How To Work Out While Angry, Sad Or Frustrated Without Jeopardizing Health And Performance

By Elizabeth Carey for DyeStat

There’s nothing like a run to blow off some steam. Or is there?

If you've set off on a run feeling like the world is falling apart, facing grief or stress at home, or mourning the loss of the track season (plus normal socialization with friends), you're not alone — especially in the past few months.

Working out — and even competing — while feeling powerful emotions can make us feel better. Sometimes anger and other intense emotions may even help propel us to PRs. Generally, exercise relieves stress, boosts moods, and increases overall well-being. 

Sometimes, though, trying to exercise with strong feelings can make us feel worse. That’s because running, throwing, jumping, and lifting aren’t panaceas for whatever it is we're going through. Emotions, by the way, are signals our mind and body send us. They’re part of the human experience and athletes aren’t exempt from dealing with them. 

As Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS, co-founder of Opal Food and Body Widsom says, “Remember, emotions are important information about us and the world around us including our relational selves. Running will not resolve a relational conflict we are having…” 

No matter the source of your mood, “We still need to take the uncomfortable steps of addressing the sources of our emotions directly. Exercise does not ‘get rid’ of anger or sadness, it just helps us shift the emotional energies in our bodies and might get us to a place where we have more clarity on next steps (if any) of responding to the emotions,” Bazzi says. 

That’s one reason why it’s important to have emotional skills and coping mechanisms beyond sport. Let’s talk about what, exactly, to do as an athlete when you’re feeling, well, stuff. 

First, start paying attention to what’s going on in your mind and body. Easier said than done, I know. But work on developing your emotional intelligence and related skills. Can you recognize, understand, or learn what the heck you’re actually feeling? Practices like mindfulness and journaling can help you tap into and decipher the signals you’re getting. Can you try expressing, regulating, and channeling your emotions? 

Second, when emotions are heightened, give yourself grace. Especially right now, after months of a global pandemic when things are odd, anxiety is high, people are extra judgy, and adults are acting extra weird. Especially right now, as our nervous systems try to calibrate what, exactly, is going on. Especially right now, when track and field is a bust and fall sports are in question. 

Take it one step at a time. Don’t expect to nail your tempo or pressure yourself to score a new personal best in a workout or virtual competition. (But remain open to that possibility and let ‘er rip if you’re feeling up to it!) If you’re feeling overwhelmed or worse as your training session drags on, it’s OK to call it a day. Give yourself fuel, rest, and care — as you would encourage a teammate to. 

Expand your list of what the heck to do when you’re feeling angry, sad, frustrated, or something else.

“If running or movement becomes the only way of emotional expression or connection, this can become problematic because movement might not always be accessible to us,” says Bazzi. Movement, she says, is just one potential aspect of handling emotions. 

What other tools do you have? Do you express yourself out loud, to friends or parents or a coach? Can you talk to a teammate or a therapist? What other activities allow you to process what’s going on? For example, some athletes cope by journaling, doodling, breathing exercises, listening to music, and even napping. 

Finally, know that running is no substitute for therapy. Exercise is not a treatment for mental health issues. Seek professional help for depression, anxiety, and other conditions. Know you’re not alone.  

Mental Health Awareness Month 

https://www.mhanational.org/finding-help

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ 

1-800-273-8255

WRITING PROMPTS

1. What are you feeling these days?

2. Do you talk about your emotions? If so, to whom? If not, why?

3. What do you do when you’re feeling mad, sad, or frustrated?

4. When you exercise with strong emotions, what happens? 

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Elizabeth Carey (https://elizabethwcarey.com/) is a freelance writer and running coach based in Seattle, Washington. Sign up for updates on her first book, GIRLS RUNNING, co-authored with Melody Fairchild, forthcoming from VeloPress: https://elizabethwcarey.com/writer-editor/book/