It's hard to decide any causation for me personally, but my fitness tends to at least correlate positively with my mental health.
this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2024
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Extremely mixed. Last year my mental health was probably at its lowest after realising how bad my health was (weight and muscle atrophy from becoming a hermit in COVID times). I did a lot of work and I was finally able to go on walks daily without being exhausted and that felt really good. This in turn gave me more energy in the day and that also felt really good.
Also started doing weights. That didn't feel as good. Making progress was nice but I was basically always in pain or aching, and when I wasn't, it meant it was time to work out again. After exercising and the muscles were popped, it felt really good but that subsides. And seeing muscles like that start bringing out the body dysmorphia badly. It was the best Ive ever looked and it made me feel awful. Then I injured myself and it got it was even worse.
Tl:Dr light cardio yes, weightlifting not really
Try the Wendler 5/3/1 weightlifting stuff. Someone on reddit made it into a spreadsheet somewhere.
Basically, don't try so hard lifting weights. You go in the first day and put an estimate in for your 1 rep max, then that day it gives you a workout and the last set you do as many as you can until failure, then you record the number.
From there, the spreadsheet calculates all the rest of your workouts with a gentle progression. His philosophy is basically, leave one rep in you (besides that testing day) for the heavy sets. Then with the BBB variation you do a ton of reps of a really light weight to build a strong foundation. He suggests a "training max" of 85-90%. Meaning there will never be a time the spreadsheet asks you to lift your entire max.
Since I've used that I haven't had any injuries at all, and I don't get super sore (just lightly sore, which I kind of like). Progression is slower, but I think that has to happen because muscles seem to develop faster than tendons adapt to the extra strain, which leads to injuries.
The injury was unrelated to the weights themselves. It was a lack of understanding of how to correctly do lunges. But I appreciate the advice.
Just in case someone else is in the same position. Do not think of it as pushing your knees to 90 degrees. Get in position, loosen your knees and focus on moving your hips down. It's the same principles as squatting but in a different position
Could be the case that your stress levels are too high for exercise to benefit you. Moving, like walking, is fine in those cases. But anything that gets your stress levels up, like weight lifting or running might feel like torture and not provide benefits afterwards. You have psychosomatic therapist who might be able to help with this.
Excereize is the only thing that ever helped me. I need to feel like I can run through a building sometimes and if I don't I fall back into my vices. I will say that one difference is I am a very fit individual and when I put my mind and body to it I am able to do some things that are considered very very difficult. I've competed in jiu-jitsu at a reletively high level and won first place in more than one competition where I had to fight 4+ people in a row. And I've rock climbed some very difficult climbs that many people spend their lives trying to do. For anyone interested I've flashed some outdoor 5.13s
So I think the difference is that I'm genetically gifted and when I am actually working out and devoting myself to fitness it pays off in huge ways. That keeps me going, idk what I'd do if I worked out and then just felt like a loser. I feel like a fucking demon when I'm working out. I feel like a fucking loser when I'm sitting around.
Kind of, but it's not a miracle cure or escape. I tried exercising while depressed and I tried exercising after I learned how to manage depression. It never cured my depression but it is part of managing it. It's part of a healthy life style, which is part of taking care of myself, which is part of not feeling like I hate myself and my life.
I keep going to the gym because I enjoy it and it's an excellent way for me to vent emotions, no matter what my mood is.
YESSSSSS there is no other realistic answer; I am willing to die on this not-even-a-hill
Yes, definitely. For me, it is kind of a meditation - while I work out, I can't really think a lot, and after working out I'm exhausted. It is just a reset for thoughts.
I can imagine how exercise would do anything but depress me further. I despise working out. I remember being told I'd love it after a few weeks, but after a year I still despised it. Put me in a gym and you'll see me at my most miserable
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Yes, there is a reason so many people say go for a walk. It’s not cure all, you still need to work on your mental health. This is how I’ve come to explain it. when your body is unhealthy it has to work harder, a mentally ill person is already working harder. If you get your body healthy you will have more capacity for your mental health. Though like others have pointed out, do something you enjoy. I started with walking and moved to running but the walking alone was good. I had no idea I would enjoy it but once I started it became habit.