How Channeling Anger Into Your Workout Can Reduce Stress

You’re angry. Maybe something happened at work or you had an argument with your significant other. You head to the gym, put your headphones on and load a barbell. You not only crush a personal record, but you leave feeling calm and grounded. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. It’s common for men to channel their anger into a sweat session, and it can be a healthy habit — if you avoid certain pitfalls. Here’s how channeling anger into your workouts can reduce stress and benefit your mental health, and how to do it the right way. RELATED: How to Motivate Yourself to Work Out When You’re Depressed Why Working Out Angry Feels so Good Anger isn’t just emotional. It has an impact on your physiology. It can activate your fight-or-flight response and trigger the release of hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which are meant to help you act fast in the face of a threat but can come with unpleasant effects. “When a person is angry, there are biological and hormonal changes that occur, which can result in physical sensations often associated with anger, such as increased heart rate, physical tension and high blood pressure,” according to Danielle Dellaquila, therapist and licensed social worker at Gateway to Solutions. “Exercise can help beneficially change the body's chemistry, reduce excess stress hormones, and channel physiological responses to anger, while also increasing feel-good hormones such as dopamine and serotonin.” This process explains why working out angry feels so good and how it improves your mood once you’re done. The Benefits of Channeling Anger Into Workouts As Rick Bloomer, registered mental health nurse at Asana Lodge, notes, physical activity becomes a way of doing something with all the energy you’re feeling. But the benefits of working out angry extend beyond blowing off steam. It Helps With Anger Management If you hit the gym instead of lashing out at someone or taking your anger out in traffic, that’s a win. Exercise provides a healthy outlet, which can “help people who struggle with anger by directing their emotions into something healthy, hopefully preventing them from engaging in more unhealthy forms of releasing their anger,” says Dellaquila. It Reduces Stress Hormones and Boosts Feel-Good Ones Being angry is stressful, and stress can wreak havoc on your health, from disrupting your sleep to creating physical tension in your body. According to Dellaquila, physical exertion burns off excess stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, and triggers the release of feel-good endorphins, which lowers stress levels and benefits your well-being as a whole. It Increases Mindfulness You may not see bench pressing with rage in the same lens as meditation, but working out while angry can actually increase mindfulness, adds Dellaquila. Mindfulness is a research-backed way to lower stress, and it will continue benefiting you long after you’ve processed your angry feelings. “Working out also creates a structured space to focus attention away from what triggered the anger,” says Bloomer. “Over time people can start to associate exercise not just with releasing frustration, but with feeling calmer and more in control.” It Can Improve Your Sleep From reducing stress to releasing feel-good hormones and cultivating mindfulness, all the benefits mentioned above lead to better sleep. And, since being sleep-deprived can affect your mood and make you feel angrier than usual, a healthy outlet like exercise can help break that cycle. It Prevents You From Turning Anger Towards Yourself The risk with not knowing how to process your anger isn’t just hurting others, but hurting yourself. “Internalizing responses may look like self-blame, rumination or social withdrawal,” says Dellaquila, while Bloomer adds that working out while angry provides a break from ruminating thoughts and can also instill a sense of achievement, which helps nip unhelpful responses in the bud. When Working Out Angry Becomes Problematic That said, there is such a thing as channeling anger into a workout in an unhealthy way. As Bloomer notes, it becomes problematic if someone relies solely on working out to cope with anger without ever learning other ways to process their feelings. You can even start associating anger with performance, which can encourage unhealthy exercise habits. Plus, you don’t want to accidentally hurt yourself or others at the gym. “It could be problematic if individuals are so angry that they are not mindful of how aggressively they are using equipment, leading to them pushing themselves too hard and possibly causing injury or overexertion,” according to Dellaquila. Tips to Healthily Channel Anger Into Exercise To healthily channel anger into exercise, stay aware of how hard you are pushing yourself and how you’re using the equipment, recommends Dellaquila. You can even use your angry workout as a mindfulness practice, channeling your thoughts into every movement, breathing deeply and noticing how your body feels instead of focusing on what’s bothering you. Finally, avoid using exercise as your only coping strategy. If you’re often angry, there might be more to unpack. “If anger is constant, explore why and address the underlying issues. Exercise can be one tool for managing anger, but it works best alongside healthy relaxation techniques and, when needed, professional support,” suggests Bloomer. So, go ahead and channel anger into a workout — just be sure you’re doing it safely. You Might Also Dig: How to Manage Your AngerBest Workouts for Mental HealthHow to Deal With Anxiety