Check out these exercise recommendations to help alleviate pre-date stress…
When anxiety strikes before a date, bad things tend to happen.
In fact, scientific research shows a direct correlation between anxiety and negative feelings about social situations.
So, finding a way to combat this anxiety — whether it takes the form of doubts, fears, or lack of confidence — is key to a successful dating life.
One effective way our clients have combatted their anxieties is through a pre-date workout.
Working up a sweat has proven to boost their mindset, confidence, and vibe.
Yet not all workouts are created equal, and not everyone has time to hit the gym for a strength-training session before their date on Friday night.
So, we’ve brought in a friend to recommend quick, effective pre-date exercises to warm up before your next big date: Anthony, the founder of Unlock Your Fitness. His work has been featured in Esquire, Men’s Health, and GQ.
In the following post, he details his recommended exercises and explains why dating and fitness are mutually beneficial. (A great supplement to our ebook on mental fitness!)
Get ready to get pumped up!
Unleash Your Inner Alpha With These Pre-Date Exercises (No Gym Required)
No one wants to go on a date not feeling their best.
All that doubt and negative energy has a way of clouding your unique self identity.
Happily, there’s a fast and easy way to unleash your confident “Benevolent Badass” within — without having to update your wardrobe (though that helps too).
How?
Do a quick pre-date workout.
With a little exercise, you’ll get your blood flowing so you can feel alert and energized after a long day of work.
Better yet, exercises targeted to chase away anxiety can make the difference between a date where sparks fly and one that’s more like a firework dud.
So, let’s look at a few quick exercises you can do at home (no equipment necessary) to quell pre-date anxiety:
Straighten Your Posture
The fight for good posture is an uphill battle for almost everyone.
Whether it’s too much time in an office chair or the cumulative effect of sleep deprivation, your body faces a ton of alignment risks in everyday life.
On a date, bad posture is an unspoken signal that you’re not fully engaged and that you’re less than confident (not anyone’s best look).
The hardest part is that your posture might communicate that you’re disengaged even if you’re enjoying yourself and her.
It’s that easy to slouch down and shy away without noticing.
Yet as Sarah has pointed out before, good posture is a natural charisma-enhancer.
If you’re sitting up straight with your head held high, you’re giving your presence a natural boost.
You’re also visibly more engaged, which will relax and excite your date.
Now, posture is not something you can fix an hour before a date. It takes dedicated training to straighten your alignment.
That being said, doing a few pre-date posture-enhancing exercises can help. After all, slouching 50% of the time is still better than 100% slouching.
Here are 2 of my favorites:
Easy: Scapular wall slides can help anyone from serious athletes to prodigious office workers sit with better posture. Here’s how to do scapular wall slides.
Intermediate: Y/T/W/Ls are a fancy acronym representing a series of shoulder stretches that helps you squeeze your shoulder blades together, which strengthens key back muscles. Check out how to do Y/TW/Ls here.
Counteract Pre-Date Anxiety
Imagine that Hinge has matched you with a woman.
You’ve chatted with her and exchanged emails. She’s smart, funny, and witty.
On Tuesday, you summoned all your courage and asked her to meet for a first date.
She said,
“That sounds great. I’d love to.”
Now, it’s Friday. Work is over, and your date starts in 2 hours.
At this point, anxiety likes to strike. Your mind starts to cloud with nerve-wracking questions about her:
- Will she like me?
- Will she like where I’m taking her for our first date?
- What if the conversation dies?
Doing some exercise is a great way to clear your head and chase away anxiety-induced negativity.
After all, jitters are fine cropping up here and there, but “calm and strong” is the best mindset to achieve before a first date.
You’ll feel good in your own skin, and she’ll feel good being near you.
To achieve this optimal pre-date mindset, try these exercises:
Easy: Deep squat breathing combines a great stretch with powerful breathing to help you find your center. See how it’s done: Deep squat breathing video.
Intermediate: The World’s Greatest Stretch targets almost all the major muscle groups. It’s perfect for those times you want to activate your body but don’t have lots of time. Click here for an example of how to do the World’s Greatest Stretch.
Boost Your Self-Confidence
Unlike anxiety that stems from unanswerable questions about your date, there’s another form of anxiety that stems from lack of self-confidence.
It arises in the form of questions and doubts, including these:
- What if she doesn’t like the way I look/speak/dress?
- What if she has different world views than I do?
- How will she react when she finds out my dating inexperience?
Again, there’s no way to answer these questions before the date.
Yet there’s one undeniable truth: if you’re uneasy, your date will sense that and will become uneasy in your presence.
To make sure that doesn’t happen, you can rely on exercise to help take your mind off anxieties so you can focus on her during the date.
It also makes you feel good in your own body, having just worked it out.
Here are my recommended self-confidence boosting exercises:
Easy: T-Pushups work on your upper body and target your shoulders, obliques, and triceps so you can feel improved strength, flexibility, balance, and endurance. A great pre-date workout! Watch this video: T-Pushup Instructional.
Intermediate: Spiderman Pushups make your chest and arm muscles work harder than they would during regular pushups. Watch this video to learn the proper Spiderman Pushup form: Spiderman Pushups.
You can also discover much more about building confidence here.
Summary: The Advantages of a Quick Pre-Date Workout
If you have a date with an amazing woman, you want to feel confident inside and out.
With these muscle-building exercises, you have one more tool to help chase away the source of your stress before your date.
That way, you can arrive feeling confident, self-assured, and happy.
It’s about more than just looking good…
It’s about feeling good, too.
In Conclusion
Awesome, thanks Anthony!
It’s easy to let pre-date anxiety fill your head with doubts and fears.
The best workout routine will make you feel in the short-term and build strength in the long term, while chasing any negative vibes away.
If you combine these exercises with other things you can learn here at Introverted Alpha, you will…
- Look ready for your date.
- Feel energized when you meet her.
- Exude confidence in your dating skills.
Want more fitness tips to help you feel comfortable in your own skin? Visit Anthony’s website, Unlock Your Fitness, for tips to make fitness a snap.
For steps beyond a pre-date workout, check out our 1:1 dating coaching program for introverted men. Through our awesome 12-week program that combines logical, intuitive teachings with fully customized personal coaching, you can start attracting the right women for you and self-actualize in the process.
And if you’ve not yet downloaded our ebook on why the pickup artist approach doesn’t work for introverts and what works instead, you can get that right here. It will help you understand why and how you’re attractive outside of fitness, to boost your confidence that much higher.
