and having knowledge that you "feel" anxious because you have been exercising, and it has caused your body to have this "anxious" state of arousal, but really you aren't anxious, you are aroused. 

 

In practice this looked like my son playing in a way to get his heartbeat up, then being asked to stand still and take deep breaths, at first for a really short period of time and then for longer periods of time (but still pretty short), and getting positive feedback about doing a good job at self-regulating in this way. 

 

My son was a little kid and this was done from a concern about him having a hard time calming down after recess. 

 

Just in case that is helpful!  Good luck :)