Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Exercise

Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Stress

There’s a lot you can do yourself to improve the symptoms of GAD. Leaflets, books, DVDs and online resources on relaxation and combating stress are widely available. They teach simple deep breathing techniques and other methods to relieve stress, helping you to relax and ease the symptoms of anxiety.
Changing your lifestyle can also help to relieve the symptoms of GAD. Some simple things you can try include:

• Avoiding excessive caffeine and alcohol

• Developing a simple routine for winding down and getting ready for bed (sleep hygiene)

• Doing some mild to moderate aerobic exercise as frequently as possible. Exercise gives you a sense of well-being and helps to reduce feelings of anxiety.

Below, we’ll look at how you can get started with an exercise plan that fits in with your normal routine.

Getting Started

So how do you go about making physical activity part of your life? Start by gradually increasing the amount you do as part of your daily routine – for example, walking more, or putting more effort into household and garden chores. The aim is to build up to 30 minutes a day, five days a week. But don’t worry if you can’t achieve 30 minutes straight away – start with 10 minutes, twice a day and build it up when you feel ready. Click here to discover five easy ways to inject more activity into a typical day.

Even if you don’t feel like doing exercise, try to schedule it into your daily routine because you will feel a lot better for it, even if it’s just a brisk walk during your lunch hour. Rate how you think you’ll enjoy the exercise before you do it and then rate it again afterwards. You’ll probably find your expectations are exceeded.

If you like to have structure and routine in your life, you may prefer to allot specific times to exercise and do something more formal, such as a regular swim or walk, or a fitness class. Again, the aim is to include up to 30 minutes per day of aerobic activity, five days per week.

Here’s an idea of how many calories you burn doing some common activities...

1. A 14 stone man will burn 300 calories walking at a fairly leisurely 3 mph pace for 60 minutes


2. A 12.5 stone man will burn 530 calories swimming breaststroke for 40 minutes


3. A 10.5 stone woman will burn 400 calories cycling at 10-12 mph for 1 hour

Top tip: Every little helps!  Adding strength training and mobility work to your exercise programme will create a balanced regime and help reduce the risk of injury; however, increase what you do and how much you do gradually.

Five steps to a more active day

1. If your journey is under half a mile, leave the car at home, and walk


2. Never email a colleague in the same building. Go and talk to them!


3. Walk up and down the escalators instead of standing still, and choose the stairs instead of taking lifts


4. Hide the remote control and get up to change TV channels


5. Take on a household or garden chore that needs doing, such as cleaning windows or mowing the lawn.

Taking it further

If you already exercise regularly, see if you can fit in a little bit more, especially during the summer months when the days are long and you can get out and about more easily.

The body is very good at adapting to the physical demands you place upon it – and it’s only by moving the goalposts a little further away every now and again that you can make further fitness gains. Follow the FIT advice to help you progress:

F for frequency: you can exercise more often.

I for intensity: you can push yourself a little harder during exercise.

T for time: you can increase the duration of your activity.

You could always enter a non-competitive event where you’ll need to do a bit of extra training to allow you to reach your goal.

Six top tips to find the right venue or exercise teacher

• Watch an exercise class before making a decision about joining it, to see if it looks like something you’ll enjoy and be able to do.

• Visit a health club/gym you are considering joining for a tour of the facilities. Make sure there are lots of different options for activity available.

• Ask about a teacher or instructor’s qualifications and experience. Are they aligned to a governing body, such as the British Wheel of Yoga or Register of Exercise Professionals

• Consider getting some one-to-one sessions with a qualified personal trainer to get you off on the right foot. Check out the Register of Exercise Professionals or National Register of Personal Trainers

• Tell the instructor or trainer about any medical condition and ask how this might affect your ability to exercise and whether they are able to modify or adapt it for you.

• Use your intuition. If you don’t get on with someone, or don’t get a good feel about a place, look elsewhere.