Why Fitness During Struggle Isn't Optional—It's Essential

The Counterintuitive Truth About Training Through Hard Times

Hello Savages,

Let me tell you something that might sound completely backwards: When life is falling apart, the gym is exactly where you need to be.

I know what you're thinking. "I'm already overwhelmed. I'm stressed. I'm exhausted. Adding workouts to my plate sounds impossible." And listen, I get it. We've been there. When everything feels like it's crumbling around you, the idea of adding more to your schedule seems insane.

But here's the thing that changed everything for us—and what the science backs up completely: Fitness during struggle isn't another burden. It's the tool that helps you carry all the other burdens.

And I'm not talking about some toxic "no excuses" grind culture nonsense. I'm talking about understanding how your brain and body actually work during stress, and using that knowledge to your advantage instead of letting stress destroy you.

Your Brain on Stress: What's Actually Happening

Let's get nerdy for a second because this is where it gets fascinating.

When you're going through a hard time—whether that's work stress, relationship problems, financial pressure, grief, or just the crushing weight of everything at once—your brain enters what neuroscientists call a "threat state." Your amygdala (the brain's alarm system) starts firing like crazy, pumping out cortisol and adrenaline. This was great when the threat was a saber-toothed tiger and you needed to run. But when the threat is chronic stress? Your brain is essentially stuck in fight-or-flight mode with nowhere to go.

Here's what happens next: Your prefrontal cortex—the part of your brain responsible for decision-making, emotional regulation, and motivation—starts to go offline. Blood flow gets diverted away from it because your brain is prioritizing survival, not rational thinking. This is why, during stressful periods, you feel foggy, unmotivated, and like you can't think straight. You're literally experiencing reduced cognitive function.

And here's the kicker: Physical inactivity makes all of this worse. When you're stressed and you don't move, that cortisol just keeps circulating. Your body has all this stress energy with no outlet. Your brain stays in threat mode. The fog gets thicker.

But movement? Movement changes the neurochemical equation entirely.

The Neuroscience of Movement: Your Brain's Reset Button

When you exercise—and I'm talking about even moderate activity here, not some insane CrossFit beatdown—several powerful things happen in your brain simultaneously:

1. BDNF Production Goes Into Overdrive

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) is like Miracle-Gro for your brain. It promotes neuroplasticity (your brain's ability to form new neural connections), protects existing neurons, and actually helps grow new ones. Studies show that even a single bout of moderate exercise increases BDNF levels significantly. When you're stressed and your brain is in survival mode, BDNF is what helps you adapt, learn, and literally build new pathways out of the mental rut you're in.

Think about it: Your brain is a muscle. When it's stressed, it needs recovery and growth just like your biceps after a workout. BDNF is the mechanism that makes that happen.

2. Your Neurochemical Cocktail Gets Rebalanced

Exercise triggers the release of endorphins (your natural painkillers and mood elevators), serotonin (mood stabilizer and happiness chemical), dopamine (motivation and reward), and norepinephrine (focus and alertness). This isn't just "feeling good" in some vague sense—this is literally changing your brain chemistry from a threat state to a challenge state.

There's a massive difference between these two states: In a threat state, your brain believes you're in danger and shuts down higher-level thinking. In a challenge state, your brain believes you can handle the difficulty and keeps your cognitive resources online. Exercise is one of the fastest ways to flip that switch.

3. Cortisol Gets Metabolized

Remember that stress hormone circulating through your system? Exercise is how you burn it off. Physical activity gives your body the outlet it's been screaming for. After a workout, cortisol levels drop significantly. But here's what's really interesting: Regular exercisers develop a more efficient stress response system. Their baseline cortisol is lower, and they recover from stress spikes faster. They've literally trained their nervous system to handle adversity better.

Small Steps Create Neural Superhighways

Here's where the psychology gets really powerful: Starting small isn't settling—it's strategic.

There's a concept in behavioral psychology called "successive approximation" or "shaping." It's the idea that complex behaviors are built through small, incremental steps that gradually move you toward your goal. And it works because of how your brain's reward system functions.

Every time you complete a small action—even something as simple as a 10-minute walk—your brain releases dopamine. Not a ton, but enough to register as a "win." And here's the magic: Your brain starts to associate movement with reward, not with burden.

This is huge when you're struggling because your motivation is already depleted. You're running on empty. If you try to force yourself into an hour-long intense workout, you're setting yourself up to fail, which then reinforces the belief that you can't do it, which tanks your motivation even further. It's a vicious cycle.

But a 10-minute walk? That's achievable. And when you do it, you get a small dopamine hit. Your brain says, "Oh, that was actually okay." The next day, maybe you do 12 minutes. Another small win. More dopamine. Your brain is now building a positive association with movement instead of a negative one.

Over time (and we're talking weeks, not months), these small actions create neural pathways—those superhighways I love talking about. The pathway that says "When I'm stressed, movement helps" gets stronger and stronger. Eventually, exercise stops being something you force yourself to do and starts becoming something your brain wants to do because it's learned that movement = relief.

The Momentum Effect: How Small Actions Compound

There's a psychological phenomenon called "behavioral activation" that's used to treat depression, and it's directly applicable to anyone going through a tough time.

The basic principle: Action precedes motivation, not the other way around.

We tend to think we need to feel motivated before we act. But that's backwards. Motivation is actually a result of action, not a prerequisite for it. When you're depressed, anxious, or stressed, waiting for motivation to strike is like waiting for a train that's never coming.

But here's what happens when you take action despite not feeling motivated: You complete something. You prove to yourself that you're capable. You get a tiny hit of accomplishment. And that creates a micro-burst of motivation. Not enough to run a marathon, but enough to do it again tomorrow.

This compounds over time. That small workout becomes a slightly longer one. That slightly longer one gives you enough mental clarity to make a healthy meal. That healthy meal gives you better sleep. That better sleep gives you more energy for a better workout. Suddenly, you've created an upward spiral instead of a downward one.

And here's the research to back it up: A 2023 meta-analysis of 97 studies found that exercise interventions were just as effective as psychotherapy for treating depression. Another study from the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry showed that people who engaged in regular physical activity during periods of high stress had significantly lower rates of anxiety and depression compared to inactive individuals.

Translation: Movement isn't just nice to have during hard times. It's protective.

The Control Factor: Your Brain Needs Agency

Here's something that doesn't get talked about enough: When you're going through a difficult period, you often feel powerless. Life is happening to you, and you're just trying to survive it. Your sense of agency—your belief that your actions matter—gets eroded.

This loss of agency is psychologically devastating. Studies on learned helplessness show that when people believe they have no control over their circumstances, they stop trying. They become passive. Their mental health deteriorates rapidly.

But fitness? Fitness is something you can control.

You can't control your toxic boss, your crumbling relationship, your financial problems, or your grief. But you can control whether you show up for a workout. You can control whether you lift that weight one more time. You can control whether you finish that set.

Every time you complete a workout, you're sending a powerful message to your brain: "I still have agency. I can still choose. I can still accomplish something." This rebuilds your sense of self-efficacy—your belief in your ability to succeed at tasks.

And self-efficacy is one of the strongest predictors of resilience. People with high self-efficacy bounce back from adversity faster because they believe they have the power to influence their outcomes. Fitness is one of the most accessible ways to build that belief.

The Identity Shift: Who You Become Through Consistency

There's a concept in psychology called "identity-based behavior change," and it's incredibly powerful.

Most people approach fitness as something they do: "I'm going to work out." But when you're consistent—especially through hard times—something deeper happens. You start to become someone who works out. Your identity shifts.

And here's why this matters: Once something becomes part of your identity, it stops requiring willpower. You don't have to force yourself to brush your teeth because you're "someone who brushes their teeth." It's just who you are. The same thing happens with fitness when you stick with it long enough.

When you train through struggle, you're not just building muscle or burning calories. You're building an identity as someone who doesn't quit when things get hard. Someone who shows up for themselves even when it would be easier not to. Someone who's committed to their wellbeing no matter what external circumstances look like.

And that identity? That carries over into every other area of your life. The discipline you build in the gym translates to discipline in your career. The resilience you build through tough workouts translates to resilience through tough life situations. The consistency you build with training translates to consistency in your relationships, your goals, your personal growth.

You become someone who does hard things. And once that becomes your identity, everything changes.