Exercise saved her life

The title might seem like I’m exaggerating, but I’m being completely serious. I know someone (who we will refer to as Amanda) who says that exercise literally saved her life. What do I mean by this? I’ll explain.

2016 was a really rough year for Amanda. She was always really stressed because of school and the overwhelming number classes she was taking all year. Along with that, she was constantly worrying about her post-graduation plans. It doesn’t end there though. She was a person who wanted to make everyone happy. She cared about what other people thought and let it affect her to the next level. She suffered from numerous panic attacks throughout the year.

As September of 2016 rolled around, things started going in a downward spiral. School was more stressful than ever and she began to crumble due to social anxiety. People she considered to be her friends were making assumptions and accusing her character without knowing anything.

Amanda lost her appetite, could barely sleep, and hardly ever smiled. She realized she had depression. She was miserable and was always crying sometimes without even a reason. She had hit absolute rock bottom and said that she had no motivation to anything, ever. She didn’t want to see people or talk to people. She lost interest in all of her hobbies. The only thing she did for herself was exercise.

She had gotten into powerlifting that year and didn’t want to lose the progress she had made. Not only that, but she called the gym her safe haven. It was place where she was able to leave all of her problems behind and worry about no one but herself. When Amanda fell into depression, classes and exercise were the only two things dragging her out of bed. Classes because well…she had to. And exercise because she wanted to. Instead of sulking at home all day, exercise gave her purpose. It made her feel productive on a day she had nothing else to do. It motivated her and inspired her to get better.

There were days when Amanda didn’t feel like going to the gym. There were days when she wanted to leave mid-workout because she just wanted to go home and cry. But she pushed through.

Amanda says that if it wasn’t for her love for lifting, her depression probably would have gotten a lot worse. She says that exercise kept her sane. Amanda cut out the negative people from her life and during this time, she started smiling again and her love for lifting kept growing. Her story is so inspiring and is one of the many reasons I encourage everyone to exercise and live fit. It’s beneficial for both physical and mental health.