Day 5 Planning on returning to working out

Q: Think of some activities you really enjoy doing. If you could do one of these activities without feeling stressed out, without having anxiety, and without worrying about your family, kids, job, etc. how would that feel? Why do you not do this activity more often? What steps could you take to do this activity stress free and without worrying about other things?

During this past year I began exercising by going to a group strength training class at my gym. I really enjoyed it, but a combination of my symptoms and schedule conflicts have kept me from going in the last couple of months. It would feel great to resume these classes and get my overall endurance back up some since I have been slacking (partially out of fear). I need to plan out my classes in advance and commit to making them happen, with regular breaks for a day or two between each one.

I sometimes worry that I'm putting other things off by doing this, but I'm coming to realize that I need to lookout for myself in order to make everything else run smoother. I'm planning to get back to it starting tonight. I need to just calmly reassure my brain that the workout is not the source of lingering discomfort, as long as I'm mindful of my weights and use proper form during each repetition. The symptoms were there before I ever started, and I know they will pass.

 

I started feeling fear whenever I went to the gym, my symptoms seemed to come back to a degree even though I was working with a physiotherapist and I was getting stronger and healing. I am working with a Sirpa practitioner and we covered the topic of fear of going to the gym. We set out a plan to start gently and just a few minutes each time, then increase as I felt comfortable. It helped me feel more confident and face my fear of something being wrong with me. It was hard, I keep reminding myself that I ma retraining my brain and I will get there. Best of luck!

 

That’s great to hear, I’m glad you’ve been able to make a lot of progress! I’m getting there as well, it’s been an up and down couple of months since learning about TMS, but I’ve grown a lot in the last few weeks and am excited for the future