HI ,

I have written this exercise guide a few times, but on each occasion I was left unhappy with the result. My anxiety recovery site has brought me an eclectic audience that varies from students to grandmas so a one-size fits all plan isn’t going to work. Instead of creating a rigid plan, I will create a conceptual framework to guide you into utilising exercises as a weapon in your arsenal against anxiety.

Before we get into the fun stuff, let me once again remind you that I am not a doctor and you should get medical approval before starting any new physical activity.

The Wrong Way

Before we get into what works, I think it is important to talk about what doesn’t. I came into my anxious episode as a competitive martial artist and I was in the shape of my life. I was training daily, sparring hard and lifting weights, I was by all metrics fit and healthy. When my anxiety came I wasn’t able to make the link immediately but now I am confident that high intensity exercise doesn’t help acute anxiety and in many cases can increase it. Later in this post I will discuss some more advanced ways to track exercise intensity and training volume, but in short if you are leaving each session exhausted then you are going about things the wrong way.

While I intended to make this post just about exercise, it would feel irresponsible of me to completely avoid the topic of nutrition. One thing that increases stress and reduces recovery is a calorie deficit and in my experience, many people’s episodes of anxiety begin with some degree of disordered eating or harsh dieting.

During an active anxiety disorder it is extremely important to be eating at a calorie maintenance or even a slight surplus. Focus on quality ingredients, prioritise high quality protein, carbs and fibre.

The Right Way

I am an unapologetic meathead. Since I was a teen I lifted weights and always found it to be a net positive for my mental health. During my anxiety I also got quite into powerlifting, but I found that increases in intensity always brought on a rebound in my anxiety. Likewise, I ran my first 10km while recovering from anxiety (I tried everything to get better, even running!) and the same issue would happen - the more I would push the more I would burnout, and it was around this time I came to the conclusion that overreaching is more detrimental to recovery than good.

As I recovered from anxiety, I took a deep analytical look at my path to recovery and evaluated what worked and what didn’t. During my journey I read 50+ books on anxiety, spent $1000s on supplements and tried basically everything, but in hindsight the most effective non cognitive tool for recovery for me was low intensity steady state exercise. There is nothing as unsexy as walking. Trust me as a jiu jitsu guy and powerlifter I wish I could tell you that the key to recovery is to spar hard and lift new personal bests, but the real answer is to find a way to expend as much nervous energy as possible while limiting creating additional stress.

Your body can’t differentiate between stress created by anxiety and stress created by sprinting. Stress hormones are excreted during recovery from both mental and physical stress and when your body is already exhausted from mental pressure adding intense workout will be detrimental.

Finding Your Way (The basic version)

So I have established that overreaching is bad and that you shouldn’t push exercise too much during recovery, your question now is probably “well what should I do?!”.

The answer is very individualised and dependent on your training experience, but I suggest everyone reading this should aim for low intensity cardiovascular exercise for at least 3hrs per week and strength training at least 2 x per week with full body sessions.

If you are completely untrained, or if you are trained, but find exercise too much right now, I suggest hitting a 1hr walk at a moderate pace at least 3 time per week(daily if you can). Walking is the lowest stress and most efficient way for your body to burn off nervous energy and it is a great way to let your mind wander which is pivotal to recovery. I suggest a good podcast or an audiobook. If you have mobility issues, I suggest finding any sort of cardiovascular exercise that you can do - an easy guide to intensity is you should be able to hold a full conversation while exercising, if you can’t you’re going too hard!

Lifting weights is good for you and its benefits will compound as you get older. You don’t need to powerlift to get the benefits and if you haven’t been to the gym before it can be daunting, but there are a lot of good beginner plans out there. This template is good for beginners, but make sure to ask for help with exercise form and when beginning your lifting journey focus on light weights.

Finding Your Way (The Advanced Version)

If you are an athlete or someone with a lot of exercise experience coming into your anxiety journey I also want to lend you a helping hand. I want to talk about specific measurable analytics and how we can use them to shape our recovery.

I use a Whoop to track my metrics and I will be speaking primarily about optimising recovery via Whoop in this section (Get a free WHOOP 4.0 and one month free when you join with my link), but if you use other fitness trackers a lot of the following info will be helpful.

I have worked with a lot of people suffering from acute anxiety issues over the past few years and when they share their metrics with me two things are omnipresent: a high(er) resting heart rate and a low HRV.  Anxiety disorders are associated with significant reductions in HRV and anecdotally I find people anxiously wired have low HRV baselines. Pair this with the impact training has on HRV and RHR and you can already see how strenuous exercise is a risk factor in regards to recovery.

If you’re still reading this, I assume you are a trained athlete and with this in mind, I understand that you are driven and have goals, but I urge you to reduce performance expectations when trying to overcome anxiety and instead use training as restorative. You can maintain fitness while recovering, but in my experience the key is tweaking your exercise and nutrition. 

First off - it is normal that your resting heart rate and  HRV are way out of whack compared to before your anxiety. Use your last month’s metrics as your baseline and don’t compare your current reality to your peak fitness. In regards to training, I want you to do 3-5 hour long zone 2(Whoop Z3) sessions per week and then depending on your specific sport needs you can tweak your lifting schedule, but a non negotiable for me is weight lifting. You should get 2 full-body sessions per week at an RPE of about 6-7 which is boring and unexciting, but restorative and protective during this period of your recovery. The goal of the first 6-8 weeks of anxiety recovery is to get you to a point where your anxiety is much lower and you can exercise more intensely. Don’t jeopardise your anxiety recovery for fleeting fitness goals.

If you are in red recovery on Whoop (high rhr/low hrv), you should only do light exercise like walking or a yoga class. Nothing strenuous should happen and even though it is frustrating, you must let your body rest to ensure longterm progress.

Secondly - diet wise my basic advice remains the same, you need to be in a calorie maintenance or surplus.  I don’t care if you are in a weight class based sport, you shouldn’t be even thinking about competing right now. This is an anxiety recovery guide, not a how to still train when anxious guide.

Nutrition wise the focus needs to be on protein focused macros (the impact of high protein in neuro health is really important during this acute phase). Meal timing is also incredibly important during anxiety recovery. I advocate for a protein rich breakfast (protein oats are a personal favourite!) also have your last meal/snack at least 3hrs before sleep and you will see a huge hrv boost over time.

Conclusion

Recovering from anxiety is a personal journey, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Finding the right balance in your exercise routine—one that soothes rather than overstimulates—can make a world of difference. Remember, this process isn’t about achieving peak physical performance; it’s about creating a supportive environment for your mind and body to heal.

Low-intensity, consistent movement like walking, combined with gentle strength training, can help you gradually rebuild resilience without taxing your nervous system. Keep in mind that nutrition and recovery habits play essential roles, too. Eat enough to support your body, focus on quality nutrients, and prioritize sleep.

Take each day as it comes, and listen to your body’s cues. Over time, as your anxiety diminishes, you may find yourself ready to explore more intense forms of exercise again. Until then, let exercise be a grounding, restorative part of your routine. Your body and mind will thank you.

PS.

I have one spot available for paid one-to-one coaching. Coaching takes place via whatsapp and is $200 for 30 days. To apply drop me an email.

These spots are usally filled within a day or two, so if I don’t reply withing 24 hours you have not been succesful. All the tools to recover are in the guide above, coaching just allows for additional support and specific advice. I got better without a coach and you can too, so please don’t feel pressure to book me.