Once I had a very difficult operation at the dentist. The night before, I did not sleep because of anxiety, and that says it all. The next day I went to the clinic by public transport and got lost along the way. Guided by the map of the area, I still got to the place, but in order not to be late, I had to run like never before. When I entered the waiting room, my face was red, but inside I no longer felt a shred of fear.
Great story, nothing quite as stressful as running late to an appointment in my opinion. Do you often run late? perhaps you suffer from adhd as do I. worth investigating there are a few giveaways but everyone’s issues present differently. as having adhd arriving to consultations and appointments on time can be the most stressful thing of all time
@@whoisjohnwick Undoubtedly, being late is a stressful situation. But I was saved by the fact that I still arrived on time. I am rarely late because I usually start preparing a day or a week in advance, depending on the event. While other people spend an hour on preparations, lol. I don't have an adhd, but I understand that you face challenges that I can't even imagine.
A tip, whenever you react for a stressful situation/trigger with "this is scary, I have to avoid it at ALL cost", your nervous system remembers it as a threat, gets sensitized and overreacts next time. This is how anxiety/phobias/traumas develop. Allow yourself feel all the sensations and do whatever you have to do. Don't stay in comfort zone. Anxiety will pass itself. Avoidance creates spiral of anxiety. I used to be the person to avoid checking e-mails, talking to people (especially if I was attracted to them, and so on). Facing fears is scary but that's the only way to freedom. Start from facing smaller fears and go to the next ones. Works with trauma the same. Procrastination, waiting for "better day" to do difficult things is avoidance too, and it keeps the anxiety alive. The book "hope and help for your nerves" by Claire Weekes is priceless help 👍
I never thought about this, and it might explain why I feel like my anxiety is getting worse over the years. I just tend to avoid and bail out of the situations that I fear. I work a lot from home and sometimes when I haven’t been to the office in a while it gets real hard to go and I can even in some cases start feel physically sick about having to go so I avoid it and it just gets harder and harder to go. But once I eventually manage to go it’s not a big deal and I have no problem going again the next day. Thanks for this insight
@@dumbodum I understand completely, I always wondered why I have anxiety even though I don't do much, so to speak. Finally the enlightment came, after studying books and conversations with other anxiety-suffers. The avoidance prelongates the nightmare. Nervous system is very plastic. Example: some drivers don't drive for few weeks or months and develop driving anxiety, even though nothing bad happened. It works the same with social situations and so on. Avoidance keeps us stuck. I've studied self development, mindset books, but eventually I always got stuck bc of avoidance tendencies. I am glad it resonates with you 😊
@@TejubescDM I used to push me to do most things, even though I felt anxious and overwhelmed all the time. After doing this kind of thing for months and years, now I feel totally burnt out, cannot even get the motivation to get up or eat regularly. I switched over to avoiding nearly all things that overwhelm me now for at least two months, since I have anxiety how nothing I did before was ever enough to actually solve tasks or problems. We all know life keeps piling up stuff, as soon as you solve some thing 5 new things emerge. Now I can't work, can't exercise like I used to. That "feeling the fear and do it anyway" did not work out for me and feel like it made my life way worse in the long run
Him and Dr. Andrew Huberman! (Huberman's clips, that is.... I haven't yet been able to make it all the way through a full podcast of his yet. Just but by bit, piece by piece 😂😂)
Bottom line: exercise vigorously when you are stressed (e.g. sprinting) That's real interesting cause I've always noticed that when I exercise after experiencing social anxiety, I feel a lot less anxious and stressed.
Regular exercise is also a great preventative measure against stress and anxiety. Back when I was a frequent runner and would hit the gym every other day, things rarely bothered me and I always felt like I had a solid foundation to tackle problems that were coming way even when I was on edge or on the verge of having a breakdown due to trauma. Fast forward to much later in life where things have kinda gone into disarray for me with little to no exercise and now I am very susceptible to stress and anxiety, and my trauma triggers are at their worst with anxiety episodes lasting days. Slowly trying to unravel and work my way back to that greater sense of stability in life.
I've been dealing with feeling overwhelming stress recently. As a therapist I feel a bit like a hypocrite and a fraud when I'm struggling so much. This video couldn't have come at a better time!
Therapists are humans too :) you are already doing a wonderful job in looking up healthy ways to cope with your stress. You are not a hypocryt, you are a responsible human which makes you an even better guidance for others
That last little point about not feeling de-stressed after completing the task and giving into your cravings is so accurate. I just completed a stressful task today and immediately got fast food after. Barely felt better after finishing it.
He is so correct about not feeling satisfied even if one completes their task. I always feel like I am finishing my work just for the sake of it and never feel truly happy. I also procastinate a lot. Imma try this because I feel stressed out all the time over little of things like doing my studies or chatting to my friends or going out (already developed anxiety for sometime now)
@@pimdeboerr I did try. I got tired, my brain emptied out and I slept peacefully lol. But I am yet to master how to utilize this technique efficiently since I still tried to avoid my work (preparing for presentation) even after sprinting and relaxing. Maybe it has to do with how badly I hate to make human interaction due to social anxiety but still had to do presentation if I want to score in my final exams.
I've been going to the gym pretty regularly since I was 20, and now I'm 28. I've been inadvertently doing this over the last few years. Once I got stronger I found that my workouts weren't as taxing and because of that I wasn't getting the same benefits. I was losing interest in going to the gym and it was not good. So I changed up my plan and every time I go to the gym it's a fight for my life and I wouldn't have it any other way!
That’s awesome man, i’m 20 now and studying personal training because of just how transformative the gym has been for my mental. I have been going just under 2 years, awesome to hear you’ve maintained yourself to go all these years I hope you never give up bro as it’s truly our medicine. What I found is it is easy to half ass your weights routine in a way by taking forever to do it. so what i’ve started doing the last 8 months or so is boxing, i get way better benefit if i do it at the start of my gym session, but then i’m fatigued for the weights, so depends on my goal at that time whether mental boost or strength/hyper trophy. but i can do it at the end i’m just more clumsy and slower and it doesn’t liberate my brain with oxygen quite so much. but the beautiful thing about boxing is, and i just mean bag training by the way. is how it activates that sort of fight or flight response because it induces a sense of psychological fight, and you can manifest this further with your imagination. But generally for me i do similar intervals to the sport, 3 minute round, 1 minute passive rest. It’s been insanely liberating for aggression, frustration, misery, loneliness, anxiety and stress + confidence in self defence. You can learn alot from just a few pointers, i like to do kicking as well, make sure u get set up with proper technique though for both boxing and kicking, at least once, perhaps online if you struggle to step out of comfort zone and talk to people. But generally i do 4 rounds everyday and that’s more invigorating than any weights session. It also makes the gym way less intimidating if i hit the bag first thing. the fact you’re in that fight mode you generally will amaze yourself with how much you can exert yourself because you forget about your breathlessness and high temperature because you’re totally fixated on accuracy and technique. You forget about your tired legs, worry about that and you’ll be dead in a fight scenario. Trick yourself into a fight for your life; it can be really powerful especially if you focus on technique and accuracy and forget about all else. All out 3 minutes! time urself. Only thing that’s unfortunate is as it’s so intense on the traps muscles and the mobility of the hips is necessary hence flexibility training to do high kicks, also very hard on the lateral sides of the lower back when doing high kicks and side kicks. i really recommend both warmup and cool-down with stretch routine in cool-down. make warmup relevant to the sport so i like to warm up my back on a ski machine, or rower. and then legs(hips)/full body either skipping or elliptical runner as that gets a great range of motion in the hip if you keep your feet flat. seeing as you’re experienced you probably know the importance of warmup and cool-down but it can save you from a lot of pain!!! and soreness same goes with stretching, if you didn’t know. and that means that your next training session can remain very intense
I know what you mean, but if I train this way then I have no energy left for anything else... In general working out has kind of became my excuse from actually making real progress in my life. I mean physical activity is better than not doing anything, but it just feels a bit like I'm playing myself...
@@misanthrophex You have gifts man, they're probably right in front of you but you won't acknowledge them. There are things you're naturally good at, you might need to change your definition of good, you don't have to be the best. Social media makes us inadequate in almost every discipline. Forget about that, look at the people in your community, better yet look at your aptitude for improving at something. Chances are what you're doing isn't fulfilling your soul at all, because its contrary to your real purpose, you god given gifts. That's where your purpose lies. Accepting their existence might mean facing some sort of horrendous fear, a fear of failure perhaps. Best believe failure is of key importance but a product that fails is not a failure, its an education and it can still provide something intrinsic to its intended purpose, if not 100% of it. Analyse what you're gifted at, dont have standards too high, don't be a perfectionist, don't be shy. Be honest with yourself, adjust for your biases. You can make it happen man, its self doubt.
Ah! So you’re the guy screaming on the leg press at my local gym. I always wondered what was going on with you but I’ve been too afraid to ask. Thanks for the insight 😂
My psychiatrist suggested heavy exercises and I can see the difference between the time when I used to do vigorous exercise vs when I stopped doing it because of conflicting schedules of my college. And yeah it works. Note: I was also on antidepressants
I always had the feeling that I physically want to start running when my stress gets triggered (which happens a lot). But I also always suppressed that feeling because it felt awkward/inappropriate. It might be a bit inconveniënt to start sprinting whenever I feel stressed but I'll give it a try for sure. I don't have anything to lose because living with a constant high amount of stress is not an option anymore either. It is taking a physical and mental toll on me. I hope I don't forget to report back on this post to let everyone know how it went in a month or so. Wish me luck!
It is well structured and well though out advice, filled with relatable examples. Also it does seem to be actually on point, as I am mainly stuggling with high stress at the moment.
I've found that letting myself breath fast and kind of hyperventilate when I get stressed actually calms me faster and more consistently than deep breaths do
That's a great way to deal with it! He also teaches a meditation where you do just that by the name of Kapalbhati (breathe of fire). Not sure if I'm getting the name right
Needed this reminder, thanks. I used to do 20-50 star jumps when I realised I was getting too angsty to think straight while studying. It really helps. Nice if you can step outside too, for that fresh jungle air. I wouldn't go 100% tho, didn't seem necessary. getting the heart pumping and big wide movements, letting your limbs swing wide, seemed like the main goal for this. I think a key part of this is people get more stressed when they don't allow physical responses, because it's 'not cool', or other social reasons. That's part of the problem. Healthy kids do it naturally and more resilient people don't care, and will probably 'get it'. You can worry about looking like a dork, ...or be the sharpest mind in the room. Anything that moves your limbs quickly will do! That's what your body wants you to do with Sympathetic activation. Fling your limbs around. Shadow box, bounce around, run up a flight of stairs etc. it's just what ever mimics fight or flight energy... (getting out of freeze state is a bit different tho, if you're already totally overwhelmed try gentle movement)
This is so timely for me. I have had OVERWHELMING debilitating stress and anxiety from work lately. It's so weird because I know it's illogical and that avoiding stressors, procrastinating, and even caring about most of this stuff makes no sense. But I just keep having this like... chemical reaction to thinking about these not super terrible things.
My brain is like “AHHH IM GONNA DIE” My decision is like “I Will not Move now” and this basically Builds up stress. Solution, Sprint until Exhaustion, agree with the Stress system, these Stressful things (albeit not dangerous) are Frightening. So GO!!!! Right before I Ran I thought “SOMETHING IS ATTACKING ME” and Then there I went. Extremely Helpful to validate the exercise. Loved this Video
In my experience, running helps me because of this. It's really hard, but because the body is tired and working in maintaining the pace, breathing, motion, etc., you pretty much can't think about anything else while going at it. Then there is this "runner high" after you're done, your mind is clear and none of the anxieties bother you for 30 minutes to a couple of hours (at least in my experience it was like that) Thanks for the reminder Dr. K. Haven't run in a couple of years and I'm getting overwhelmed easily lately.
I’m happy to say I discovered this tactic while in my sophomore year of college. It takes no time at all and my heads so clear afterwards. Love one handed pushups for this
I don't exercise and have some stressful things I need to deal with. As expected, I engage in avoidance behaviours: I've been gaming in small bursts a lot more but not getting much satisfaction from it and still feel wound tight. I'll try a short burst of intense exercise tomorrow morning (not now, it's hot and humid, ew) and report back what I notice. Edit: I tried it and didn't quite get the result I expected, but I did get something. Firstly, it takes a while to get some benefit out of it, a few minutes when I initially expected it to be a matter of seconds. Once I had caught my breath and the muscles had somewhat recovered, I felt better. This was closer to getting out of the shower or being pumped up after some energetic music. I didn't notice a drop in my stress level, the things I had been putting off weren't magically easy, but the temptation of youtube/gaming was lessened. Dr. K. mentioned how technology can dampen your emotions in other videos, this felt like the opposite effect, like kickstarting yourself. Of course that's a sample size of one, but for 20-30 seconds of blasting out pushups, it was definitely worth it.
Omg, omg, omg! I accidentally did this the last time I was entering a frenzied panick mode and I had no idea why this made such a big difference from previous times entering that state of mind. I love that Dr K is empowering us to understand ourselves and work on ourselves with the right tools. Much love Dr K! ❤
This plus the stuff he talked about on passive emotional processing from manual goalless activity would just probably be really useful to almost anyone.
When I did powerlifting, intense days were the best even though I wasn't much stressed by a highly stressful life. I don't tend to feel much but exercise releases something in there.
I went outside and got on my exercise bike, max difficulty and peddled as hard as I could for 1 min 40 seconds while listening to 30 seconds to mars i'll attack. Visualized the part of my mind that was stressing over work to be running away while I choose to run forward and attack the fear head on with everything I had. 10 mins later im inside, recovered and feel more relaxed than I have all day. Ready to shower and engage the work. Dr K is amazing Im convinced more than ever that our emotions and passive thoughts are a function of systems, not to be indulged or taken too seriously
This is insane. It explains why today I was so happy to do things. Yesterday I was windsurfind for the first time and it was VERY hard. And today I was as happy as they come. Also it explains my adrenaline addiction, so... yeah. Thank you! I'll do sprints every workday from now on
Thank you so much for breaking this down scientifically. Part of my struggle for mental/physical health is that I can't do "pointless" tasks. If I understand how and why something is important, it's so much easier to engage in healthy behaviors!
Woah i didnt know this was an actual tactic, i just really liked to jog while imagining circling around huge monsters because my huge love for mhw. But on a side note, working out to absolute exhaustion as a stress solver has led to quite a lot of joint and general health problems, but since im doing this since I was ten i guess you just need keep it in check
That thumbnail is so relatable. I used to have crippling anxiety I needed to take meda for. After the meta were working super well I was still anxious but I was not anxious I was dying but I was anxious about feeling anxious again. Like I was scared the feeling would come back but by being afraid of it I was still partially living it. Kind of an anxiety ptsd. Glad that started to dissappear with time.
In the long term, you can also prevent stress by reframing your perception of the 'chronic stressors' that are normalized in society today. For instance, all of these stressors involve your perception of time. It's that you perceive that you don't have enough time or may not have enough time to 'find a job', 'find a SO', 'meet a deadline', or whatever else. Ofc your time is limited but does it need to be perceived as a liability? If you perceived yourself as always having more time than you need, then there would be no reason to stress out about any of these things because you always have more than enough time to deal with them. Then you are relaxed and as a result, more productive and because you're more productive you end up getting more done in less time and end up having time to spare. So instead of time being a liability, it's an asset. That said, you have a habit / muscle memory of perceiving these things as stressors, so retraining yourself / body to have a different response takes time and practice. So, sprint and then maybe see how you can reframe your problem so that eventually you don't have to sprint every time you have a problem like it.
Stress is a defense mechanism against predators and it's inappropiatly activated in today's society by non-life or death situations. Completing tasks don't shut off the stress system. The technique dr k proposes here is running like your life depends on it, which can relax you and release more endorphins than just jogging, because that's more like what your stress system prepares you for.
Well, in some sense, around like 3 or more corners it might seem like a life and death situation. A decision or actions seems as if it will dictate future outcomes and thus how well equipped you are going to be in the face of death. Previously, there was just one corner: The tiger. I think the amount of corners increased in recent times, making the threat also less tangible. It is easy to elevate that threat to something it is not. I actually think the increased amount of corners is actually a good thing as each corner reduces the actual amount of threat invovled. At each corner there are options and opportunities, even if you take the wrong corner at times.
This works very well for me. I have been stressing about college and needing to complete tasks to the point that I avoid going near my computer. I tried VR boxing and I was so tired after a couple rounds that the stress melted. It made the stress associated with doing tasks on my computer go away. Thank you so much!
Dr. K, this makes a lot of sense 😭 I don't sprint, but in this past year I also do a vigorous exercise for my mental health (not "mental strength" or something like that), what I did is I do a High Intensity Training Protocol (popularized by Mike Mentzer) which is doing a Resistance Training with mindset of: doing it with most quality as possible, till failure. This is EASIER than sprinting, because sprint is using many muscles at once, also the explosiveness is using tendon strength more, which maybe dangerous for an obese. In this case, HIT can be done in only an isolated muscle, also doing it slowly, which is really safe for people who obese 😮. The main idea for how to do it is: - Pick a movement (isolated like bicep curl, or compound like pushup / knee pushup / wall pushup) that is stable and not too heavy for you (to know this, you have to do your first set, and if the repetition range is about 15-20, this is good). Safe, Stable, and "heavy enough" (15-20 for the rep range) - Do that movement with this protocol: slow positive movement, hold on contraction, and slow negative movement. for example, when we are doing pushup, the "push" is positive, the hold on below is static, the letting down is negative. do them slowly means : 3-5 seconds. The main thing is we want to CONTROL the movement. - Focus, till failure! Don't give up too quickly, this only takes 1-3 minutes, but it really intense and we gain so much endorphins and relaxation afterwards. People underestimate themselves when they think they are closer to failure, but in many times they actually have 3-4 reps in the tank till failure. The key is Focus, on your breath. Don't think anything else, there is only us and the movement at the moment. Feel the muscle, is it really failure because of the muscle is fatigue, or is it because of stress of our nervous system? If we really feel that, and focusing on our breath, we will be stronger till the real failure. Feel your muscle, focus on your breath. The cool thing is if the weight is optimal for you (15-20 rep range), with HIT Protocol you would only do 8-10 reps (because of the slow and controlled movement, no momentum) I did this in this 1 and a half year, now I love working out and always excited for my training session. I did this 2-3 times a week, don't have to do it everyday (because bro it's really fatigue the day after training) Even my main motivation is not bodybuilding, but there is so much results in my body for doing this for a year and a half. Really really good alternative for sprinting: you can isolate the muscle, safer because no explosive, also it's building muscle (which is really good for metabolism and health at general) ❤🎉
This may explain why, after a stressful event that I fail to physically expel, I shake like a tiny chihuahua. Dr. Peter Levine's book, "Waking the tiger", goes into depth about this somatic experiencing therapy, originally proposed by Dr. Feldenkrais. Thank you Dr. K for bringing this information to more people!
🍉✨️ Personal summary: ✨️🍉 Whenever you're feeling stressed, engage in high intensity workouts (e.g dancing) for a short period of time until you're physically out of breath and your heart is beating very quickly. Then, you should be able to engage with the thing that's stressing you out. 💛✨️
Part of the problem with me is a lot of things I stress over have no solutions or are more worries of the future, so don't know much to do but avoidance if there is no action that can be taken. And I have a lot of them building up in my head and bringing me way down.
@@StarPlatinum3000 thanks. some things got better for a while, but I am really down now. For one thing I got cataract surgery in 1 eye and now realize due to a vision problem I was born with now I can't read close up (even with reading glasses for some fonts) and really all I can do is go ahead and do the other eye later today anyway... So I have to figure out workarounds to read things now, which is upsetting. :(
@@dunktheball Damn. That sucks! I know of some smartphone apps that zoom into physical text, and a lot of new development in ergonomic magnification for computer and tablet screens that have improved readability for farsighted people in the last decade. But at the end of the day, there's a lot more progress to be made. Hope things end up being better, and that you can create a new, better normal in your life.
@@StarPlatinum3000 thank you! yeah I know about some of those and also on my phone I increased size of the text for text messaging and I also have a magnifying glass if nothing else works. I have always been legally blind, but I could read things by getting literally 2-3 inches from them. Now that won't work once I get the other eye done. I try to be positive and figure I will find ways to do everything, but it's just tough because I am so used to the other way of reading! But yeah those apps, the magnifying glass, and hopefully reading glasses will stop giving me headaches and then I should be ok. I hope you are doing well yourself. I've just gad 2 tough years with one thing after another!
holy shit this makes so much sense now. i was dealing with a pretty intense cluster headache from overwelming stress - like could barely function without pain. But something inside me just told me "go outside and run as you can" and i could feel the pain peeling away as i did it. after that day i started walking outside rhe neighborhood more and randomly sprinting as fast as i could. my mental health really did get better during that time, so good to know i was on the right path
I m wound up often and did a lot about the loud noises that bother me, but there r some I cant do anything about. So I m stressed when I hear them and when I dont I m stressfully anticipating them. Did about 30 secs on the exercise bike and am winding down now. It has definitely changed the way I feel and think for now. I ll try this again tomorrow! Mental and physical bodies r connected and influencing one another and this release technique also prooves this is so in my experience. Hope it gives the much deserved release we all need and want! :)
One time when something traumatic happened in school in fifth grade and all the students were texting emotionaly my biology teacher sent us all to run as fast as we could two rounds round the building. Later she explained the stress system and the importance of decreasing your cortisol levels. It had such an inspiring impact on all of us, I still use this method.
I have suffered with anxiety and recurring depression my whole life, and I was losing hope after anti-depressant meds would never work for me (was on zoloft and prozac for a while, took something called hydroxyzine for panic attacks). After I weened off those, my therapist said to try consistent exercise before thinking of meds again, and boy running and lifting fixed pretty much 100% of the problem. I think I just needed to run out all the stale energy. I haven't considered meds because my life has just been so much better. Meds help those who need them, and all my life I knew I didn't really need them, I just needed to run to clear my head. Exercise makes me less afraid of everything that makes me stressed in my life, I feel more capable. To me, you are a body with a brain first, so listen to your body and your brain will do better! Also, thank you Dr. K for the wisdom :)
I was stressing the fuck out about 1/2 an hour ago because I had to get started on work, but the adrenaline and fight-or-flight mode I was in was keeping me from being able to focus on anything but the most basic things. This kept me from getting started on work, causing me to get even more stressed, and my body felt like it was going insane. I just went out and ran in the middle of the night until I couldn't run anymore. I feel a lot better now, and my body no longer feels like it's going to explode. I am mentally still stressed, but I can actually get started with work without going into the same stress loop (at least for now). Thanks Dr. K for giving me a solution that worked *right now*, apart from all the other long-term fixes for procrastination and anxiety management that weren't stopping me from digging myself deeper right in this moment.
I had a traumatic brain injury accident in 2018 and my neuro-doctor told me to NOT SKIP A DAY of Physical therapy exercises at home. NEVER Ive always wondered why. I got the answer in this video 5 yrs later. And oh another tidbit everything seems to be easier if Im doing hevy cognitive tasks like reading a book that has hifalutin words. Plus if I dont read books or solve a crossword puzzle then after exercising I just relearn how to play cannon in d major on my piano. As advised by my neurodoctor. Thank you for answering so many of my Whys Doctor 🥰🙋🏻♀
Swimming pool sprints - I used to have amazing life and 0 stres 4 years ago, I couldn’t recall how it was done. After watching this episode I now know! Thanks a lot ❤
Wow! The way you explained this was somehow different than any of the pervious times someone has tried helping me understand the connection between stress and exercise. Something about how you explained the why made a lot of sense! The hormones being released when under mental stress are the same as physical stress only there are ingredients missing to fulfill this process in the body and produce a clearing of the cortisol. This makes sense, and I shall hopefully be able to fulfill an exercise routine or self-care routine when overwhelmed by or getting overwhelmed by mental stressors. Thank you as always, Dr. K!
I’ve been running three times a week for 8 weeks now and I never would have thought how much it’s improved my anxiety. I run - I feel better. Not always great but definitely better.
In a general sense there is nothing wrong with the world creating stress, that's normal. (Yes, I am aware there are things that are wrong in the world, much like the examples given that cause it, but that doesn't mean it's wrong that the world is full of stressors.) However, the modern world has developed at an unprecedented rate, leaving the human beings at a disadvantage in this area. Why? Because our physiological and psychological responses to the challenges presented today are not equipped for that. When a person feels something is wrong and wishes it would be better, I have noticed, and suspect, it is an avoidant tactic to replace personal responsibility for resolving the issue and is the brain protecting itself and the "world view" it holds. It wants to be right. In my own experience I've found that the best way to deal with that is by asking "what do I wish was better?" followed by "how can I do something about that?" and finally "what can I do right now?", which usually leads me to an answer. Not only has that given me reason to be a better person overall because I force myself to assess things I don't like about me when responding to things, but it also makes me reassess where and how I had developed a specific sentiment. None of it's easy, and the stress is constant, but I don't feel anywhere near as bad about it as I used to, so I suppose that's progress.
Not necessarily, society, technology and the stresses they come with have evolved so quickly that our bodies haven’t been able to adapt. Physically, the systems in our bodies are meant to deal with predators in the wild. Our bodies treat treat those emails like they’re a tiger. We’re all learning how to adapt together, and evolutionarily speaking it would take millions of years for our stress responses to change (and they might not because fight or fight still keeps us alive). So for now we kinda just have to learn to work with what we have. It doesn’t mean that the problems we have are too big or something’s wrong, we just have an older set of tools that still work, just not as efficiently.
I wouldn't really call this a drastic measure- out of all complicated science and medication this one seemingly rudimentary technique/ body mechanism might be very simple yet extremely powerful
I'll tell you what I mean. The root cause of why we cannot have the great social, financial, tech, lifestyle improvements that come with tech and productivity advancements, that benefits most people, is because we are slaves to the central bankers and elite. That's why so many are stressed, and for good reason. It is what it is, and let's not pretend the problem is solved by psychology hacks. Remember that only the truth will set you free. Let's actually form communities and action groups and influence the things to come.
Stress isn't a threat itself. The problem is people aren't guided how to respond, so they avoid the trigger or fight the symptoms. It creates cycle of anxiety bc you became afraid of the fear. The solution is to fully accept the uncomfortable sensations till your nervous system learns there's no threat and gets desensitized (It takes months for most people) Dr. Claire Weeks described step by step how to heal anxiety in the book "hope and heal for your nerves". Most people avoid the trigger so the nervous system learns the threat is real and overreacts next time. That's how anxiety/any phobia develops.
I understand now why, in my most stressful times, I dance so much. Never realized that it calms me down - I thought it was the daydreaming aspect of thinking Im on a big stage that temporarily disables the stress
Hey Dr. K, I took this advice and it worked wonders for my stress. I do feel the need to remind people that if you’re going to do a deadass sprint, especially if you’re like over 25, stretch first. I made the very foolish mistake of showing up at the park and just going ham at it. Hardest sprint I could possibly muster. At about the 10 second mark, my hamstring kind of popped, it felt like a row of snap buttons getting undone. Shortly after, I got light headed, nauseous and my head went cold. My friend who is a nurse told me afterwards that I’d gone into shock. This is an incredibly embarrassing story, but I feel the need to share it as a reminder to folks to prepare their body appropriately for any exercise they’re about to do.
Oh and the pain… it hurts A LOT. Fortunately I have about $350 worth of physio therapy on my health insurance extras, so I’m getting it looked at, which is a plus. But yeah. Guys. Stretch before you sprint. Stretch. And warm up.
Hi Dr. K, at this point i really have to write a comment to simply thank you! I am currently suffering from stress caused by work and life management etc. You help me out mentally a lot
That explains why so many people find the gym to be therapeutic, myself included. If you push yourself until you cant push anymore, it shuts off the stress system.
I love this! So sprinting along with quiet time to think, including tech fasting and journaling about traumatic/emotional events. Those others are from other Dr. K vids and I think they're all great for helping with stress.
Learning about stress psychophysiology at my university gave me the same idea, but once I tried this technique, I faced the other issue: sure, it works, stress goes away, but you become so exhausted afterwards, that you still inclined to avoid your "scary" task. After removing stress with exercises, my back hurts, my legs are even more numb and I become even more unmotivated. Anyway, I tried this only once, maybe it can not be always like that.
I have to personal thoughts on your msg. First, you may want to no exert 90-100% capacity if you do not exercise normal. Reason being the ones that you stated. Secondly, some form of constancy (e.i 1 or 2 days per week). Will reduce the overall fatigue. Thus, leaving some energy for work. Hope this semi-obvious observation help :)
I would say there's an adaptation period. You start and feel bad because it's taxing. But later your body grows into a healthier machine, and you maintain it instead if growing it. At first it doesn't work perfectly because your recovery period is huge
It seems to me that you may have done too much exercise. Doing burpees until exhaustion doesn't last more that 90-120s and won't leave you with a back ache.
You don't want to do it for a long time, of course that will be hard without training and hurt you... i think the point is just to do high intensity (for your own standards; if you're out shape like i am this is nowhere close to "average" high intensity) for like 1~2 minutes to get your heartrate up and then you can stop. You don't have to keep going at it for very long at all, or you'll just hurt yourself.
ok, this is great. so, I used to whip out as many push ups as I could before talking to girls because I'd noticed that I usually felt relaxed after workouts. applying the concept to stress, in general, never occurred to me... Thanks!
i often tend to do short but rapid excersize thorughout the week, not too often but on a regular basis. This has helped dramatically improve my mood, and also help keep my body trim with how often we tend to sit on our ass in today's age. Don't need to go to the gym or use heavy weights. just use your body as the weight and you'll get stronger to compensate, build more muscle, get heavier, and then get stronger to compensate, etc...
After watching this, I had to try it for myself. I asked my kids to scream in my ears and pretend to be fighting to get myself good and stressed (remarkably effective!) then walked outside and did a dead ass sprint once around the block. Dr. K, you are a genius. tl;dr This shit really works!
This is an interesting way to cope the stress nowadays, I'm dealing with all that shit because of the school. I'll give this a try and see if it works for me, thanks, love u Dr. K 💚💚
i started walking for 4+ miles recently due to having someone very close to me become avoidant constantly now, and my overall wellbeing has been great, like its not even like a chore for me to go out, despite me being physically inactive before :-)
so thats why as an anxious person i love running so much ! I found wether i have my morning run or not can literally make or break my day. Also explains why i felt a need to do HIIT workout before school to feel like i can manage that stressfull place. It all makes sense, im kind of like a deer
Physical exercise has always been the best natural stress reducer for me. If doesn’t matter about current fitness level as Dr.K said, just get out and do something strenuous.
So if I have social anxiety, the next time I'm in a social setting I'll be like "wait a minute", go for a sprint, come back sweating and I'll be fine. Got it, thanks doc!
bro i did this today!! before watching this vid. shit is so real, been having stressful bad days leading up to the exercise and it was like so euphoric to truly relax
Explains why I feel SO much better when I'm not injured and I can sprint vs when I'm injured and can still do cardio but just not vigerously.. Wish I wasn't so injury prone.. That's something to note - if you're going to try this : WARM UP beforehand 😅
Okay, that's just awesome. Though, a little stretch beforehand might be desirable. Picturing seeing lots of people sprinting in the upcoming weeks gets me a little giddy too.
So basically, sprint away from your problems, walk back to them and they will be more manageable.
Rincewind would like this
If you get stressed talking to girls, I recommend this method at that moment. Trust me, I heard it from a doctor 👍
Literally my approach as a non gamer to dealing with monsters in games
literally
I ran away, but I'm unlucky enough to have stamina.
Once I had a very difficult operation at the dentist. The night before, I did not sleep because of anxiety, and that says it all. The next day I went to the clinic by public transport and got lost along the way. Guided by the map of the area, I still got to the place, but in order not to be late, I had to run like never before. When I entered the waiting room, my face was red, but inside I no longer felt a shred of fear.
Great story, nothing quite as stressful as running late to an appointment in my opinion. Do you often run late? perhaps you suffer from adhd as do I. worth investigating there are a few giveaways but everyone’s issues present differently. as having adhd arriving to consultations and appointments on time can be the most stressful thing of all time
@@whoisjohnwick Undoubtedly, being late is a stressful situation. But I was saved by the fact that I still arrived on time. I am rarely late because I usually start preparing a day or a week in advance, depending on the event. While other people spend an hour on preparations, lol. I don't have an adhd, but I understand that you face challenges that I can't even imagine.
Great story :>
A tip, whenever you react for a stressful situation/trigger with "this is scary, I have to avoid it at ALL cost", your nervous system remembers it as a threat, gets sensitized and overreacts next time. This is how anxiety/phobias/traumas develop. Allow yourself feel all the sensations and do whatever you have to do. Don't stay in comfort zone. Anxiety will pass itself.
Avoidance creates spiral of anxiety.
I used to be the person to avoid checking e-mails, talking to people (especially if I was attracted to them, and so on).
Facing fears is scary but that's the only way to freedom.
Start from facing smaller fears and go to the next ones. Works with trauma the same.
Procrastination, waiting for "better day" to do difficult things is avoidance too, and it keeps the anxiety alive.
The book "hope and help for your nerves" by Claire Weekes is priceless help 👍
This is exactly what my therapist told me 💯
@@MrDominatord7 your therapist is good. It took me years to figure it out with the help of books and resources.
I never thought about this, and it might explain why I feel like my anxiety is getting worse over the years. I just tend to avoid and bail out of the situations that I fear. I work a lot from home and sometimes when I haven’t been to the office in a while it gets real hard to go and I can even in some cases start feel physically sick about having to go so I avoid it and it just gets harder and harder to go. But once I eventually manage to go it’s not a big deal and I have no problem going again the next day. Thanks for this insight
@@dumbodum I understand completely, I always wondered why I have anxiety even though I don't do much, so to speak. Finally the enlightment came, after studying books and conversations with other anxiety-suffers.
The avoidance prelongates the nightmare.
Nervous system is very plastic.
Example: some drivers don't drive for few weeks or months and develop driving anxiety, even though nothing bad happened.
It works the same with social situations and so on.
Avoidance keeps us stuck.
I've studied self development, mindset books, but eventually I always got stuck bc of avoidance tendencies.
I am glad it resonates with you 😊
@@TejubescDM I used to push me to do most things, even though I felt anxious and overwhelmed all the time. After doing this kind of thing for months and years, now I feel totally burnt out, cannot even get the motivation to get up or eat regularly. I switched over to avoiding nearly all things that overwhelm me now for at least two months, since I have anxiety how nothing I did before was ever enough to actually solve tasks or problems. We all know life keeps piling up stuff, as soon as you solve some thing 5 new things emerge. Now I can't work, can't exercise like I used to. That "feeling the fear and do it anyway" did not work out for me and feel like it made my life way worse in the long run
This man is a genius. Let's give him a nobel price for explaining science properly and giving us tools to live a better life.
Here here!
Him and Dr. Andrew Huberman! (Huberman's clips, that is.... I haven't yet been able to make it all the way through a full podcast of his yet. Just but by bit, piece by piece 😂😂)
"Deadass"
~ Socrates
Honest
@@D_Jilla Isnt it hear hear?
Bottom line: exercise vigorously when you are stressed (e.g. sprinting)
That's real interesting cause I've always noticed that when I exercise after experiencing social anxiety, I feel a lot less anxious and stressed.
Regular exercise is also a great preventative measure against stress and anxiety. Back when I was a frequent runner and would hit the gym every other day, things rarely bothered me and I always felt like I had a solid foundation to tackle problems that were coming way even when I was on edge or on the verge of having a breakdown due to trauma.
Fast forward to much later in life where things have kinda gone into disarray for me with little to no exercise and now I am very susceptible to stress and anxiety, and my trauma triggers are at their worst with anxiety episodes lasting days.
Slowly trying to unravel and work my way back to that greater sense of stability in life.
I've been dealing with feeling overwhelming stress recently. As a therapist I feel a bit like a hypocrite and a fraud when I'm struggling so much. This video couldn't have come at a better time!
Everyone struggles sometimes no matter your job. You're not a fraud for being human.
the level of self-awareness you have is encouraging, just don't let it paralyze you 👍
Therapists are humans too :) you are already doing a wonderful job in looking up healthy ways to cope with your stress. You are not a hypocryt, you are a responsible human which makes you an even better guidance for others
Thank you for what you do! :)
That last little point about not feeling de-stressed after completing the task and giving into your cravings is so accurate. I just completed a stressful task today and immediately got fast food after. Barely felt better after finishing it.
He is so correct about not feeling satisfied even if one completes their task. I always feel like I am finishing my work just for the sake of it and never feel truly happy. I also procastinate a lot.
Imma try this because I feel stressed out all the time over little of things like doing my studies or chatting to my friends or going out (already developed anxiety for sometime now)
Did it work? Have you tried taking a sprint when feeling stressed?
@@pimdeboerr I did try. I got tired, my brain emptied out and I slept peacefully lol. But I am yet to master how to utilize this technique efficiently since I still tried to avoid my work (preparing for presentation) even after sprinting and relaxing.
Maybe it has to do with how badly I hate to make human interaction due to social anxiety but still had to do presentation if I want to score in my final exams.
I've been going to the gym pretty regularly since I was 20, and now I'm 28. I've been inadvertently doing this over the last few years. Once I got stronger I found that my workouts weren't as taxing and because of that I wasn't getting the same benefits. I was losing interest in going to the gym and it was not good. So I changed up my plan and every time I go to the gym it's a fight for my life and I wouldn't have it any other way!
That’s awesome man, i’m 20 now and studying personal training because of just how transformative the gym has been for my mental. I have been going just under 2 years, awesome to hear you’ve maintained yourself to go all these years I hope you never give up bro as it’s truly our medicine. What I found is it is easy to half ass your weights routine in a way by taking forever to do it. so what i’ve started doing the last 8 months or so is boxing, i get way better benefit if i do it at the start of my gym session, but then i’m fatigued for the weights, so depends on my goal at that time whether mental boost or strength/hyper trophy. but i can do it at the end i’m just more clumsy and slower and it doesn’t liberate my brain with oxygen quite so much. but the beautiful thing about boxing is, and i just mean bag training by the way. is how it activates that sort of fight or flight response because it induces a sense of psychological fight, and you can manifest this further with your imagination. But generally for me i do similar intervals to the sport, 3 minute round, 1 minute passive rest. It’s been insanely liberating for aggression, frustration, misery, loneliness, anxiety and stress + confidence in self defence. You can learn alot from just a few pointers, i like to do kicking as well, make sure u get set up with proper technique though for both boxing and kicking, at least once, perhaps online if you struggle to step out of comfort zone and talk to people. But generally i do 4 rounds everyday and that’s more invigorating than any weights session. It also makes the gym way less intimidating if i hit the bag first thing. the fact you’re in that fight mode you generally will amaze yourself with how much you can exert yourself because you forget about your breathlessness and high temperature because you’re totally fixated on accuracy and technique. You forget about your tired legs, worry about that and you’ll be dead in a fight scenario. Trick yourself into a fight for your life; it can be really powerful especially if you focus on technique and accuracy and forget about all else. All out 3 minutes! time urself. Only thing that’s unfortunate is as it’s so intense on the traps muscles and the mobility of the hips is necessary hence flexibility training to do high kicks, also very hard on the lateral sides of the lower back when doing high kicks and side kicks. i really recommend both warmup and cool-down with stretch routine in cool-down. make warmup relevant to the sport so i like to warm up my back on a ski machine, or rower. and then legs(hips)/full body either skipping or elliptical runner as that gets a great range of motion in the hip if you keep your feet flat. seeing as you’re experienced you probably know the importance of warmup and cool-down but it can save you from a lot of pain!!! and soreness same goes with stretching, if you didn’t know. and that means that your next training session can remain very intense
I know what you mean, but if I train this way then I have no energy left for anything else... In general working out has kind of became my excuse from actually making real progress in my life. I mean physical activity is better than not doing anything, but it just feels a bit like I'm playing myself...
@@misanthrophex You have gifts man, they're probably right in front of you but you won't acknowledge them. There are things you're naturally good at, you might need to change your definition of good, you don't have to be the best. Social media makes us inadequate in almost every discipline. Forget about that, look at the people in your community, better yet look at your aptitude for improving at something.
Chances are what you're doing isn't fulfilling your soul at all, because its contrary to your real purpose, you god given gifts. That's where your purpose lies. Accepting their existence might mean facing some sort of horrendous fear, a fear of failure perhaps. Best believe failure is of key importance but a product that fails is not a failure, its an education and it can still provide something intrinsic to its intended purpose, if not 100% of it. Analyse what you're gifted at, dont have standards too high, don't be a perfectionist, don't be shy. Be honest with yourself, adjust for your biases. You can make it happen man, its self doubt.
Ah! So you’re the guy screaming on the leg press at my local gym. I always wondered what was going on with you but I’ve been too afraid to ask. Thanks for the insight 😂
My psychiatrist suggested heavy exercises and I can see the difference between the time when I used to do vigorous exercise vs when I stopped doing it because of conflicting schedules of my college. And yeah it works. Note: I was also on antidepressants
I always had the feeling that I physically want to start running when my stress gets triggered (which happens a lot). But I also always suppressed that feeling because it felt awkward/inappropriate. It might be a bit inconveniënt to start sprinting whenever I feel stressed but I'll give it a try for sure. I don't have anything to lose because living with a constant high amount of stress is not an option anymore either. It is taking a physical and mental toll on me. I hope I don't forget to report back on this post to let everyone know how it went in a month or so. Wish me luck!
Burpees work pretty well too, do them fast and jump high
how did it go?
how'd it go man
You can also do vigorous pushups
How’d it go??
How do these videos always release at the perfect time?! Love it
It feels like he's stalking me with the timing and relatability of the videos!
@David Camero way to twist something positive into something negative. Nice attitude.
@davidcamero2063 You don't have to be rude about it.
It is well structured and well though out advice, filled with relatable examples.
Also it does seem to be actually on point, as I am mainly stuggling with high stress at the moment.
As a university student that's currently under a lot of stress due to school and finances i truly appreciate the video
I've found that letting myself breath fast and kind of hyperventilate when I get stressed actually calms me faster and more consistently than deep breaths do
That's a great way to deal with it! He also teaches a meditation where you do just that by the name of Kapalbhati (breathe of fire). Not sure if I'm getting the name right
Yeah, helped me too. He teaches a technique like that like the other guy said.
@@TheOGRizzlyBear I got PTSD so I'd be screwed . I feel almost a constant stress and pressure in my head 😔
Needed this reminder, thanks. I used to do 20-50 star jumps when I realised I was getting too angsty to think straight while studying. It really helps. Nice if you can step outside too, for that fresh jungle air. I wouldn't go 100% tho, didn't seem necessary. getting the heart pumping and big wide movements, letting your limbs swing wide, seemed like the main goal for this.
I think a key part of this is people get more stressed when they don't allow physical responses, because it's 'not cool', or other social reasons. That's part of the problem. Healthy kids do it naturally and more resilient people don't care, and will probably 'get it'.
You can worry about looking like a dork, ...or be the sharpest mind in the room.
Anything that moves your limbs quickly will do! That's what your body wants you to do with Sympathetic activation. Fling your limbs around. Shadow box, bounce around, run up a flight of stairs etc. it's just what ever mimics fight or flight energy...
(getting out of freeze state is a bit different tho, if you're already totally overwhelmed try gentle movement)
This is so timely for me. I have had OVERWHELMING debilitating stress and anxiety from work lately. It's so weird because I know it's illogical and that avoiding stressors, procrastinating, and even caring about most of this stuff makes no sense. But I just keep having this like... chemical reaction to thinking about these not super terrible things.
My brain is like “AHHH IM GONNA DIE” My decision is like “I Will not Move now” and this basically Builds up stress. Solution, Sprint until Exhaustion, agree with the Stress system, these Stressful things (albeit not dangerous) are Frightening. So GO!!!!
Right before I Ran I thought “SOMETHING IS ATTACKING ME” and Then there I went. Extremely Helpful to validate the exercise. Loved this Video
In my experience, running helps me because of this. It's really hard, but because the body is tired and working in maintaining the pace, breathing, motion, etc., you pretty much can't think about anything else while going at it.
Then there is this "runner high" after you're done, your mind is clear and none of the anxieties bother you for 30 minutes to a couple of hours (at least in my experience it was like that)
Thanks for the reminder Dr. K. Haven't run in a couple of years and I'm getting overwhelmed easily lately.
I’m happy to say I discovered this tactic while in my sophomore year of college. It takes no time at all and my heads so clear afterwards. Love one handed pushups for this
I don't exercise and have some stressful things I need to deal with. As expected, I engage in avoidance behaviours: I've been gaming in small bursts a lot more but not getting much satisfaction from it and still feel wound tight. I'll try a short burst of intense exercise tomorrow morning (not now, it's hot and humid, ew) and report back what I notice.
Edit: I tried it and didn't quite get the result I expected, but I did get something. Firstly, it takes a while to get some benefit out of it, a few minutes when I initially expected it to be a matter of seconds. Once I had caught my breath and the muscles had somewhat recovered, I felt better. This was closer to getting out of the shower or being pumped up after some energetic music. I didn't notice a drop in my stress level, the things I had been putting off weren't magically easy, but the temptation of youtube/gaming was lessened. Dr. K. mentioned how technology can dampen your emotions in other videos, this felt like the opposite effect, like kickstarting yourself. Of course that's a sample size of one, but for 20-30 seconds of blasting out pushups, it was definitely worth it.
From Running away from the problems to running way for the problems.
Omg, omg, omg! I accidentally did this the last time I was entering a frenzied panick mode and I had no idea why this made such a big difference from previous times entering that state of mind. I love that Dr K is empowering us to understand ourselves and work on ourselves with the right tools.
Much love Dr K! ❤
This plus the stuff he talked about on passive emotional processing from manual goalless activity would just probably be really useful to almost anyone.
When I did powerlifting, intense days were the best even though I wasn't much stressed by a highly stressful life. I don't tend to feel much but exercise releases something in there.
I went outside and got on my exercise bike, max difficulty and peddled as hard as I could for 1 min 40 seconds while listening to 30 seconds to mars i'll attack. Visualized the part of my mind that was stressing over work to be running away while I choose to run forward and attack the fear head on with everything I had.
10 mins later im inside, recovered and feel more relaxed than I have all day. Ready to shower and engage the work. Dr K is amazing
Im convinced more than ever that our emotions and passive thoughts are a function of systems, not to be indulged or taken too seriously
I speak from experience, knowing that this works reasonably well.
This is insane. It explains why today I was so happy to do things. Yesterday I was windsurfind for the first time and it was VERY hard. And today I was as happy as they come. Also it explains my adrenaline addiction, so... yeah. Thank you! I'll do sprints every workday from now on
I love how practical this is
Thank you so much for breaking this down scientifically. Part of my struggle for mental/physical health is that I can't do "pointless" tasks. If I understand how and why something is important, it's so much easier to engage in healthy behaviors!
I knew not being in shape would come in handy someday.
I know, right
I feel like this might be one of the most importqnt things I have learned in my entire life, like for real. Thank you 😭
Woah i didnt know this was an actual tactic, i just really liked to jog while imagining circling around huge monsters because my huge love for mhw.
But on a side note, working out to absolute exhaustion as a stress solver has led to quite a lot of joint and general health problems, but since im doing this since I was ten i guess you just need keep it in check
That thumbnail is so relatable.
I used to have crippling anxiety I needed to take meda for. After the meta were working super well I was still anxious but I was not anxious I was dying but I was anxious about feeling anxious again. Like I was scared the feeling would come back but by being afraid of it I was still partially living it. Kind of an anxiety ptsd.
Glad that started to dissappear with time.
In the long term, you can also prevent stress by reframing your perception of the 'chronic stressors' that are normalized in society today. For instance, all of these stressors involve your perception of time. It's that you perceive that you don't have enough time or may not have enough time to 'find a job', 'find a SO', 'meet a deadline', or whatever else. Ofc your time is limited but does it need to be perceived as a liability? If you perceived yourself as always having more time than you need, then there would be no reason to stress out about any of these things because you always have more than enough time to deal with them. Then you are relaxed and as a result, more productive and because you're more productive you end up getting more done in less time and end up having time to spare. So instead of time being a liability, it's an asset.
That said, you have a habit / muscle memory of perceiving these things as stressors, so retraining yourself / body to have a different response takes time and practice. So, sprint and then maybe see how you can reframe your problem so that eventually you don't have to sprint every time you have a problem like it.
Omg thank you so much for the last 6 days I did not eat or sleep properly from how stressed I am. This is like a breath of fresh air ❤
Stress is a defense mechanism against predators and it's inappropiatly activated in today's society by non-life or death situations. Completing tasks don't shut off the stress system. The technique dr k proposes here is running like your life depends on it, which can relax you and release more endorphins than just jogging, because that's more like what your stress system prepares you for.
Good summary
Well, in some sense, around like 3 or more corners it might seem like a life and death situation. A decision or actions seems as if it will dictate future outcomes and thus how well equipped you are going to be in the face of death. Previously, there was just one corner: The tiger. I think the amount of corners increased in recent times, making the threat also less tangible. It is easy to elevate that threat to something it is not. I actually think the increased amount of corners is actually a good thing as each corner reduces the actual amount of threat invovled. At each corner there are options and opportunities, even if you take the wrong corner at times.
@@garagavia haha thanks! I didn't expect people to notice it, glad it was of help
This works very well for me. I have been stressing about college and needing to complete tasks to the point that I avoid going near my computer. I tried VR boxing and I was so tired after a couple rounds that the stress melted. It made the stress associated with doing tasks on my computer go away. Thank you so much!
Dr. K, this makes a lot of sense 😭 I don't sprint, but in this past year I also do a vigorous exercise for my mental health (not "mental strength" or something like that), what I did is I do a High Intensity Training Protocol (popularized by Mike Mentzer) which is doing a Resistance Training with mindset of: doing it with most quality as possible, till failure. This is EASIER than sprinting, because sprint is using many muscles at once, also the explosiveness is using tendon strength more, which maybe dangerous for an obese. In this case, HIT can be done in only an isolated muscle, also doing it slowly, which is really safe for people who obese 😮. The main idea for how to do it is:
- Pick a movement (isolated like bicep curl, or compound like pushup / knee pushup / wall pushup) that is stable and not too heavy for you (to know this, you have to do your first set, and if the repetition range is about 15-20, this is good). Safe, Stable, and "heavy enough" (15-20 for the rep range)
- Do that movement with this protocol: slow positive movement, hold on contraction, and slow negative movement. for example, when we are doing pushup, the "push" is positive, the hold on below is static, the letting down is negative. do them slowly means : 3-5 seconds. The main thing is we want to CONTROL the movement.
- Focus, till failure! Don't give up too quickly, this only takes 1-3 minutes, but it really intense and we gain so much endorphins and relaxation afterwards. People underestimate themselves when they think they are closer to failure, but in many times they actually have 3-4 reps in the tank till failure. The key is Focus, on your breath. Don't think anything else, there is only us and the movement at the moment. Feel the muscle, is it really failure because of the muscle is fatigue, or is it because of stress of our nervous system? If we really feel that, and focusing on our breath, we will be stronger till the real failure. Feel your muscle, focus on your breath.
The cool thing is if the weight is optimal for you (15-20 rep range), with HIT Protocol you would only do 8-10 reps (because of the slow and controlled movement, no momentum)
I did this in this 1 and a half year, now I love working out and always excited for my training session. I did this 2-3 times a week, don't have to do it everyday (because bro it's really fatigue the day after training)
Even my main motivation is not bodybuilding, but there is so much results in my body for doing this for a year and a half. Really really good alternative for sprinting: you can isolate the muscle, safer because no explosive, also it's building muscle (which is really good for metabolism and health at general) ❤🎉
This may explain why, after a stressful event that I fail to physically expel, I shake like a tiny chihuahua.
Dr. Peter Levine's book, "Waking the tiger", goes into depth about this somatic experiencing therapy, originally proposed by Dr. Feldenkrais. Thank you Dr. K for bringing this information to more people!
Wikipedia says Tiger book is pseudoscience
🍉✨️ Personal summary: ✨️🍉
Whenever you're feeling stressed, engage in high intensity workouts (e.g dancing) for a short period of time until you're physically out of breath and your heart is beating very quickly. Then, you should be able to engage with the thing that's stressing you out. 💛✨️
Part of the problem with me is a lot of things I stress over have no solutions or are more worries of the future, so don't know much to do but avoidance if there is no action that can be taken. And I have a lot of them building up in my head and bringing me way down.
Hey man, hope things have improved since the time you commented this.
@@StarPlatinum3000 thanks. some things got better for a while, but I am really down now. For one thing I got cataract surgery in 1 eye and now realize due to a vision problem I was born with now I can't read close up (even with reading glasses for some fonts) and really all I can do is go ahead and do the other eye later today anyway... So I have to figure out workarounds to read things now, which is upsetting. :(
@@dunktheball Damn. That sucks! I know of some smartphone apps that zoom into physical text, and a lot of new development in ergonomic magnification for computer and tablet screens that have improved readability for farsighted people in the last decade. But at the end of the day, there's a lot more progress to be made.
Hope things end up being better, and that you can create a new, better normal in your life.
@@StarPlatinum3000 thank you! yeah I know about some of those and also on my phone I increased size of the text for text messaging and I also have a magnifying glass if nothing else works. I have always been legally blind, but I could read things by getting literally 2-3 inches from them. Now that won't work once I get the other eye done. I try to be positive and figure I will find ways to do everything, but it's just tough because I am so used to the other way of reading! But yeah those apps, the magnifying glass, and hopefully reading glasses will stop giving me headaches and then I should be ok. I hope you are doing well yourself. I've just gad 2 tough years with one thing after another!
holy shit this makes so much sense now.
i was dealing with a pretty intense cluster headache from overwelming stress - like could barely function without pain.
But something inside me just told me "go outside and run as you can" and i could feel the pain peeling away as i did it.
after that day i started walking outside rhe neighborhood more and randomly sprinting as fast as i could.
my mental health really did get better during that time, so good to know i was on the right path
I m wound up often and did a lot about the loud noises that bother me, but there r some I cant do anything about. So I m stressed when I hear them and when I dont I m stressfully anticipating them. Did about 30 secs on the exercise bike and am winding down now. It has definitely changed the way I feel and think for now. I ll try this again tomorrow! Mental and physical bodies r connected and influencing one another and this release technique also prooves this is so in my experience. Hope it gives the much deserved release we all need and want! :)
One time when something traumatic happened in school in fifth grade and all the students were texting emotionaly my biology teacher sent us all to run as fast as we could two rounds round the building. Later she explained the stress system and the importance of decreasing your cortisol levels. It had such an inspiring impact on all of us, I still use this method.
I have suffered with anxiety and recurring depression my whole life, and I was losing hope after anti-depressant meds would never work for me (was on zoloft and prozac for a while, took something called hydroxyzine for panic attacks). After I weened off those, my therapist said to try consistent exercise before thinking of meds again, and boy running and lifting fixed pretty much 100% of the problem. I think I just needed to run out all the stale energy. I haven't considered meds because my life has just been so much better. Meds help those who need them, and all my life I knew I didn't really need them, I just needed to run to clear my head. Exercise makes me less afraid of everything that makes me stressed in my life, I feel more capable.
To me, you are a body with a brain first, so listen to your body and your brain will do better!
Also, thank you Dr. K for the wisdom :)
This is amazing advice. I find that being stressed in general increases my intrusive thoughts and ruminations on bad memories.
My anxiety makes me stressed everyday, even in the workplace or in public.
I wish I knew this when I was still in school! Always wondered why even though my exam was over I still felt ready to sit another exam.
I was stressing the fuck out about 1/2 an hour ago because I had to get started on work, but the adrenaline and fight-or-flight mode I was in was keeping me from being able to focus on anything but the most basic things. This kept me from getting started on work, causing me to get even more stressed, and my body felt like it was going insane.
I just went out and ran in the middle of the night until I couldn't run anymore. I feel a lot better now, and my body no longer feels like it's going to explode. I am mentally still stressed, but I can actually get started with work without going into the same stress loop (at least for now).
Thanks Dr. K for giving me a solution that worked *right now*, apart from all the other long-term fixes for procrastination and anxiety management that weren't stopping me from digging myself deeper right in this moment.
IT WORKS I FEEL SO MUCH REFRESHED AND MOTIVATED TO DO MY TASKS IM CRYING TYSM
I had a traumatic brain injury accident in 2018 and my neuro-doctor told me to NOT SKIP A DAY of Physical therapy exercises at home. NEVER
Ive always wondered why. I got the answer in this video 5 yrs later.
And oh another tidbit everything seems to be easier if Im doing hevy cognitive tasks like reading a book that has hifalutin words.
Plus if I dont read books or solve a crossword puzzle then after exercising I just relearn how to play cannon in d major on my piano. As advised by my neurodoctor.
Thank you for answering so many of my Whys Doctor 🥰🙋🏻♀
Swimming pool sprints - I used to have amazing life and 0 stres 4 years ago, I couldn’t recall how it was done. After watching this episode I now know! Thanks a lot ❤
Wow! The way you explained this was somehow different than any of the pervious times someone has tried helping me understand the connection between stress and exercise. Something about how you explained the why made a lot of sense!
The hormones being released when under mental stress are the same as physical stress only there are ingredients missing to fulfill this process in the body and produce a clearing of the cortisol.
This makes sense, and I shall hopefully be able to fulfill an exercise routine or self-care routine when overwhelmed by or getting overwhelmed by mental stressors.
Thank you as always, Dr. K!
Interesting to see the mechanism/reasoning behind why a lot of people use exercise to destress
I’ve been running three times a week for 8 weeks now and I never would have thought how much it’s improved my anxiety. I run - I feel better. Not always great but definitely better.
I just feel somethings wrong in the world if we need drastic measures to solve the stresses caused by modern life
In a general sense there is nothing wrong with the world creating stress, that's normal. (Yes, I am aware there are things that are wrong in the world, much like the examples given that cause it, but that doesn't mean it's wrong that the world is full of stressors.)
However, the modern world has developed at an unprecedented rate, leaving the human beings at a disadvantage in this area. Why? Because our physiological and psychological responses to the challenges presented today are not equipped for that.
When a person feels something is wrong and wishes it would be better, I have noticed, and suspect, it is an avoidant tactic to replace personal responsibility for resolving the issue and is the brain protecting itself and the "world view" it holds. It wants to be right.
In my own experience I've found that the best way to deal with that is by asking "what do I wish was better?" followed by "how can I do something about that?" and finally "what can I do right now?", which usually leads me to an answer. Not only has that given me reason to be a better person overall because I force myself to assess things I don't like about me when responding to things, but it also makes me reassess where and how I had developed a specific sentiment.
None of it's easy, and the stress is constant, but I don't feel anywhere near as bad about it as I used to, so I suppose that's progress.
Not necessarily, society, technology and the stresses they come with have evolved so quickly that our bodies haven’t been able to adapt. Physically, the systems in our bodies are meant to deal with predators in the wild. Our bodies treat treat those emails like they’re a tiger. We’re all learning how to adapt together, and evolutionarily speaking it would take millions of years for our stress responses to change (and they might not because fight or fight still keeps us alive). So for now we kinda just have to learn to work with what we have. It doesn’t mean that the problems we have are too big or something’s wrong, we just have an older set of tools that still work, just not as efficiently.
I wouldn't really call this a drastic measure- out of all complicated science and medication this one seemingly rudimentary technique/ body mechanism might be very simple yet extremely powerful
I'll tell you what I mean.
The root cause of why we cannot have the great social, financial, tech, lifestyle improvements that come with tech and productivity advancements, that benefits most people, is because we are slaves to the central bankers and elite.
That's why so many are stressed, and for good reason.
It is what it is, and let's not pretend the problem is solved by psychology hacks.
Remember that only the truth will set you free.
Let's actually form communities and action groups and influence the things to come.
Stress isn't a threat itself. The problem is people aren't guided how to respond, so they avoid the trigger or fight the symptoms. It creates cycle of anxiety bc you became afraid of the fear.
The solution is to fully accept the uncomfortable sensations till your nervous system learns there's no threat and gets desensitized (It takes months for most people)
Dr. Claire Weeks described step by step how to heal anxiety in the book "hope and heal for your nerves". Most people avoid the trigger so the nervous system learns the threat is real and overreacts next time. That's how anxiety/any phobia develops.
I understand now why, in my most stressful times, I dance so much. Never realized that it calms me down - I thought it was the daydreaming aspect of thinking Im on a big stage that temporarily disables the stress
Hey Dr. K, I took this advice and it worked wonders for my stress. I do feel the need to remind people that if you’re going to do a deadass sprint, especially if you’re like over 25, stretch first. I made the very foolish mistake of showing up at the park and just going ham at it. Hardest sprint I could possibly muster. At about the 10 second mark, my hamstring kind of popped, it felt like a row of snap buttons getting undone. Shortly after, I got light headed, nauseous and my head went cold. My friend who is a nurse told me afterwards that I’d gone into shock. This is an incredibly embarrassing story, but I feel the need to share it as a reminder to folks to prepare their body appropriately for any exercise they’re about to do.
Oh and the pain… it hurts A LOT. Fortunately I have about $350 worth of physio therapy on my health insurance extras, so I’m getting it looked at, which is a plus. But yeah. Guys. Stretch before you sprint. Stretch. And warm up.
I'm definitely going to try this out. Been procrastinating for stress related reasons my whole life
I love this, thank you for these life changing tips
Also for those that don't really wanna go out to sprint, quick burpees are also a great solution for intensive short-term 'workout'
I've made pushups to the limit. It worked quite well, instantly after that I felt relieve in my stomach, thanks :)
That's why always feel better after great training. Once I forgot what I needed to do after the session as if I was in the different world.
Have a job interview coming up. Needed this. Thank you!
Thank you Dr. K, for making life manageable. Your work is truly inspiring!
Kinda ironic that running away from your problems literally works to make you stop running away from them figuratively.
Hi Dr. K,
at this point i really have to write a comment to simply thank you! I am currently suffering from stress caused by work and life management etc. You help me out mentally a lot
This is THE video for me! Thank you so much 🙏I wish you a wonderful day ❤
That explains why so many people find the gym to be therapeutic, myself included. If you push yourself until you cant push anymore, it shuts off the stress system.
I just did it Dr. K let’s hope I don’t die
I love this! So sprinting along with quiet time to think, including tech fasting and journaling about traumatic/emotional events. Those others are from other Dr. K vids and I think they're all great for helping with stress.
Thank you, doctor, I'll definitely try it, and I'll recommend it to my Mom. This idea really seems brilliant and makes perfect sense.
Stuff like this is seriously life-changing
This is gold Dr. K. I needed this a few hours ago, but I'm deffinitly aplying it from now on.
Learning about stress psychophysiology at my university gave me the same idea, but once I tried this technique, I faced the other issue: sure, it works, stress goes away, but you become so exhausted afterwards, that you still inclined to avoid your "scary" task. After removing stress with exercises, my back hurts, my legs are even more numb and I become even more unmotivated. Anyway, I tried this only once, maybe it can not be always like that.
I have to personal thoughts on your msg. First, you may want to no exert 90-100% capacity if you do not exercise normal. Reason being the ones that you stated. Secondly, some form of constancy (e.i 1 or 2 days per week). Will reduce the overall fatigue. Thus, leaving some energy for work. Hope this semi-obvious observation help :)
I would say there's an adaptation period. You start and feel bad because it's taxing. But later your body grows into a healthier machine, and you maintain it instead if growing it. At first it doesn't work perfectly because your recovery period is huge
It seems to me that you may have done too much exercise. Doing burpees until exhaustion doesn't last more that 90-120s and won't leave you with a back ache.
You don't want to do it for a long time, of course that will be hard without training and hurt you... i think the point is just to do high intensity (for your own standards; if you're out shape like i am this is nowhere close to "average" high intensity) for like 1~2 minutes to get your heartrate up and then you can stop. You don't have to keep going at it for very long at all, or you'll just hurt yourself.
This sounds like great advice. I can't wait to try it out the next time something stresses me out.
ok, this is great. so, I used to whip out as many push ups as I could before talking to girls because I'd noticed that I usually felt relaxed after workouts.
applying the concept to stress, in general, never occurred to me... Thanks!
i often tend to do short but rapid excersize thorughout the week, not too often but on a regular basis. This has helped dramatically improve my mood, and also help keep my body trim with how often we tend to sit on our ass in today's age. Don't need to go to the gym or use heavy weights. just use your body as the weight and you'll get stronger to compensate, build more muscle, get heavier, and then get stronger to compensate, etc...
After watching this, I had to try it for myself. I asked my kids to scream in my ears and pretend to be fighting to get myself good and stressed (remarkably effective!) then walked outside and did a dead ass sprint once around the block. Dr. K, you are a genius.
tl;dr This shit really works!
this explains why i feel more productive/less stressed during the times of my life where my fitness is on point
This is an interesting way to cope the stress nowadays, I'm dealing with all that shit because of the school. I'll give this a try and see if it works for me, thanks, love u Dr. K 💚💚
i started walking for 4+ miles recently due to having someone very close to me become avoidant constantly now, and my overall wellbeing has been great, like its not even like a chore for me to go out, despite me being physically inactive before :-)
This info made my life better,.Thank you doc.
Amazing tips! That's best POW I have ever heard in my life!
Exhausting yourself helps stop overthinking and allows you to process logically.
Real life body wizardry. This is so esoteric and specific… and I feel like most people wouldn’t give this a shot.
really needed this video, thanks doc
so thats why as an anxious person i love running so much ! I found wether i have my morning run or not can literally make or break my day. Also explains why i felt a need to do HIIT workout before school to feel like i can manage that stressfull place. It all makes sense, im kind of like a deer
This is awesome. Thank you.
Sprinting has to great for craving and addictions then! I know when I get cravings I get so stressed.
I needed to hear this. Thank you
Thank you sir.
Physical exercise has always been the best natural stress reducer for me. If doesn’t matter about current fitness level as Dr.K said, just get out and do something strenuous.
Dr K. Thank you. We love you.
That's pretty cool. Definitely going to try this!
So if I have social anxiety, the next time I'm in a social setting I'll be like "wait a minute", go for a sprint, come back sweating and I'll be fine. Got it, thanks doc!
thanks
Thanks again Dr K ❤
bro i did this today!! before watching this vid. shit is so real, been having stressful bad days leading up to the exercise and it was like so euphoric to truly relax
Explains why I feel SO much better when I'm not injured and I can sprint vs when I'm injured and can still do cardio but just not vigerously.. Wish I wasn't so injury prone.. That's something to note - if you're going to try this : WARM UP beforehand 😅
Okay, that's just awesome. Though, a little stretch beforehand might be desirable.
Picturing seeing lots of people sprinting in the upcoming weeks gets me a little giddy too.
Nice, overcoming isometrics really hit the spot.