‘COMPETING WAS A MENTAL JOURNEY’
Suraj Sandhu, 31, lives in Harrow. She started strength training in 2016 following her first panic attack.
I was studying for my finance exams and working full-time when I had my first panic attack in July
2016. I was in my office when I started getting heart palpitations so severe that I was convinced I was having a heart attack.
A trip to A&E confirmed that high stress levels were the cause, and in the months that followed, I endured many more. It was around nine months after my first attack that I knew something had to change. With my exams continuing, life wasn’t going to get any less stressful, and in the absence of any other solutions, I added some structure to my exercise regime.
I’d always been pretty active, be that going to the gym or playing netball, and I could correlate my happiest times with regular exercise. I chose weights to give my training a focus, adding light kettlebells and dumbbells to body-weight moves like lunges and squats, increasing my rep count each week.
It was the moment I moved on to barbells that something clicked for me. Seeing tangible progress in my deadlift PB was a boost to my confidence. I had more energy and my panic attacks became few and far between. I haven’t experienced one in two years.
But while I credit a consistent fitness regime with helping me to manage my mental health, it marked the start of another mental journey. When I read about the NFG on the WH Instagram page, I jumped at the chance to challenge myself. Already doing four strength sessions – two upper-body, two lower-body – and two cardio sessions a week, I stepped up my training by focusing on doing fewer reps of heavier weights. Knowing that endurance was my weakest area, I started interval training, too – doing up to two sessions a day.
When the day of the games arrived, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever taken part in. While I felt at home in the strength zone, the endurance events were particularly challenging. After struggling to scramble over a four-foot wall, I would have lost all my confidence if it weren’t for the encouragement of one of my team members.
My initial reaction was to berate myself for not performing as well as I wanted to, but it ended up being a valuable lesson. I came away with tactics on how to improve – I’ve already added 10-minute finishers to my strength sessions. More than that, I came away with a deeper understanding of what it means to compete. In much the same way as a workout isn’t just about the endorphins, competing isn’t just about the outcome; it’s about the journey, too – and mine is only beginning.