The Gym or The Great Outdoors?

I’ve been super stressed out for the past few months because of my board exams. I had less and less to do until it was just me and my schoolwork, with only a little time for physical activity.

After my exams, I could literally feel the stress piling up in different parts of my body. I knew I had to do something about it. It’s worth mentioning that I barely moved a muscle during my exams, so getting back into physical activity means I basically have to start from scratch.

This wasn’t a big deal for me at all because I’m used to mixing things up and going with the flow of everyday life. The real issue was figuring out whether I should kick off the workout routine at the gym or head outside, because I absolutely love being in the great outdoors.

I decided to spend the first day outdoors in a spur-of-the-moment choice, hit the gym on the second day, and did a bit of both on another day. If you’re wondering which day motivated this article, it’s definitely the one where I did both things back to back.

Today’s piece is all about why I believe hitting the gym is just the thing you need to bounce back from a seriously stressful time.

A lot of times, we think of the gym as just a place to work out, but it’s actually so much more than that. I want to share my own experience of using the gym for recovery and rehabilitation. Let’s take a look at some of the things I’ve done there, no particular order!

1. Facing my fears: So, on my first day back at the gym after my exams, I thought I’d ease into it with some aerobics on the treadmill. But here’s the kicker – I accidentally chose a graded uphill workout that really made it feel like I was hiking! It didn’t take long for me to realize that I wasn’t swinging my arms enough to keep the right walking posture. What’s more, I figured out that this was all happening because I was subconsciously clinging to the control panel, just in case I needed to slow down. It hit me then that during exam season, I’d become so fixated on staying in control of everything around me that I’d developed a fear of losing control. But at the gym, I didn’t need that level of control anymore – in fact, it was holding me back. Once I recognized this, I started working on overcoming this fear by gradually adjusting my pace to maintain the correct posture, even if it meant walking further away from the control center.
2. Building self-trust: so, you know, I had this thing where I was like afraid of losing control after working out for a few days, you know what I mean? But then I was like, hey, I can totally trust myself and my body. When I first tried using the treadmill, I was like all over the place, couldn’t find my footing at all! It took me a while to get that feeling of being steady on the treadmill, like I’m just walking on normal ground. You know why it’s hard? It’s because of proprioception – our body awareness is like totally challenged at that point. Simply put, proprioception is like knowing exactly where each part of your body is and what the surface feels like. Body awareness is super important for safely moving around in the world, kind of like a sixth sense that lets us walk around confidently without staring at the ground all the time. And let me tell you, it’s a big part of building self-trust without being all paranoid or distrusting of others. Getting my footing right on the treadmill helped me tap into that sixth sense and build a strong trust in my ability to handle any challenge that comes my way.
3. Embracing Mindfulness: So, like, I used to totally think my friends were nuts for telling me to lift weights to deal with my anxious and depressing thoughts. But then, during one of my reconditioning sessions, I was like, hey, why not give it a shot. And let me tell you, the soreness from getting back into it was no joke! But there’s something about lifting weights that just brings this calm vibe, you know? It’s like it helps clear the mind and keeps you super focused. You become so aware of your thoughts and feelings while you’re pumping iron, it’s wild.
4. Developing Mental Flexibility: It’s super important to be able to switch tasks smoothly without losing your groove, and this is a real brain workout. But here’s the kicker: if you’re inflexible in your thinking, it’s tough to adapt to new circumstances and stay focused. You might be wondering, how does the gym come into this? Well, picture this: have you ever tried to do twenty reps in a circuit and felt like your muscles were saying “nope” at rep number twelve? And then by rep fourteen, you just drop the weights? Yeah, that’s not what builds mental flexibility. It’s actually the pep talk you give yourself in that moment and the action you take afterwards. During one of my upper body circuits, I struggled with a weight that I had handled before, so I immediately lowered the weight to hit my target reps with good form. I had to shut down the self-criticism and remind myself that strength takes time to build, and it’s okay to take it at my own pace. Being able to push back against self-critical thoughts is the key to developing mental flexibility.

These are just some of the super helpful things that I use my gym time for. The thing about being human and working on yourself is that if we don’t keep finding ways to consciously exercise our inner strengths, we end up becoming somebody we don’t wanna be. It’s crucial that you don’t let your ego take away the chance to really connect with yourself and your feelings during your workouts, because the ego makes it easy to get too focused on the physical stuff and gains and forget about the mind during those moments.

I’m pumped to be able to start adding writing for my audience back into my routine. Do you have any tricks or achievements from integrating physical activity that go beyond just keeping fit? Feel free to share in the comments so we can all benefit from each other’s experiences.