Anxiety in Men: Exercise Strategies for a Clearer Mind

Exercise Reduces Anxiety in Men. We can say that confidently. (If you’re curious about that, here’s a blog post I wrote about 5 Ways Exercise Reduces Anxiety in Men)

But when men hear that, a lot of times the next questions are:

What exercise should I do?
How often should I do it?

This blog post answers those questions for you:

What Exercise Should I Do to Decrease Anxiety?

The best exercise is the exercise you will actually do.

If you used to love dancing, join a Zumba class. If you played soccer in high school, go find a Sunday league team to play with. Do whatever you will actually do.

I haven’t seen anything that says there’s a specific exercise length related to decreasing anxiety, and in fact, some of the research can be a little contradictory. It seems like most of the studies had their participants have elevated heart rates for about 20 minutes, so, that’s probably a good number to shoot for.

There are all kinds of ways to elevate your heart rate for 20 minutes. Here are some things that people commonly think about when they think about ‘exercising’:

Running/jogging
Swimming
Bicycling
Weightlifting/strength training
Yoga
Aerobic or Fitness Classes
Pilates
Team Sports

If you really like any of those things - go for it, that’s great. But - there are lots of other ways to move your body that can get your heartrate up that people don’t commonly think of. Here are a few of those:

Dancing
Jumping Rope
Stair Climbing
Playing with Children
Cleaning your House Vigorously
Washing your Car
Mowing the Lawn
Working in the Garden
Brisk Walks

Again - look for the thing that you actually like doing and will enjoy and start doing that.

How Often Should I Exercise to Decrease Anxiety?

One recent study has shown that the more intense, and longer duration of exercise you do, the greater the anxiety relief. In this study all participants exercised strenth/cardio stations for an hour 3x a week. The more intense the work-out, the greater the anxiety relief. Another study, however, seems to show that a 10 minute walk is as good for anxiety relief as a 45 minute workout. So make of that what you will, but I tend to ask myself, ‘what can I do enjoyably and sustainably?’

If that’s once a week, start with that…if you can do 3-4 days a week, that’s great. I wonder…(and this is pure speculation, this is not rooted in anything other than that) if exercise that connects us with our primal fight/flight response like running or martial arts or boxing classes, might also have some other psychic benefits of giving us a subconscious feeling of capability to overcome some of our deepest anxieties (about our own abilities for survival for example). But, that’s just a thought, so do with it what you will.

One review found that although most of the research was not without problems, they felt you could say that yoga had a positive impact on anxiety levels. Yoga is based on the gradual increase of bodily tension, and the release of that tension, and as such, I think it would be very beneficial for decreasing anxiety sensitivity. The more comfortable a person gets tolerating things that are uncomfortable, the more able you are to lean into that tension and sit in it, the less likely they are to feel anxious when your heart races or breath increases.

Getting Nerdy About It

If you want to really get nerdy about it, you could always take the AS3 Anxiety Sensitivity Assessment here, and the GAD-7 (a generalized anxiety assessment) and write down your total scores for both. (Just a note that I would not recommend taking these to self-diagnose yourself, only a trained mental health professional should do that…so this is just for information purposes).

Exercise for two months, and take the AS3 and GAD7 at the one month mark, and the two month mark, and see if your exercise has made a difference in your scores.

Even if your cognitive and social scores on the AS3 don’t go down, perhaps your physical score will because of exercise.

Ideally you would also be in counseling (and perhaps on medication to address anxiety as well depending on the severity of your anxiety and your values around medication), so, you won’t be able to say the exercise is the only thing contributing to your new score.

If your scores show improvement, definitely strongly consider continuing to exercise.

Next Steps…

Regular exercise offers numerous benefits for reducing anxiety in men. By incorporating physical activity into your life, you can experience positive changes in both your physical and mental well-being. Exercise acts as a powerful stress reliever, helping to reduce anxiety levels and promote a sense of calm and relaxation. It stimulates the release of endorphins, the "feel-good" hormones, which can boost mood and alleviate symptoms of anxiety.

Moreover, exercise provides an outlet for emotional and mental tension, allowing you to redirect negative energy into something positive. It can also improve self-confidence and self-esteem, providing a sense of accomplishment and control over your body and mind.

While exercise can definitely reduce anxiety, sometimes there are moments where the anxiety we feel starts to become a big much for us. In those moments, it’s a really good idea to have some coping skills you can rely on to get you through those moments. I’ve made a free video, "The 5 Coping Skills Every Man Needs to Know", that you can download below. In this video, you'll discover effective strategies and techniques you can turn to in those moments when anxiety starts to become overwhelming. And again, it’s totally free.

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

It’s all connected. Taking care of your physical health absolutely has an effect on mental health. Too many men do nothing and find themselves stuck in anxiety for years. The important takeaway for me is - do something. Start exercising once a week, download the coping skills, reach out to a counselor…take some positive forward step. When you feel how good that feels, you’ll be more likely to take another step, and then another.

Wishing you the best on your mental health journey.