Have you noticed this about exercise and emotion?

[Medusa locked]

I'm fascinated about the interaction between exercise and emotion. I don't know if anybody else has noticed this, but I experience a subtle variation of emotional states depending on what exercise I've done.

I get a sense of power and strength after my boxing session, I experience a more emphasised sense of joy after my Capoeira sessions and a sense of centeredness after my bagua(qigong) session.(that last one makes sense)

I know exercise has a positive effect on stress relief, anxiety, anti-depressant, etc. But has anyone else noticed or identified signature states associated to specific exercises or training sessions?

I'm also curious on the reverse, how does different moods affected how you workout?

[Asten]

Absolutely.

I notice a sense of focused empowerment when I do kung fu, connectedness and openness when I do yoga, and freedom when I run/jog.

On the negative end, sometimes I experience anxiety when I run/jog and frustration when I do the warm-up exercises for kung fu (push-ups, sit-ups, etc).

My mood or mindstate definitely impacts how I workout too. If I'm feeling really drained, I avoid the warm-up exercises, which make it worse. If I'm tired or stressed, I'll do yoga. If I feel an excess of energy, I'll run. Consequently, I go through phases of all these things depending on how I feel.

[Medusa locked]

Thanks for your input asten. Interesting.

It goes both ways. Exercise influences mood, mood influences exercise.

Sometimes, I get an intensity out of my bagua from frustration or irritation and today my Capoeira session was less explosive and dynamic than usual, I was in a state of concerned contemplation, insecure and feeling defensive about something on my mind at the time. Maybe this one ought to be chalked up as distracted.

I did have more energy while cycling before that with the same emotions.

[Medusa locked]

Another thing I'm curious about is if there are specific type of exercises for specific negative emotions.

Like;
What's most effective for aggression?
What's works best for depression?
What type of routine would work best for anxiety?
And so on...

I know that there are a lot of general all round benefits on emotional states with exercise, but I just wonder if there are ways to target specifics.

Has anyone had any experiences they'd like to share?

[lostinchaos]

[QUOTE=Medusa locked;1029321]Another thing I'm curious about is if there are specific type of exercises for specific negative emotions.

Like;
What's most effective for aggression?
What's works best for depression?
What type of routine would work best for anxiety?
And so on...
QUOTE]

I've definitely noticed a change in emotion and mood after exercising but thats something I've never really thought about.
I do know that when I'm angry a very long brisk walk seems to get it out of my system but also I have noticed that I cannot relax enough to do yoga or meditate if I'm angry.
When I'm in a great happy mood my workouts(gym) always seem better, I seem to be able to do more but I would be really interested to find out what form of exercise would be most effective for different emotions also. it's an interesting thought

[wanzulfikri]

It depends on the exercise and how well you do it.

When I play basketball, I'll really be happy if I play and win. For other form of exercise, it will bring you happiness if you really want to do it because of its pleasure.

[Medusa locked]

Over the past week I've been reflecting on this idea, and here is what I came up with. This is a newsletter I'm currently working on.

Exercise and emotion have such a profound
effect on one another. We know that
exercise can impact our mood, generally for
the better. On the flip side, our mood effects
our exercise practice. Not just our
motivation, but the level of intensity, the
power, our endurance and stamina and our
overall performance in that sport and
activity.
Out of my fascination of this topic, I
thought I would reflect on how exactly
exercise and emotion influence one another
and share these thoughts with you.
I'll begin with how exercise influences
emotion.
2 Major influences exercise has on our
emotions are as mood elevators and as
mood alleviator.
There are 4 types of emotions, 2 of them
are primarily elevated states and the other 2
are alleviated states.
Elevated states:
-Empowerment: That would be emotions
such as feeling strong, confident, proud,
independent, in control, determination, etc.
-Euphoric: That would be all the up and high
energy moods such as joy, excitement,
enthusiasm, infatuation, obsession, etc.
These are all positive states that are induced
and enhanced. These can indirectly bring
relief to negative states but generally
emphasize on bringing you up.
Alleviated states:
-Liberation: Freedom, relief, peace of mind,
etc.
-Tranquility: Relaxation, peace, harmony,
etc.
These are the type of emotions that soothe
and relieves negative states. They can
indirectly lead to more up and cheerful
moods, but they primarily work on
discharging stress, frustration, worry,
anxiety and aggression or anger.
Here is a short list of typical sports and
exercises that can be used to access each
one of those emotion types:
Empowerment:
-Weight training
-Boxing
-Wrestling
-specific martial arts such as muay thai,
kung fu, karate and tae kwon do
-Raquet sports, such as tennis, squash and
badminton
-Volleyball
-Soccer
-Rugby
Basically, sports that demand an energetic
output and total extension of limbs, often
with a striking, hitting, slamming or
smashing nature.
Euphoric:
-Dance
-Zumba
-Tae bo
-Aerobics
-Capoeira (brazilian martial art)
That would be anything that involves
rhythm or musicality.
Liberation:
-Free running/ parkour
-Jogging
-Cycling
-Skating
-Extreme sports such as sky diving, hang
gliding, bungi jumping, etc.
-Surfing
These are all examples of activities that
open up one's range of motion, movement
or travel.
Tranquility:
-Tai chi and all forms of qi gong
-Yoga
-Walking
-Some slow paced manual labours such as
fruit picking can also soothe and relax
That would be slow paced exercises that get
you to breathe slowly and deeply while
demanding very little physical and muscular
contraction.
Now, lets have a look at how our moods
effect our exercise routine. They do so by
influencing 4 major performance attributes,
and they are:
-Power and form: This is not only how
much force you can exert, but how well you
can access proper form and technique, how
well your balance and stability is and how
much heart and spirit you put into your
exercise. Most of the power hinges on
proper form.
-Energy and explosiveness: This is about
how well you can unleash your effort in
terms of intensity and output in your
movements.
-Stamina and endurance: This is about your
ability to train steadily and moderately
without burning out more easily than you
should. Using only the energy you have
reserved as you need it.
-Mental focus: This is about your ability to
pay attention to your game in the moment.
This may not be a physical attribute but it
still impacts how well you perform. Focus,
attention and concentration are the type of
qualities you want to keep in mind to be
your best depending on the sport or
activity of your choosing.
There are both positive and negative
emotions that influence all the attributes
both in positive and negative ways. It
doesn't only require good moods to yield
good effects. Negative emotions can also
act as performance enhancing fuel.
Here is a brief list of enhancing and
compromising moods for each performance
attribute.
Power and form enhancers:
-Confidence
-Pride
-Determination
-Hate
-Anger
-Aggression
-Self righteousness
-Vengefulness
-Frustration
The common theme I detect is anything that
makes you dwell on how right things
around you are, how right you are or how
right you want to make things.
Power and form compromisers:
-Sadness
-Depression
-Despair
-Fear
-Worry
-Panic
-Anxiety
-Stress
-Disappointment
Any emotion that reflects your focus on
how things are wrong, out of place or
ungratifying are enough to not only sap
strength from the body and spirit but also
messes with your access to your motor
function by throwing off your balance and
undermining your ability to execute your
better techniques, which also influences
power due to the fact that a part of power
comes from correct posture, form and
technique.
Energy and explosiveness enhancers:
-Excitement
-Joy
-Enthusiasm
-Anxiety
-Worry
-Panic
-Restlessness
-Frustration
-Anger
Anything that stimulates the nervous
system can influence you to approach a
workout with intensity. I know some of
these are power and form compromisers
but they overlap as enhancers here.
Energy and explosiveness compromisers:
-Sadness
-Depression
-Desppair
-Broodiness
-Contemplative concern
-Disappointment
-Heart break
-Loss and grief
All those low emotions are very draining
and I would have to say that they
compromise the first performance attribute
as well as this one.
Stamina and endurance enhancers:
-Peace
-Calm
-Relaxedness
-Tranquility
-Peace of mind
-Serenity
-Centeredness
All these low energy demanding moods
allow you to access the energy only as you
need it, thus allowing you to get the longest
wind from yourself during a session,
especially cardio.
Stamina and endurance compromisers:
-Anxiety
-Nervousness
-Panic
-Restlessness
-Stress
-Aggression
-Over excitement
If the nervous system is being activated by
high intensity emotions, then your using up
much more energy than you need to. Heart
races faster than it should, muscles contract
when not necessary or useful, cortisol shuts
off any energy extraction from nutrition
that may still be in the system and any
energy tasking biological reactions that may
be triggered by these types of moods.
Focus enhancers:
-Calm
-Centeredness
-Peace
-Determination
-Ambition
-Competitiveness
This one has a unique mix of tranquilizing
states and some of the empowering states.
Focus and concentration, I think you'd
agree requires a calm and centered mind
and the ability to be in the moment, which
is strongly aided by those tranquil states.
On the other side of it, optimal performance
demands a sharp focus in the present
which demands a strong level of
consciousness, awareness and reactivity in
the moment. So, moods like determination,
ambition and competitiveness are typically
what keeps your eye on the prize and
concentrate on your best efforts to get it.
Focus Compromisers:
-Concern
-Broodiness
-Anxiety
-Panic
-Depression
-Despondence
-Distracted states
-Stress
Any feeling that takes you out of the
moment, has you thinking about something
else. Distraction and preoccupations are the
biggest enemy of focus and concentration
in any area of life, especially so in sports,
exercise and any form of physical activity.
One last distinction I'd like to talk about, and
that is how you can access desired
emotions by identifying what exercises,
sports or activities make you feel specific
ways.
You see, the great thing I notice about all
these dynamics is the potential to determine
how you feel by choosing not only what
exercise to do but also how you do it.
In my experience, I have routines that I've
come to identify with certain signature
states. I know what style of of training
leaves me feeling what way. I've come to
identify that my capoeira stimulates a
general state of joy and cheer that stays
with me for several hours. My bagua
session mellows me down and I've
associated a general state of peace and
harmony in myself. And both my wing chun
and tae kwon do session summons a sense
of confidence and control while my boxing
session has more emphasis on feeling
stronger, more powerful and masculine.
Then there is also how you approach a
session. If you have to stick with one
particular style or routine but you are in
need of a totally different signature state
than the exercise provides, then you can
alter the commitment. For instance, if you
feel stressed and the workout you have
planned is particularly intense, (other than
the fact that those are great outlets for
stress anyway)what you can do is change
your focus in that session. You can slow the
tempo, concentrate on form and rythym,
and ease up on the explosiveness. This one
way to bring yourself more in the moment
and increase the chances of coming into a
more centered state of mind and setle those nerves.

[geniegal]

ll I have noticed that weight training makes me feel... How can I say it? Uplifted and centred. Cv workouts good for stress reliefbut not as powerful. Although I feel amazing after spin, probably to do with pushing y self more in a class. Swimming is much less effective

Having now switched from the gym as a weight loss tool to my sanity refuge, I am paying more attention to it's emotional effects. Great thread cheers!

[Medusa locked]

People, please excuse my long post. I tried to put it in quotes but editing on a mobile device is not easy.

Anyway, what I wanted to add is my curiousity of people's thoughts of that of those thoughts in that long post and if anyone agrees, disagrees or like to add any opinions.

[Medusa locked]

Originally Posted by wanzulfikri

It depends on the exercise and how well you do it.

When I play basketball, I'll really be happy if I play and win. For other form of exercise, it will bring you happiness if you really want to do it because of its pleasure.

I'm curious, would you say joy or happiness is the generally dominant mood from basketball? Or is it conditional on winning? Like, for instance, what's the common mood after general practice?