3 Ways to Destress & Focus on Your Fitness Goals

Stress has a nasty habit of getting in the way of our daily lives. It has an even nastier habit of getting in the way of our fitness goals. Use these three easy to follow steps to destress and get back on track towards accomplishing your fitness goals.

Whether it’s stress because you don’t have the time to workout, or stress because you don’t feel like your workout plan is showing any results, our 3 de-stress methods are here to help you clear the mental litter and concentrate on your fitness goals.

1. Mindfulness exercises

Mindfulness is an underrated way of reducing stress and re-organizing yourself. Taking time-out to unwind and de-stress is vital in our busy lives. By being present and attentive to the moment, you can recognize and accept your thoughts, then put them away to focus on other things.

Many of us lead busy or stressful lifestyles and it can sometimes feel like we are on autopilot as we make our way through the day. This autopilot attitude can extend to our workouts too, meaning we don’t fully exert ourselves limiting the gains we can make out of our workout.

These 3 techniques are excellent for organizing and putting aside irritating thoughts.

A. Box-breathing

This is probably the most well-known mindfulness technique, and the easiest to master. This exercise helps to calm and focus the mind when feeling overwhelmed with life. Whether it’s stress, excitement, or anxiety, giving your mind a break and connecting with your breathing can help you to relax.

Step-by-step guide to box-breathing

1. Take a comfortable position, relaxing into your chosen posture
2. Close your eyes or look ahead softly, then let your thoughts go and pay close attention to your breath.
3. Take a few deep relaxing breaths, paying attention to the inhale and exhale.
4. Begin the box-breathing technique. Inhale for 4 counts (count to 4 in your head as you inhale). Hold at the top of the breath for 4 counts. Exhale for 4 counts. Hold at the bottom of your breath for 4 seconds.

B. Noting

Noting can be used to calm your emotions and let go of overwhelming or distracting thoughts. It helps bring awareness back to your breath, putting you in the present moment.

A step-by-step guide to noting

1. Take a comfortable position, with a notepad and pen, relaxing into your chosen posture with arms relaxed, resting on your knees. Pay attention to your body relaxing and how that feels.
2. Close your eyes or look ahead softly, then let your thoughts go and pay close attention to your inhales and exhales.
3. Once feeling fully relaxed, bring your attention to your breath and concentrate on the inhale and exhale.
4. Begin the noting technique. If at any point your focus is taken away from your breathing, gently note the thought and then let it go before returning to focus on your breathing.
5. Continue like this. If your mind wanders, note the thoughts and emotions before bringing your attention back to your breath.

C. Body Scanning

When feeling distracted or stressed to the point you feel the effects in your body. Taking time to do a quick body scan will help you to re-focus and release that stress.

During the session, you will bring attention to each part of your body one at a time. During the attention you will notice what is going on, helping you relax and release tension.

Step-by-step guide guide to body scanning

1. Take a comfortable position, with a notepad and pen, relaxing into your chosen posture with arms relaxed, resting on your knees. Pay attention to your body relaxing and how that feels.
2. Begin the body scanning process. Pay attention to what your body feels like, and then begin to take deep breaths, paying attention to how each breath affects your body and sensations.
3. Notice any areas of tension in your body. Release the tension, letting it go. Once released, bring attention back to your breath, and repeat.

The great thing about mindfulness techniques is that if ever you feel your mind gets distracted, you can always bring your thoughts back to your breathing. Cheesy as it sounds, it really allows you to focus on yourself and forget about everything else, even if just for a few minutes.

2. Daily Activities

To avoid things getting overwhelming, there are several things you can do throughout your day that help reduces the number of things going on in your life, or just to give you a break from the chaos and stressors that you may feel are surrounding you.

A. Taking a tech break

Turning off your phone, or just putting it on flight mode can take a huge mental load off. Trust me, try it once and you will feel almost relieved to disconnect yourself from the world for a moment.

Removing your ability to scroll through social media or respond to messages can help you be more productive with work, focussing on the task at hand. This can translate to your workouts too. A lot of people can get distracted by their phone at the gym or during their workout, affecting their focus and thus how much they gain from the workout.

Technology, particularly smartphones, has detrimentally affected our mood and brain functions. Some good examples include:

Multi-tasking fallacy: It can feel like we are getting loads done by doing many things at once. For example, if you’re on the phone whilst replying to emails whilst keeping an eye on the TV, it can feel like your being really productive.

In reality, it’s not productive at all. Instead, we are putting minimal effort into the maximum number of things. The brain can only handle one bit of info at a time, so doing other things at the same time just diminishes its ability to process the info.

Scrolling: Even just being sat on the couch scrolling through emails or social media posts can stress out your brain. It may not be multi-tasking, but by feeding it constant information you are removing any chance for it to focus, concentrate, or rest.

Taking a short tech break can dispel all the mental clutter swimming around our heads, giving our brain a chance to rest and de-stress. During this tech break, why not do a workout, review your fitness goals, or just take a power nap?

B. Morning Goal Review

A good way to stick to your fitness regime and goals during stressful or overwhelming times is to perform a daily morning goal review. This can help you regain a sense of control when you have a lot going on, helping you prioritize and understand your fitness targets.

This review can be done as part of a mindfulness process, sorting the thoughts out in your head using breathing, relieving tension (see the body scanning section for ideas on how to do this), and then reviewing your main goals.

Alternatively, you can do this by just sitting down, relaxing, and writing on paper what your goals are.

Goals could be fitness-related, or if you’re feeling overwhelmed in general, life and career goals. Goals include what you are trying to accomplish, what you are striving for, and what will make the most impact on your life. Or they can be smaller, a goal just for that say.

A quick review and acknowledgment of your goals can help clear your head. They can help motivate you to get through the day and to stick to your fitness regime.

C. Treat Yourself

In times of stress, treating yourself is not a bad thing. It’s a simple method of self-care to do something that pleases you. It can have a positive impact on your mood, thus supporting you in getting through the rest of the day and providing you with the motivation to pursue your fitness goals.

A fun activity might be:

• A trip to your favorite restaurant or take-out of your choice
• Listening to good music
• Spending time with your kids or pets
• Reading a good book or magazine
• Take an outdoor trip with the family

Everyone is slightly different, so pick something that will please you and improve your mood.

3. De-Stress Exercises

The final way you can de-stress and re-focus is through simple, calming exercises. Some exercises can relieve tension in muscles helping you to feel calmer. Even gentle cardio sessions can simply boost mood and alertness by increasing blood flow without stressing the nervous system.

Try the following exercises to help you relax your muscles and your mind, allowing you to focus on important things.

A. Tabletop Pose

Lie on your back and bend your knees. Place hands under shoulders and push upwards into a table-like position. Try and keep your back and hips straight, with knees bent at a right angle.

B. Gentle Jog

Go for a short, slow jog. 10 minutes should be enough to get the blood flowing and raise your mood. If you hate jogging, then cycling, swimming, or skipping will have the same effect.

C. Bar Hang

Silly as it sounds, if you have a pull-up bar just hang off it for 30-45 seconds. This elongates the spine relieving tension whilst relaxing the back, neck, and shoulders.

Final Thoughts

So, there you have it, 3 simple methods to relieve stress and increase your focus. Performing one of these techniques during a difficult day can help clear your mind, particularly useful if you’re struggling to find time or motivation to stick to your fitness regime.