{"id":553240,"date":"2026-03-30T00:15:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T00:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/553240\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T00:15:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T00:15:11","slug":"intense-exercise-may-help-ward-off-panic-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/553240\/","title":{"rendered":"Intense Exercise May Help Ward Off Panic Attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n If you’re prone to panic attacks, suddenly running as fast as you possibly can might not be the worst idea. Outside<\/a> reports that a new study suggests short bursts of intense exercise\u2014like 30-second sprints mixed into brisk walking\u2014can reduce both the frequency and severity of attacks. Published in Frontiers in Psychiatry<\/a>, the 12-week trial followed 72 sedentary adults with panic disorder. While both the exercise group and a group doing relaxation techniques improved, those doing high-intensity intervals saw greater gains and fewer attacks, even months later. Researchers say the approach, known as interoceptive exposure, works by triggering the same sensations people fear\u2014like a racing heart or shortness of breath\u2014so they become less alarming over time, per Psychology Today<\/a>. \n <\/p>\n


\n “When you exercise hard, these are the same feelings as a panic attack,” study researcher Richard William Muotri tells Outside. That overlap helps explain why the approach may work. Panic attacks often feel like a medical emergency, with symptoms like a racing heart, dizziness, and difficulty breathing fueling fears of something more serious. That, in turn, can trigger a cycle of anxiety, where the body’s normal stress response is interpreted as something dangerous. Interoceptive exposure aims to break that loop by helping people experience those sensations in a safe, controlled way, gradually retraining how the brain responds to them. \n <\/p>\n


\n Still, experts caution against taking the idea too literally. Sprinting in the middle of a panic attack isn’t the goal, says psychiatrist Daniel Knoepflmacher. Instead, the approach works best when built into a regular routine and paired with guidance from a therapist, often alongside cognitive behavioral therapy. \n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you’re prone to panic attacks, suddenly running as fast as you possibly can might not be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[2763,245941,674,337,97],"class_list":{"0":"post-553240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-anxiety","9":"tag-cognitive-behavioral-therapy","10":"tag-exercise","11":"tag-fitness","12":"tag-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}