Anxiety in the gym

[ICB]

I was wondering if any of the seasoned fighters or boxing enthusiasts have any advice for over-coming mental anxiety in the gym.

I by nature, am a pretty shy person. I also suffer from social anxiety, even despite my physical stature which is 6'3" 205lbs. I am 23 years-old and have been boxing for about 2 years now.

In the gym I tend to feel awkward when shadowboxing. I know I need to prep my mind for what I should be focused on, technique, footwork, combos, but I feel like every one is watching me even though I know they are not. Self-conscious, too damn self-conscious

Where I go is a relatively small gym. I also have a hard time with getting in the ring and sparring. As a boxing student, I get timid and feel like I don't want to hurt the other person. I tend to wait for punches to come and get hit a few times before I start firing back and going on the offensive.

How do I go about getting over these issues. It's a boxing gym. It's a sport. You hit people. You get hit. How do I take the personal feelings out of the equation?

Unfortunately this un-easiness is something I suffer from in any social event, or in groups of big people.

Thank you in advance!

Its like that with any new place you go to and your meeting new people, once you get to know people your be fine. I was the same too when i started boxing, and also when i first started high school.

And i haven't got anxiety, but i was shitting bricks both times. Because you feel unsure and your not comfortable with people you don't know or new surrondings. Its just human nature.

Your be fine and in the end your be thinking to yourself, what the hell was i worrying about in the first place, good luck bro.

[Andre]

I always find if I think "This is fukkin great" and smile to myself slightly on the outer but mostly inside behind my eyes (if you can get that meaning); It disappears real fast,as the brain takes the que from the smile muscles and the intent, instead of the usual other way around where the smile comes last.
Great when in a fearful situation. Works well in big surf. Its also relaxing so you conserve breath and energy as well.

[southpawwolves]

I too suffered with this at first but eventually realised everyone was in the same boat at one point and luckily for me everyone I've asked or has saw me struggling have been very helpful

[southpawwolves]

I too suffered with this at first but eventually realised everyone was in the same boat at one point and luckily for me everyone I've asked or has saw me struggling have been very helpful

[HerbM]

Everybody wrote 'good stuff' here but the key is that this is still going on after two years, and it is still significant enough to get BigSkinny87 to post asking for help.

Also, he had most of the 'right attitude' stuff expressed in his own initial post.

So here is a different idea: Go find an "NLP Therapist" -- someone who advertises as using Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Ask the therapist UP FRONT, "How long will this take?" If they answer isn't something like "20 minutes or you don't have to pay me" find a different therapist.


Ok, the answer might be "Two sessions, and if we haven't solved your problem I will help you find a different therapist."

Good NLP Therapists help people remove such issues all the time -- and they are confident enough to offer money back guarantees (or else they are not "good enough" in my estimation.)

Alternatively, you could take an NLP "practitioner" course -- during which you will get enough "accidentally therapy" (hey, everybody has to practice the techniques with a partner) AND you will ge the tools to help yourself with many problems.

Really.

--
Herb

[the killer]

Herb, i have never heard of that(npl) will you tell us how to find such a person?

[the killer]

sorry NLP

[HerbM]

Yellow pages (commercial phone directory), Internet search (google) should work most anywhere in North America or Europe.

Many therapists have some NLP training -- some certainly just 'took a course' and never really internalized the techniques properly so get someone who is confident enough to offer a money back guarantee and will do it FAST.

A big part of NLP is doing things quick and easy that other therapy modalities treat as hard and slow.

For simple phobias (this may not be such) it takes a decent BEGINNER at NLP and about 20 minutes (15 minutes to make sure the change is Ok and 5 minutes to actually DO the work.)

Then anchoring in good useful resources in the situation should take another 20 minutes. Teaching you to build additional resources (making you able to fish and not just giving you dinner) a little bit longer so you don't NEED the therapist to fixup any lingering problems.

If this is not a simple phobia, MAYBE a 2nd session. With the good resource anchoring and you knowing how to build on that, it will not only be better right away, it will get better each time you visit the gym as long as you WORK the methods while you WORK out.

Stepping into the ring, would be another good place to build.

A good NLP people helper will need to be a little careful here to make sure and get the difference between removing any harmful anxieties and replacing these with useful resource states VERSUS trying to make someone overconfident or careless about competition. A little of the proper type of nervous energy can help you fight better and remind you to PROTECT yourself at all times.

Boxing has ritual and structure, so keying all this to the existing procedures and your own pre-workout or pre-fight habits is easy.

E.g., you wrap your hands each day before you workout, right? I would suggest keying the gym (ordinary workout) changes to this time etc.

You get ready and get into a competition ring a certain way, the coach says or does certain things, so does the ref -- use that predictable structure to remind your of your tasks and inner resources for completing those tasks.

Another example is people who need to get hit before they "start fighting" -- anchor in a PREVIOUS time when you ALREADY got hit, didn't you?, and take that into your NEXT fight, and the NEXT fight, now?

I could almost do this part over email, if I could just see and hear you guys and make sure to get the right responses so that you are still going to be careful and workmanlike in taking care of yourself in the ring or when sparring, right?

The phobia part is even easier, but it requires you imagining some odd things which have to be personalized just a little bit.