How My Workout Saved My Monday

I have always been a believer that exercise makes you feel better. I know that I always feel more alert and happy after I finish a workout, especially a 5 am one. But I don’t think I had ever really experienced the immediate rush you get when your having a bad day and start moving.

In the past, I had tried to run out my anxiety. It worked...sometimes. Mostly it just made me a little more anxious and really tired. Running and I don’t get along.

Anyway, I decided yesterday that I was going to hit the gym after work instead of before. I was a little tired in the morning and also didn’t want to pry myself away from Nate snuggles.

For whatever reason, by the time I left work I felt like I was crawling out of my skin. I hadn’t had a bad day I was just out of it. Needless to say, I was anxious to get to the gym and try to work out whatever was stressing me out.

The commute to the gym was so needlessly stressful. People were doing dumb things on the highway and not paying attention. I was almost in two accidents because people merged without looking and then stopped randomly (ON THE HIGHWAY).

Sigh.

So. I was not in a great mood when I got to the gym. I was pretty pissed off and just wanted to start my lift and go home. Well...it was just not in the cards that it was going to be a good day at the gym. I couldn’t find a parking spot. Then when I got to the weight area, I discovered that all the equipment was taken.

There were no free deadlift pads, racks, or benches. I was honestly kind of livid. Also, I got to the gym at 4:30 and have never had this problem before when I worked out after work so I was even more annoyed.

I thought about and almost did go home. But I took a deep breath, put on some loud music, and tried to find a solution.

It was squat day and because there were no rack available, I was going to have to modify my routine. I decided to just do my glute bridges while I tried to workout a solution for how to do my squats.

I got three sets in and felt so much better. My mind felt crystal clear, I was no longer an angry ball of stress, and I felt like I could come up with a solution to the whole no rack thing.

Wouldn’t you know it, after I finished my fifth set and put away the bar and bumper plates, the girl on the rack behind me was finishing up and I was able to snag a rack.

I gleefully started and completed my squats finally getting back up to 130 x 5 for the first time in literally 6 months. I was then able to bang through the rest of my workout with no more machine issues and felt so much better.

So, the point I am trying to make here, exercise really is a mood booster. For me, weightlifting is the silver bullet that makes every stress melt away and make me feel back in control. It also made me make better decisions when I got home.

Instead of just spending the night on the couch snuggling with the cat and eating food that probably wasn’t the best for me, I instead cooked a healthy meal and cleaned out my closet and listed a ton of stuff on Poshmark. It was a very productive night that made me feel really fulfilled by the time my head hit the pillow.

Bottom line, exercise makes you feel better. It can change your outlook on the day and push you to make better choices. I encourage you to find the movement that makes you feel better. It might be running , yoga, kickboxing, cycling, or even lifting. Whatever it is, never doubt the impact of a good sweat session.