Panic/Anxiety Attacks in the Gym

[spokenthunder]

I imagine that this subject has been a topic of many conversations there, but I just feel an urge to write about this here, since it happened once again today.

I've struggled with "gym anxiety" and their associated panic attacks for a long time now. I'll say to myself that I'm going to be brave and do the routine that I had planned, but when it comes time to do so, I'll go over to the free weights, see so many big guys, aspiring or perhaps serious bodybuilders working out and I get completely intimidated, feel remarkably inferior. The panic/anxiety gets so strong that I turn around and do something else. My body will not allow me to go over there are work out.

It's funny because my little gym is meant to be a comforting place, that "judgement-free zone", but I feel like it's anything but that. I feel like people are casting judgement upon me, thinking so poorly of me. It's as if I pretend that I'm telepathic, and listening to their supposed thoughts makes me cower, slink away.

For instance, today was a perfect example. I intended to work out my chest and biceps this morning. I did some warm-up cardio, and afterwards, I noticed the amount of big guys in the freeweights section, some also doing the exercises that I do.

Normally when I work out in the morning, there's a guy who's my height (meaning short), but compared to me, he's significantly leaner with fuller muscles, his biceps filling his sleeves, pecs pressing out of his chest. Compared to me, I feel so inferior, so disgusting that it fuels that anxiety. This fellow was there this morning with a big friend.

So I panic and get the telltale symptoms: the pounding headache and the whirlwind of negative thoughts that flood my mind, the urge to vomit, the wooziness. I can't get myself to workout and I end up doing cardio, but feel disappointed that I can't get over the mass of this anxiety. I want to hide, run away.

I've mentioned such feelings to friends before. They'll ask how long I've been going to the gym now, and I'll tell them the number.

"Should you be over that by now? What's wrong with you?" he'll say. I hang my head in shame.

People have told me about self-affirmations in the mirrors, to disregard them and focus on yourself. Tell me that they all started somewhere; everyone was a beginner once. Tell me that they're too focused on themselves to notice you. I've tried all these tricks, but those feelings of anxiety and panic, of dread and depression, still remain, intensify over time. I end up hurting myself, yelling at myself over it when I leave the gym.

I've come to a point where I don't know what to do about it. It's not something that I expect a definite answer from here. I just feel like I'm in a rut and rather than clawing my way out, I only seem to sink further with every anxiety/panic attack at the gym.

Thanks for listening.

[The Magus]

Sounds like classic anxiety....I have that but generalized to social situations (so sometimes in the gym but not always)...if you can, you may want to see if you can get cognitive-behavioural therapy....its an approach to anxiety that works at giving you the tools to recognise and stop the attacks, and at the same time help you to become less sensitivr to the situations that trigger the attack.

Anxiety sucks, man, and you aren't alone.

[inflated]

As long as you use proper gym etiquette, that is putting weights away after you use them, not leaving sweat on benches or equipment, and not grunting like you are giving birth, the big guys in the gym are usually available for advice or a critique of form. If anyone is rude or judgmental to you that is "their" problem because you are there and working hard and nobody can fault you for that. Getting over anxiety may take time as do results but you can't get any results by staying home and worrying about what strangers think. Learn the proper way to do the exercises and then get in the gym and do it, everyone starts somewhere.

[arpeejay]

As you know, I'm not a therapist so take anything you read here with a grain of salt.

From what I've been able to gather, panic attacks (which I've never really suffered, except in the mildest sort of way on a very small number of occasions) really don't have anything to do with whether you are familiar with or accustomed to a particular environment, nor are they result of any learned behavior on your part. Like depression, they have much more to do with brain chemistry than anything you are or are not doing, all of which means:

Don't beat yourself up! And don't listen to friends who say "shouldn't you be over that by now?" It's like asking someone (me, for example!) why I'm not over having migraines from time to time!

So, yes, cognitive-behavioral therapy might help but it's also the case that there are plenty of anti-anxiety meds out there. They tend to be over-prescribed but the situations you're describing is what they were originally designed to combat.

Hope this helps!

xoxo

Richard

[racecar]

I have issues with anxiety, and I've also experienced panic attacks similar to what you describe, also in a gym. It's rough, man.

Disclaimer: I am neither a doctor nor any kind of licensed mental health professional, just someone who's had a LOT of therapy.

My recommendations:
1. Seek professional assistance - a therapist, a doctor, a psychologist. Especially if anxiety is affecting other aspects of your life. There are people that can help you.
2. If you have the money, do some sessions with a trainer. Or consider finding someone friendly to work out with.
3. Start with one exercise, or even one set of one exercise. Do that until you feel ready to add more. Do it gradually. Do bodyweight exercises at home, so you're not just doing bicep curls 3x a week.

[schwermarko]

Ok, thank you for feeling willing to share, this is incredibly difficult stuff to deal with.

A few things to bear in mind,

CBT is a very good idea, If you can find this kind of help. I have seen this work wonders for people I love.

If you come into a gym with a reasonable plan, execute that plan with commitment, have good etiquette and respect the equipment, and don't show off, you will have the support (and respect) of the vast majority of the big guys. We did not come out of the womb like this, we all started somewhere, most of us started right where you are now.

We are human too. A lot of us are shy, some of us incredibly so! Finding someone who is really big and is a cocky asshole is rare, and none of the rest of us respect those assholes. If you are polite to us and treat us like people, you may actually make some pretty incredible friends along the way. Although I don't know, most of the folks I think of a s being big and huge aren't actually welcome in the "judgement free zone" ironically enough.

I will encourage you to keep trying and invest in working through this. My gym life has kept the dark parts of my mind from winning on a number of occasions and I know I would not be nearly as happy as I am today if I had not overcome my fear of training in the gym.

[FuzzyKB]

Originally Posted by spokenthunder

I imagine that this subject has been a topic of many conversations there, but I just feel an urge to write about this here, since it happened once again today.

I've struggled with "gym anxiety" and their associated panic attacks for a long time now. I'll say to myself that I'm going to be brave and do the routine that I had planned, but when it comes time to do so, I'll go over to the free weights, see so many big guys, aspiring or perhaps serious bodybuilders working out and I get completely intimidated, feel remarkably inferior. The panic/anxiety gets so strong that I turn around and do something else. My body will not allow me to go over there are work out.

It's funny because my little gym is meant to be a comforting place, that "judgement-free zone", but I feel like it's anything but that. I feel like people are casting judgement upon me, thinking so poorly of me. It's as if I pretend that I'm telepathic, and listening to their supposed thoughts makes me cower, slink away.

For instance, today was a perfect example. I intended to work out my chest and biceps this morning. I did some warm-up cardio, and afterwards, I noticed the amount of big guys in the freeweights section, some also doing the exercises that I do.

Normally when I work out in the morning, there's a guy who's my height (meaning short), but compared to me, he's significantly leaner with fuller muscles, his biceps filling his sleeves, pecs pressing out of his chest. Compared to me, I feel so inferior, so disgusting that it fuels that anxiety. This fellow was there this morning with a big friend.

So I panic and get the telltale symptoms: the pounding headache and the whirlwind of negative thoughts that flood my mind, the urge to vomit, the wooziness. I can't get myself to workout and I end up doing cardio, but feel disappointed that I can't get over the mass of this anxiety. I want to hide, run away.

I've mentioned such feelings to friends before. They'll ask how long I've been going to the gym now, and I'll tell them the number.

"Should you be over that by now? What's wrong with you?" he'll say. I hang my head in shame.

People have told me about self-affirmations in the mirrors, to disregard them and focus on yourself. Tell me that they all started somewhere; everyone was a beginner once. Tell me that they're too focused on themselves to notice you. I've tried all these tricks, but those feelings of anxiety and panic, of dread and depression, still remain, intensify over time. I end up hurting myself, yelling at myself over it when I leave the gym.

I've come to a point where I don't know what to do about it. It's not something that I expect a definite answer from here. I just feel like I'm in a rut and rather than clawing my way out, I only seem to sink further with every anxiety/panic attack at the gym.

Thanks for listening.

- - - - - - - - -

To some degree panic attacks are a normal part of life.

When we were very young those first days in a school communal gym shower were brutal because no matter what is going on you go in the door feeling like you are ten car lengths behind no matter what. It could be that the seniors had larger genitals, or more body hair, or a myriad of things.

Every successful professional bodybuilder had to start training on some level at some point. This is just as true of some of the past greats such as Larry Scott, Frank Zane, Franco Columbo, Lou Ferrigno and even good old Arnold.

Imagine the feelings Lou Ferrigno had in those early days. He was a scrawny kid with a serious hearing impairment which was what used to be called a handicap and is now more politically and correctly called a challenge. How must he have felt. Lou and Carla are tireless in their work towards those dealing with challenges in life real or imaginary.

There is a kid much like mine on You Tube who went into bodybuilding as a self rebuilding thing after a prolonged bout with cancer. My own kid has had cancer of the tongue and has had major surgery for this twice. He went under the knife the first time having dropped from 190 pounds down to 158 because he had a hard time eating. He worked hard and fought his way back up again only to have it come back in January of 2013. During post operative recovery he dropped from 194 down to 168 and he fought back hard a second time. As Dad I heard all about his anxiety returning back to the gym and not wanting to have anything change either way. He overcame that with simple hard work.

There was a guy born after I was by the name of Steve Jobs. He was considered a "geek" and a great number of other names that were not complementary, but the man changed the world with his accomplishments. In his early years he had anxiety as well, but he believed in himself.

Whenever I start having a wee bit of anxiety and yes I have it too, I go back to good old You Tube and watch the approximately 8 minute video of Susan Boyle. In order to succeed she had to put herself out there and go for it.

There is a video shot in Korea of a Homeless Orphan that is similar to the one of Susan Boyle. I highly recommend watching these two videos. These two went for something and placed themselves in front of both a live and a studio audience to go for a dream or an accomplishment.

Many years ago when I was working as a Union Musician in Hollywood, through a series of almost comical errors I found myself on the stage of the Hollywood Bowl as the solo concert pianist for a Hollywood Studio "BigWig" charity event.

I can tell you that in view of whom I knew would be in that audience I died a thousand deaths and during rehearsals for this event had nearly daily major anxiety attacks based on my own lack of confidence in myself. To make it worse, long before "Shine", I was stuck with Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto to open the first half, which is over 40 minutes in length with the most technically demanding parts in the last 11 of those minutes.

I was asked to perform in a white tux jacket instead of the traditional black. I was horrified when I was introduced to find that I was the ONLY musician in white. I made it through that night and did so by committing total and complete focus to what I was doing and simply trying to become one with the orchestra. Here I was a young guy just headed into my 30's at the time. This was "paying my dues" and was trial by fire. Because I was taking a playing job that many others had turned down based on possible career damages if they screwed it up, and because I was too young and dumb to realize that at the time I was the one that was there. I focused on what I was doing, I worked incredibly hard because that is my nature, and my stupidity turned into one large musical break for really good and high paying playing jobs in the studios after that concert. While it could have just as easily damaged my time in music I used focus to make it happen.

If you focus totally on your workout you will not in reality have time to focus on what others may think or where you are now. Move the focus away from others and to doing your job.

These days I spend time on horseback. If I watch Barrel Racing with a trained eye I can quickly see when the rider and the horse join up to become one. That is the moment when both focus on what has to be done and the rest of the world around them fades into a position of less importance.

Do the same with your workouts. Focus totally on what you are doing and just do your job gym etiquette and all. The only thing you should be thinking about is the piece of equipment in your hand and how to get the most out of it. Do that and what will happen is that your success rate will increase markedly, and, your anxiety at doing this will also slowly vanish.

Good Luck