Exercise

[newbs16]

Do you exercise and does it help with your social anxiety?

[Indigo_]

I try to swim every week, which hasn't happened so far

It's pretty SA inducing in itself but it's something I can push through and tackle and it makes me feel good afterwards

[Indigo_]

My main annoyance is slow people in my swimming lane

[Mo34]

I've been volunteering at an animal sanctuary (mostly horses) and that exercise has certainly made a difference to me in a short space of time.

I do have an exercise bike which I really need to start using

I think it does lift my mood (mostly) but I guess it's the improvement in appearance/fitness that raises my self esteem somewhat (shallow I suppose) that helps.
I'm terribly unmotivated though. Which is why the a. sanctuary has been great cause you kind of have to turn up whether you feel like exercise or not, lol.

[newbs16]

^ I agree Mo

[pAuL1974]

Does exercise help with my SA? No, not at the moment, but it definitely helps with overall mood and feeling better generally.

Until a few months ago I did very little exercise. I joined a tennis club recently after not playing for a very long time, and it has helped massively with my fitness, overall state of mind and even weight loss.

The SA and outward confidence still remains a big problem though. The tennis club does have regular social events (including a NYE do tonight), but I struggle to attend these, or leave pretty sharpish once the actual tennis has stopped.

Hopefully I'll stick with it and reduce stress further whilst working on the SA.

[Oddity]

Cardio doesn't do anything for me, but I like swimming. Weightlifting on the other hand makes me feel great, and more confident Must join the gym again next year.

[mrbump]

Newbie come running with me!!!

[Fantastical]

I exercise a lot and it definitely helps, though possibly more with keeping my mood up than anxiety. Exercise pretty much every day, mix of climbing (2-3 times a week), swimming (normally three-four times a week) and then gym stuff (including a couple of weights classes). Don't do rest days until I have to, and I should have them more often.

Can't talk to people in classes but can when climbing (bit of a different situation to gym classes though). Talk to people occasionally when swimming but it rather throws me out when people talk to me. I'm pretty short-sighted so can't really see anyone well so can be quite confusing. Secret weapon for not worrying about people seeing me - if I can't see them, they can't see me!

[Finlay]

I go to the gym a few times a week at least. I find it does help keep my spirits up and my self-esteem bobbing along okay. I don't mean to sound too tragic, but it's one of the few places I'll willing leave the house to go to - it's like my little sanctuary I actually prefer going there to working out in my house, as there's something about working out with other people of various shapes and sizes round me, all doing their own things, that gives me more motivation compared to just flinging dumbbells about in my room, alone.

Not sure if it helps SA (to be honest, I'm not even sure if I have SA or not) but I do find that if I keep on top of my gym sessions and go regularly, then I tend to feel a bit more bulletproof to the stresses and strains of life. I used to do more running, which gave me a temporary boost like I'd taken some kind of positivity drug, but sadly I don't get the same high from it these days, unfortunately.

[Laura84]

I think anything that gets you out and about can only be a positive thing, even if it doesn't directly lead to helping with SA it can always lead to things that do.

I just find I feel better about myself and a little more energetic when I've been doing more regular exercise. That being said I haven't been to the gym in about 3 months even though I'm paying membership. Before that I was going a few times a week though.

[Silent Ninja]

I exercise a bit with the bike rides and some light dumbbell workouts, although a long ride on the bike can be calming sometimes 3 hours of riding round on your own seeing other people in pairs or groups can really make me feel lonely and isolated.

Also if you get a bad day with the cars you can end up angry and frustrated.

[.Andrew.]

I do fairly frequent cardio. Running, swimming, cycling

Should really do some weight type exercise as well, I do have a dumbbell set

[les]

To Quote Jo Brand

"My Body is a Temple...It's big and doesn't move"

I don't go out for a walk as much as I used too since I lost my dog, and I do have a bike and I may just take the cycle route from home to Bath in the summer, I really should do more than I do.

[neilm]

Walk about 60-80 miles a week at fairly brisk pace. Do some hiking in the hills and mountains too.

Don't know if it helps with the SA, but it certainly does no harm. And always feel in a good mood after a long hike in the middle of nowhere.

Seems to be keeping my blood pressure and heart rate at decent levels and keeps my weight in the perfectly fine range too.

[newbs16]

Originally Posted by neilm

Walk about 60-80 miles a week at fairly brisk pace. Do some hiking in the hills and mountains too.

Don't know if it helps with the SA, but it certainly does no harm. And always feel in a good mood after a long hike in the middle of nowhere.

Seems to be keeping my blood pressure and heart rate at decent levels and keeps my weight in the perfectly fine range too.

That sounds really good, well done x

[neilm]

Originally Posted by newbie2013

That sounds really good, well done x

Cheers, Newbie

[sillypenguin]

Originally Posted by HelloSunshine

I try to swim every week, which hasn't happened so far

It's pretty SA inducing in itself but it's something I can push through and tackle and it makes me feel good afterwards

I used to be reaaally self concious about swimming, even though I go to gym a lot it doesn't bother me as much, but I think because well you wear a lot less when swimming and I just don't like my body much (and used to have really bad skin which I guess isnt too bad now)

But recently I dont feel too bad and actually go to the sauna every so often too, which again used to make me feel really paranoid. Just baby steps, hopefully making wee goals, like trying to swim a length or 2 without stopping and keeping focus on that will take my mind off everything else.

Oh and going long walks I find takes my find off a lot of things, although I want to start getting back into running again so I can do a few races this year

[Indigo_]

^ Sounds good

For me, it's the walk to get into the pool. Once I'm in, no one can really see what you look like too much can they?

I like to build up the number of lengths I can do without stopping. I usually swim for 10 lengths then have a break.

[purplerose]

I need to get back into doing some sort of exercise !!
I have some Dumbbells but don't really know what I am doing with them

[Mikei]

Swimming and cycling mostly.

I get a small (20-30km) ride in a couple of nights a week currently, and I go swimming at least once a week, sometimes more if I don't want to cycle.

[newbs16]

I seem to have lost any interest and enjoyment I had in exercise, I don't really know what's happened!

[Z.]

Originally Posted by newbie2013

I seem to have lost any interest and enjoyment I had in exercise, I don't really know what's happened!

Do you do it often? I've found that if I do it often, I enjoy it more because I get in the swing of things.

Alternatively, if you are doing the same things all the time it could get repetitive and boring. Perhaps try and mix things up and do different exercises?

[Silent Ninja]

^^ Did you find exercises you enjoyed doing? If not I can see that it would become a bit "grindy" and hard to keep at, maybe you should try a few different things and see which ones suit you best (if you didn't do that anyway).