The Gym And Your Mental Health

Most people view the gym as something to just suffer through. It’s a means to an end. A short-term sacrifice to help with longer-term health and body image goals. But what if the gym could be a much deeper and more meaningful tool than that? What if we could leverage the gym environment to improve not only our physical health, but our mental health too?

I think it’s possible to do just that. I know there’s a whole host of mental health tools out there – and very effective ones at that, too. But let’s be honest with each other, you’re probably not using any of them. I’m all for counselling, journalling, meditation and supplements, but if you’re not doing those things, maybe it’s time to look at something you will do. Let’s start with the gym.

Let’s face it, modern life in the western world is busy, hectic, stressful and incredibly demanding. When was the last time you took some time for yourself? If you’re anything like the average modern woman, you put yourself last. Family, friends, work and even pets are often put above women’s own needs, and their mental health suffers as a consequence.

Setting aside two hours per week to go to the gym, more than anything else, is an escape. It’s time for you to switch off your phone, focus on something entirely unrelated to all the stresses of the outside world, and prioritise yourself for an hour. It provides you with the room to breathe and press pause on the insanity of daily life. Not only this, but it’s a signal to yourself that you matter. How we act in the world tells us a lot about how we view ourselves. Small, consistent commitments to ourselves like going to the gym are a light in the darkness, signalling to our subconscious that we are a person worth taking care of.

The gym can be an outlet for aggression, too. The number of times I’ve channelled my emotions into my gym sessions are too many to mention. Particularly when I lost my dad (after who I named DC Personal Training), the gym was an incredibly important tool for me to channel the aggression and negative emotion I felt on a daily basis into something positive. To be clear, the gym wasn’t a “fix” for how I felt. I still had to come to terms with the death of my father. But it helped me switch off from everything and keep some form of positive momentum going through a really tough time in my life.

The brain is constantly on the go. We hardly ever switch off, even during sleep the brain is busily working away processing memories, pruning some synaptic connections and strengthening others. It’s constantly communicating with every other organ in the body, sending cascades of hormones through the bloodstream and receiving signals from all corners of the body about the external environment that’s constantly being monitored. With all this in mind, we can’t ever truly “switch off” the brain. But we can turn our attention elsewhere, if only for a while.

It has been said that the mind is a great servant but a terrible master. I believe it goes from servant to master when you lose the ability to be truly present. Most people live in the past in one moment and in the future the next. Never stopping and truly being in the present moment.

When I coach my over 40s ladies group in Doncaster, I am constantly reminding them to “switch off their brains, switch on their bodies” and to “feel, don’t think”. As we’ve discussed, we can’t really “switch off” the brain (nor would we want to). But taken as a metaphorical cue, this can really help you get more out of your gym sessions, mentally as well as physically.

Being fully present with your body while you’re in the gym forces you into the present moment. It’s the exact same technique used during meditative practices, to become aware of the sensations in your body to ground you in the present moment. Done properly, gym work should be a version of this.

When you’re training in the gym, a smart idea is to focus fully on the muscles you’re working. Feel the tension in each muscle, feel the difference between a stretch sensation and a contraction in each region. Focus on the movements and the muscles, and you’ll find there’s really not much room for worry, doubt or anxiety to creep in. That’s the byproduct of being fully present, and that’s what the gym can do for you, if you let it.

The effect this can have on your mental health shouldn’t be underestimated. Not only is it a well-earned break from the destructive thoughts you may be in the habit of, but truly being present with your gym session will increase the number of endorphins (“feel-good” chemicals) produced during your workout – leaving you feeling on cloud nine when you leave the gym. It’ll also improve the quality and intensity of the work you do in the gym, which brings you a better set of results from the same amount of time as someone who’s absent mindedly going through the motions doing the exact same workout.

While it doesn’t seem glaringly obvious that the gym can be a useful tool for your mental health, the devil lies in the detail. If you approach your gym sessions in the right way, and you execute them with the advice of this article ringing in your ears, you’ll notice a definite difference in how you feel both during and after your workouts. And while it may not be everything you need to improve your mental health, it’s certainly a solid start.

If you need some help with the gym, we run a private small group women’s only over 40s personal training programme. To check out what we have and to see if it’s right for you, click the link below:

Thanks for reading.

Andy Clements

Head Coach & Owner

DC Personal Training