Mental Health Check 101: Pushing Yourself in the Gym

When it comes to health, the main priority for most is their physical health. Yet, far too many people neglect their mental health, and it could have dire consequences. The bottom line is, everyone needs some sort of an outlet – a place where they can go or something that they can do to help them cope with the things that are going on around them and that they’re holding inside. Some people aren’t great at expressing their feelings and keep everything inside, which causes these feelings to pile up and compound over time. Those people, especially, need an outlet where they can improve their mental health. If you just read that and it sounds like I’m speaking directly to you, pushing yourself in the gym could be one of the best activities you can partake in to help you feel better.

Pushing Yourself in the Gym as a Mental Health Outlet

Walking into a gym for many is like walking into a therapist’s office (only in the gym you’re going to feel some muscular discomfort). The atmosphere, the people, the camaraderie amongst gym members can all play a role in improving an individual’s mental health. When you enter into this fitness enthusiast’s sanctuary, something happens. It’s like the outside world, and all of your problems seem to disappear for the duration of your workout.

Pushing yourself in the gym is a fantastic way to improve your mental health. While you may never physically be able to beat the weights in the gym, it sure is fun to try. You get to take out your frustrations and stress on the weights and get in a really good workout. The weights don’t argue with you. The weights don’t care how you feel. They don’t discriminate or take it easy on you just because you’ve had a bad day or week. Their goal is to help make you better. To help create a better and stronger form of yourself. 

Each time you step foot in the gym, utilize the negativity and even anger you have inside to push yourself in the gym. Rather than simply just going through the motions during your workouts, set goals to achieve. The key is to progressively overload the muscles and force them to change and adapt to the stress and stimulus you put them through.

Your workouts don’t need to strictly be weight training, either. If you’re looking to drop some unwanted body fat and include cardio into your plan, you can just as easily utilize the cardio equipment to take out your frustrations and help improve your physical and mental health. The key is to continue pushing yourself in the gym – no matter what type of training you are doing.

Workout Strategies to Maximize Your Results and Time in the Gym 

Nothing in the world feels better than completing a brutal workout. The kind that you basically crawl your way through the gym doors and back out to your car. The kind you never thought you’d survive. Those workouts prove exactly who you are – a strong individual who can overcome adversity and challenges. 

Getting through these types of workouts can, without a doubt, help improve your mental health. By pushing yourself in the gym to the point you want to quit, but you don’t, shows what you’re made of. 

Below are a few workout strategies you can use to maximize your results, your time, and help you keep pushing yourself in the gym. You can implement one or many of these strategies – the choice is totally yours.

1.     Progressive Overload

A sense of accomplishment comes along with pushing yourself in the gym and hitting new personal bests. One of the best ways to put yourself in a great state of mind is to implement progressive overload into your training routine.

The goal with progressive overload is to each workout increase the load put on the working muscles. This can be through increasing the weight, increasing the number of reps, or increasing the number of total sets you complete. When you use progressive overload, you’re pushing your mind and body further than you did the previous workout. 

From a mental health standpoint, this proves that you are capable of doing great things and can push through tasks that you couldn’t previously. It’s a great confidence booster as well.

2.     HIIT– High Intensity Interval Training

Whether you don’t have a lot of time to fit in a workout or you simply don’t feel like working out, a HIIT workout could be the best thing for you to put you in a better frame of mind. It’s quick, intense, and a fantastic way to improve your health and fitness levels – both from a physical and mental health standpoint.

Related Article: Mental Health Check 101 — Walking Outside

HIIT cardio is extremely popular and can be done on just about any piece of cardio equipment to be pushing yourself in the gym continually. An example of HIIT would be to sprint on the treadmill for 30 seconds and then walk for 60 seconds. This provides you with some super high-intensity output and then a recovery phase. Continue this cycle for 5-10 times. You can implement this strategy on a spin bike, elliptical, or even do the workout outdoors if the weather allows for it. Being outdoors is another great way to take in some fresh air, clear your mind, and help improve your mental health.

3.     Forced Reps 

A great way to improve mental health and keep pushing yourself in the gym is to have a workout partner who is willing to jump into the trenches with you. You feed off of your workout partner and vice versa. One of the best workout strategies to implement with a workout partner is forced reps. 

The goal of forced reps is for you to hit failure, where you can’t do any more reps, and then have your workout partner help give you a little boost by helping with the movement to allow you the opportunity to push out a few more reps with their assistance. This can help destroy those deep muscle fibers and aid in producing new muscle tissue growth.

4.     Listen to Music You Love

If you want to improve mental health while also pushing yourself in the gym, maybe it’s time to put some focus on music. Research has shown that music is a fantastic way to improve mental health. It can help with depression, increase self-awareness, and improve your overall mood.

Therefore, the next time you step into the gym and want to feel better and crush your workout, make sure you have some tunes and a pair of headphones to get after it. The research is there, and this strategy is definitely something you should consider utilizing.

5.     Use a Quality Pre-Workout 

Last on our list of strategies is using a quality pre-workout supplement. Pre-workouts are some of the hottest products on the market today, and for a good reason – they work.

The pre-workout category is continuously growing with no end in sight. Why is this? Because pre-workouts are the perfect way to be pushing yourself in the gym. With the right formula, you can increase strength, prime your body for muscle growth, improve endurance, boost energy, enhance focus, maximize your pump, and overall help you grind out those intense workouts.

The perfect formula to help you do all of those things is Evogen EVP Xtreme N.O. Looking good and feeling good plays a direct role in mental health. If your focus each day is put into improving yourself and pushing yourself in the gym to improve your physical and mental health, Evogen EVP Xtreme N.O. is the perfect pre-workout companion.

This pre-workout utilizes patented NO3-T®, citrulline, lion’s mane, yohimbe, creatine, beta-alanine, DMAE, caffeine, dicaffeine malate, and a few other ingredients to help take your workouts to the next level. But you don’t need to take our word for it, try it for yourself!