The Best CrossFit Gear for Your Home Gym, Tested by Fitness Editors
What to Consider
Space
CrossFit encompasses a lot of different exercises that require an abundance of equipment. You can adapt and scale most WODs to what you have, but as you go deeper down the rabbit hole, it’s likely that you’ll want to collect more tools to broaden your training. That said, our list contains 13 categories, and there’s certainly more gear you can buy if you’re so inclined.
To house all this equipment, you need a room about the size of a one-car garage. And if you’re not ready to go all-in on this list, that’s OK. We’d suggest investing in a jump rope, pull-up bar, barbell, weight plates, and squat stand to start. That’s enough gear to tackle plenty of WODs. As your CrossFit journey unfolds and/or you move into a place with more space, you can begin to add other picks from this list.
The Workouts
If you’re deep into CrossFit, then it’s likely you’ll tackle lots of WODs. To stick to the WODs as written, you’ll need all of (sometimes more than) the equipment listed below—plyo boxes, a jump rope, gymnastic rings, a weighted vest, an AirBike and rowing machine, and so on and so forth. Our list is extensive because it includes all the equipment we deem essential for CrossFit. If something is on this list, it isn’t a frivolous add-on but a necessity (or, at least, a commonly used nice-to-have).
Build Quality
You’ll find that none of the gear below are strictly “budget” picks. That’s by design. CrossFit demands a lot of work, and it isn’t uncommon for pro athletes and serious hobbyists to train twice daily. As such, we’ve picked brands and models known to be quality-built and durable. You don’t want to replace your barbell, plates, or rower every year. As the saying goes, buy once, cry once.
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How We Chose
Our fitness editors and writers researched the different types of CrossFit equipment that most people want and need to develop the list below. In some cases, these pieces have been used by our team for years, in others they were tested for just a few sessions, with the above considerations in mind. We made sure that each product was the best in terms of CrossFit workouts, footprint, and durability. Scroll below to check out the best CrossFit gear for your home.
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Best Gymnast Rings
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Double Circle Wood Gymnastic Rings
Pros
The numbered straps make for quick adjustments
The wood handles look and feel great
Easy to store and travel with
Cons
Need a place to hang them
Walking into any legitimate CrossFit Box, you’ll see gymnastic rings dangling from the ceiling or pull-up rigs. They’re the go-to apparatus for performing the iconic muscle-up, which turns up in over 400 WODs (workout of the day).
Double Circle’s wooden gymnastic rings feature the same 1.2-inch-thick handles as Rogue’s popular ring set but for nearly $40 less. These rings come with four carabiners and embroidered numbers on the straps, making adjusting the length of the rings simple. Each strap is just over 9 feet long, so you can hang it from most ceilings and pull-up bars. (Make sure wherever you hang it from can support the rings and your body weight.)
Double Circle’s gymnastic rings have a 4.8 out of five-star rating with over 2,000 reviews. Reviewers like the build quality, functionality, and ease of use. A few reviews state un-sanded handles and a couple of cases of splinters, but after getting hands on, we can confirm these feel great.
Read More: What an Olympic Gymnast’s Workout Looks Like
Strap Dimensions
9.2’ L x 1.5” W
Ring Thickness
1.25”
Product Weight
4 lbs
Materials Used
Wood, nylon, metal
Best Pull-Up Bar
Titan Fitness Wall-Mounted Pull-Up Bar
Pros
Enough clearance for kipping movements and muscle-ups
Very affordable wall-mounted pull-up bar
Supports 500 pounds
Cons
Must be bolted into a wall
Titan’s pull-up bar is everything you want in a pull-up bar, especially for CrossFit. It’s wall-mounted so it won’t collapse on top of you, has a grip diameter of 1.25-inches (perfect for most people), and protrudes far enough from the wall to allow for kipping pull-ups and muscle-ups. There’s a reason we rated it high on our list of Best Pull-Up Bars.
We also like the 500-pound weight capacity; if you’re a bigger athlete or enjoy cranking out weighted pull-ups, you won’t ever have to worry about this bar giving out. (It also makes for a solid structure to hang rings.) For less than $70, it’s not the cheapest bar on the market, but it is one of the more affordable models of this type and level of quality.
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On Titan’s website, this bar sports a five-star rating with 142 reviews. Reviewers praise the bar as simple to assemble, sturdy, and relatively affordable. A few customers complained about receiving damaged parts upon arrival, though Titan responded and does offer a one-year warranty on the bar.
Read More: The Best Pull-Up Bars, Tested by Us
Type
Wall-Mounted
Dimensions
53.5″ L x 31″ H x 34″ D
Product Weight
23 lbs
Weight Capacity
500 lbs
Materials Used
11-gauge steel
Bar Diameter
1.25″
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Best Games Box
Rogue Games Box
Pros
Tested and used by pro CrossFitters
Three jumping heights in one box
Durable and built to last
Cons
Heavier and more cumbersome than soft plyo boxes
The Rogue Fitness Games Box is the same box used by professional CrossFitters competing in the Games … so, yeah, the product has been thoroughly tested and approved. The 3-in-1 design means you can flip the box over to achieve different heights—20, 24, and 30 inches. Unless you’re trying to max-out, that’s enough for box jumps and box step-overs during any WOD. Rogue is known for its quality construction, so this box is built to last, but is backed by a one-year warranty in case it doesn’t.
A couple of things worth noting: The box is made out of wood, which is a nice aesthetic touch and isn’t prone to ripping like nylon, but also means you may bang up your shins during missed jumps. (Also, we wouldn’t let the box sit outside at risk of warping in rainy and humid weather.) You should also consider if you want to lug a 56-pound box from A to B daily. Foam boxes are easier on your body and lighter.
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Product Weight
56 lbs
Dimensions
30” L x 20” W x 24” H
Height Options
20”, 24”, 30”
Materials Used
Plywood and radiata pine
Best Rowing Machine
Concept2 RowErg Indoor Rowing Machine
Concept2’s RowErg is the gold standard. It’s the model Olympic rowers and CrossFit Games athletes train with, and it’s influenced the design of other rowing machines (see Rogue’s new Echo Rower). Every aspect of the Concept2 sets the bar for what a rower can be. The build (a mixture of high-quality plastic and metal) is sturdy and durable. Each stroke feels smooth. The PM5 monitor offers various stats, from time to distance to calories, and all of them can be recorded in Concept2’s ErgData app (a free app that lets you track your progress and share it with friends(.
Of course, you’ll need to consider if you can (or want to) pay $1,000. There are plenty of rowing machines for under $500, but none of them are as universally great as the Concept2. You also need enough space to use it. Concept2 suggests you reserve a lot that’s 9 feet by 4 feet to have enough clearance.
Dimensions
96” L x 24” W x 14” H
Product Weight
57 lbs
Weight Capacity
500 lbs
Resistance
Air
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Best Medicine Ball
Dynamax Medicine Ball
Pros
Minimal bounce-back, but enough to catch on the rebound
Comes in a wide range of weights
Extremely durable
Cons
Only comes in one diameter (14”)
Dynamax revolutionized the medicine ball as we know it, creating a ball with enough padding to toss it as hard as possible without damaging the structure. Since the brand launched in 1985, a host of others have mimicked the innovative craftsmanship, but we’re shouting out the original.
Do CrossFit and there’s a 100% chance that you will toss a med ball. Wall balls—where you squat down with a medicine ball and launch it upward as you rise out of the squat—are a classic CrossFit movement. The Dynamax ball is coated in durable leather and features double-stitched seams for supreme durability, ensuring they can survive any drop or slam.
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The Dynamax Medicine Ball has 4.6 stars (36 reviews) on Rogue’s website and a five-star rating (20 reviews) on its own site. Aside from one review showcasing torn stitching, users typically praise the ball’s durability.
Weight Range
4-30 lbs
Diameter
14″
Warranty
2 years
Best Kettlebell
REP REP 22 kg Kettlebell for Strength and Conditioning
These are exactly what you picture when you think of kettlebells. REP Fitness’ kettlebells are powder-coated (which prevents corrosion and enhances your grip), color-coded (so you can easily identify the weight you’re using), and gravity cast, which means they’re molded as one piece instead of the handle being welded on top of the bell (making them more durable).
REP offers an immense weight range, from four to 48 kilograms (nine to 106 pounds). The kettlebells are only sold as singles, so you’ll need to purchase two (and double the price you see on Amazon) if you want a set, which we recommend since a lot of CrossFit WODs call for two kettlebells. REP does offer two bundles on Amazon—an eight-24-kilogram set of singles for $380 or an eight-24-kilogram set of pairs for $759.
Weight Range
2.2-106 lbs
Materials
Alloy steel
Coating
Black powder coat
Handle Diameter
30-40 millimeters
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Best Weighted Vest
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5.11 QR Plate Carrier Base
Pros
Fits snugly around the waist and over the shoulders
Velcro design makes it easy to put on and take off
Comfortable straps and inside padding
Cons
Weight plates sold separately
Oftentimes, it is simpler (and safer) to wear a weighted vest during a longer WOD to add load for squats, pull-ups, and box jumps. You want a weighted vest that clings securely to your body, is easy to get on and off, and is painless to unload. 5.11 has been making plate carriers for years, with a proven track record of crafting breathable, comfortable, and functional vests.
The vest is easy to get on—drape it over your shoulders and secure the waist strap (which costs an additional $55). It has ample padding on the shoulders and inside each side of the vest for comfort. $165 for the base isn’t unreasonable; the cost is comparable to other market options at a similar quality level. That said, you’ll have to pay extra for the plates ($85 for a pair of 5.75 pound plates and $105 for the 8.75-pound pair).
Type
Plate carrier
Sizes
S/M, L/XL
Dimensions
S/M, 13.75″ L X 11.25″ W X 1″ D; L/XL, 15.75″ L X 11.75″ W 1″ D
Materials
500D nylon
Color Options
Black, kangaroo
Best Barbell
REP Fitness Colorado Bar
Pros
Can be used for Olympic and powerlifting movements
Cerakote finish protects against corrosion
Semi-aggressive knurling helps your grip
Cons
No center knurling
A barbell is essential. You need it to clean, jerk, and deadlift weights—no ifs, ands, or buts. REP Fitness’ Colorado Bar is our pick for the best barbell on this list because it’s a multi-use bar, meaning you can use it to perform static and dynamic lifts, that should last you forever (assuming you treat it right).
The knurling (the cross-hatch pattern on the shaft that helps your grip), is mildly aggressive. The composite bushings allow for enough spin to make Olympic movements like cleans doable but not enough spin to hamper your static lifts (deadlifts, bench presses, and squats). There isn’t any center knurling, which helps the bar stick to your back during squats, but that’s OK for most people and can be uncomfortable on your neck during more common CrossFit movements such as thrusters, front squats, and cleans.
You can purchase the Colorado Bar with a Cerakote or hard chrome finish. We suggest the Cerakote, a ceramic coating that not only looks sweet but protects your barbell from rust and discoloration. The one downside is the price. At nearly $300, this bar is pricey. That said, you will use the thing nearly every day and REP built it to last. This isn’t the category to cheap out on.
Weight
20kg/45lbs
Weight Capacity
1,500 lbs
Materials
Steel
Length
86.6”
Shaft Diameter
28.5 centimeters
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Best Rack
Titan Fitness T-3 Series Short Squat Stand
You want a dependable rack to load your bar for squats, Olympic lifts, overhead presses, and bench presses, but this isn’t the category in which you need to pull out all the stops. For less than $300, Titan Fitness, a brand known for selling quality gear below market price, built a squat stand that does exactly what you need.
You’ll need about 6 square feet of space to fit this rack, which is relatively compact compared to other squat/power racks. It’s constructed from 11-gauge steel, comes with J-hooks (which hold the barbell in place), and can support up to 1,000 pounds. It consists of a base and two uprights and the necessary hardware is included, so assembly isn’t a chore.
Because it’s a squat stand and not a power rack, it lacks safety bars, which catch falling barbells. This means you need to be comfortable dumping out of Olympic lifts and squats and/or you need a spotter on hand when lifting heavy weights.
Product Weight
144 lbs
Weight Capacity
1,000 lbs
Dimensions
72” H x 48” W x 47” D
Materials
11-gauge steel
Finish
Powder coat
Living Fit Bumper Plates Pairs
Pros
The rubber is drop-resistant for minimal bounce
Cheaper than premium brands
Color-coded
Cons
No 55-pound plate available
You can’t drive a car without wheels, and a barbell ain’t squat without plates. You want bumper plates, which are coated in rubber, because they’re more drop-resistant than iron plates. We like Living Fit’s bumper plates because they’re priced well, color-coded, and can be bought in pairs. You can also buy weight set combos, depending on how much you’re willing to spend up front.
The color-coded plates aren’t just for flair; they can help a lifter quickly identify which plates weigh what, saving them time when loading and unloading a barbell (day after day after day). The rubber coating is also promised to be low bounce, so you don’t have to worry about the bar smacking back in the face after dropping it. And at $155 for a pair of 45s, Living Fit’s bumpers are cheaper than Fringe Sport, Rogue, and Major Fitness’s models. You’ll get a two-year home and two-year commercial warranty for the 25-, 35-, 45-, and 55-pound plates.
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Weights Available
5, 10, 15, 25, 35, 45 lbs
Plate Diameter
17.7″
Insert Diameter
1.98”
Materials
Rubber
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Amazon Basics Rubber Encased Hex Dumbbell
Pros
Rubber coating protects the weight and your floor
Handles are knurled for better grip
Relatively very affordable
Cons
10-pound jumps between weights
You don’t need to break the bank on dumbbells, and for this reason, The Amazon Basic Rubber Hex Dumbbells are a solid choice. The hexagonal shape ensures they won’t roll away from you mid-workout and stay in place if you perform push-ups on them. They’re rubber-coated, which protects both the metal and your floors (kind of) if you drop them. Also, the handles are knurled instead of sporting that annoying rubber grip common on cheaper dumbbells, which chafe the hands and get slippery as you sweat.
Amazon only offers a weight range of 10 to 50 pounds, plenty for most CrossFit athletes looking to fling dumbbells around for WODs. That said, if you’re interested in lifting heavier weights to build strength, you’ll likely need more than 50 pounds for movements like chest presses and goblet squats. Also, some folks don’t like the ergonomic handle shape, which is slightly fatter in the middle and narrower towards the ends of the shaft.
It’s been a minute since fans have seen Academy Award winner Laura Dern in a movie. But now, she’s showing up big time in the new Netflix romance Lonely Planet, which co-stars Liam Hemsworth.
The 57-year-old looks super glowy as novelist Katherine, who falls in love with Liam’s Owen on a writer’s retreat in Morocco. But it’s hard to miss how fit she looks, too—especially as the film gets a little steamy.
So, what’s Laura Dern’s workout and wellness routine? Here’s what she’s shared.
What is Laura Dern’s workout routine?
On the fitness front, Laura does “literally whatever I can get, whenever I can get it.”
“Before kids, it used to be an hour and a half of yoga in the morning,” she told The New York Times in 2017. “Now I try to fit in some exercise on a dog walk. As a working parent, you’re just constantly trying to fit it all in.” (Laura shares kids Ellery Walker and Jaya with ex-husband Ben Harper.)
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Laura loves yoga, but it’s difficult to fit it in as a busy mom. “My yoga practice has become, like, 11 minutes in the morning, because I don’t have the time,” she told Vanity Fair in 2019. “You have 11 minutes. You could hold a plank and do a couple sun salutations and meditate for even a few minutes and have a very centered day—as opposed to the day where you wake up to your phone and you’re checking a hundred texts, and then you go into the newsfeed and see all these hopeful promises that stress you out.”
But yoga isn’t the only workout that Laura does. She’s also been spotted out hiking with her pal and former Big Little Lies costar Reese Witherspoon:
For diet, she ‘listens’ to her body.
Laura seems to have a healthy approach to what she eats. “Diet is weird. It’s elusive. I just try to listen to my body,” she told the Times. “Lately, I’ve been doing matcha green tea with my whisk, and I really love it.”
Laura added that her kids are “actually very healthy,” noting that her son is “an impassioned surfer” who enjoys nutritious foods and juices. “We don’t have a lot of gluten and dairy in the house,” she added.
She’s so known for her wellness habits, in fact, that John Cusack (with whom she worked for the 1989 film Fat Man and Little Boy) once joked that Laura’s idea of a good time is “a little more granola on her yogurt.”
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“I remember I was growing sprouts in my hotel room and eating so clean,” she told Vanity Fair. “I had some kind of charcoal filter for my water, and I would meditate every day. I was excited about setting a pattern of health in my life, and it brought me here.”
But Laura also said that now she doesn’t have as much time for all of that. “The hope is that you’re obsessive at a time you can be, so that you can start to weave in practical habits,” she says. “[Otherwise] the same habits are being sleepless and overworked and in your workaholic nature, and then… you go to the club to release tension.”
She turns to art and mindfulness to relax.
To unwind from her busy work day, Laura is big on art. “I look at the ferocity of Nan Golden’s work, listen to Patti Smith, read—and reread—books like Little Women,” she told Shape in 2020. “It’s inspiring and incredibly healing to learn from women who are their true selves. And that’s not easy. I care a lot about what other people think.”
Laura is also “a meditator.” She aims to do transcendental meditation for 20 minutes a day.
“If I don’t end up with 20 minutes, and just end up with a little bit of time, it’s better for me to get some of it in, being a vigilante about my practice,” she told W in 2020.
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She’s also big on making gratitude lists, writing down five things she’s grateful for and five things she did well each day. “It helps me be kinder to myself,” she told Shape. “There’s no greater beauty trick in the world than that.”
Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master’s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.
Everyone is raving about Pilates right now, and for good reason—it’s an excellent way to build strength while also improving posture and mobility.
Equipment-free Pilates routines can help you get fitter, but if your main aim is to build muscle, adding a resistance band can speed up results.
Annabel Luke, founder of Pilates By Bel, says she regularly incorporates resistance bands into her workouts to increase the intensity.
We asked Luke to share her favorite resistance band exercise for building strength at home and she recommended the single-leg stretch for improving strength and mobility.
“If you’ve been doing Pilates for a while, a single-leg stretch may feel manageable,” she says. “But if you add a resistance band around your feet, it will add an extra challenge for your core muscles and legs.”
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How to do a single-leg stretch
Lie on your back and lift your head, neck and shoulders off the mat.
Bend your knees to a 90° angle and raise your legs, so your shins are parallel to the floor hovering above the mat.
Place a resistance band around both feet—you’ll instantly feel your core engage.
Extend one leg out in front of you while keeping the other in its starting position.
Bring the extended leg back in, then switch sides.
Repeat for 10-12 reps.
The benefits of resistance band movements
As the name suggests, resistance bands add resistance to your movements, making muscles work harder—just like free weights or machines—and promoting muscle growth.
Resistance bands can also be used for stretching or to assist with challenging movements such as pull-ups.
Start your week with achievable workout ideas, health tips and wellbeing advice in your inbox.
With the single-leg stretch, the resistance band not only adds resistance to your core and leg muscles but also enhances the stretch. This makes it a great move for improving both strength and flexibility.
Resistance bands to try
Need to stock up on your home gym equipment? We like the below options from Amazon. Once you’ve bagged these, you’ll be able to do full-body resistance band workouts and resistance band arm workouts from the comfort of your living room.
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Jakkofoxx resistance bands
The cheap, short-looped resistance bands are ideal for making your squats and lateral walks more challenging.
Lianjindun resistance bands
Open-ended bands are very versatile, and these latex-free options are currently less than $10.
Perform exercises like lateral pull-downs and weighted squats with these long-looped, durable bands.
Have you ever felt trapped in a cycle of negative thinking you can’t seem to kick? It’s easy to fall into these thoughts, especially when you’re feeling stressed or sleep deprived. In honor of Mental Illness Awareness Week, let’s talk about one of the simplest ways to boost your mental health: Thought exercises. They’re a simple and no-cost way to break those negative thinking patterns and change how you perceive things.
They can also help us make our subconscious thoughts go in more productive, helpful directions over time, and they’ll eventually cut out those negative thinking patterns entirely. Regain control over your mental health with the best thought exercises you can start right now.
Also learn which foods to eat for a happiness boost and which color to paint your bedroom for the best mental health.
What is a thought exercise?
Thought exercises are new ways to think about a given circumstance or experience that can help us get out of a stuck or unhelpful way of thinking. While some thought exercises have been studied extensively by psychological researchers, others are offered by psychologists and clinical mental health counselors because they’ve been helpful anecdotally for specific types of patients. Thought exercises may be suggested by your therapist, whether they are online or in-person.
It’s important to keep in mind that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all thought exercise. Feel free to try one of them for a few weeks and see if you like the way they impact your mental health and feelings of well-being. If not, you can try a different one. Thought exercises are meant to be a method of seeing the world differently, not a medical treatment.
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What are the benefits of thought exercises for mental health?
Reframing thoughts is one of the building blocks of cognitive behavioral therapy, which has been found effective in many studies.
A go-to thought exercise can help one maintain calm during a stressful moment and continue functioning, staving off a more severe reaction like an anxiety attack.
Thought exercises can reduce the duration and intensity of anxiety symptoms even when not combined with traditional therapy.
When paired with a mental health app, thought exercises can provide a log of one’s growth and changes in mental health.
Thought exercises can make us more mindful of what triggers our anxiety, allowing us to make life modifications that help us to experience anxiety less often.
6 thought exercises that will boost your mental health
Next time you’re feeling stressed out, try one of these methods to help combat overwhelming feelings.
The self-observation exercise
Many spiritual traditions include some kind of self-observation or mindfulness exercise, but it is helpful in a completely nonspiritual context as well. When you begin to experience the symptoms you associate with anxiety, you can use this exercise to get curious and learn more about what you’re going through. Here’s how to do it:
1. When you’re feeling anxious and have the opportunity to take a couple minutes to yourself, do so. Get away from others so you won’t be interrupted, even if it’s just a few minutes.
2. Start noting the way that every element of your body feels. Are you feeling the anxiety in your shoulders, neck, stomach or head? Are you experiencing other symptoms, like fatigue or a headache? Don’t judge the feelings, just note them, like you were observing a scientific experiment and needed to catch everything.
3. Then turn your self-observation to your thoughts. What are the specific stressors cycling through your mind? Try to catalog them, rather than letting them overwhelm you. When you’ve noticed one, let it go, recognizing that you’ve “heard” it.
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4. If you can get to a place of fully focusing on bodily and mental sensations, you may find yourself able to calm down, doing things like releasing the muscles you’ve discovered are tense or letting thoughts go instead of holding onto them intensely. This may take a few tries.
The act of self-observation can be a way to take your mind off the anxiety and come back to your body. When we’re in fight-or-flight mode, the anxiety gets us to safety, but if we are physically safe, this can be a way to evaluate our body and find our baseline again.
Keep a thought record
One of the ways that people better understand their anxiety symptoms is by recording their thoughts. This can be done in a traditional paper journal, but there are other options, especially when it’s inconvenient to carry an extra notebook everywhere. The app Thought Diary is a simple interface, letting you write down your mood and any details about it. It also includes other thought exercises, such as practicing gratitude and analyzing a thought.
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Reviewing your thought record occasionally can help you draw connections, including things like how sleep, exercise and nutrition impact your anxiety symptoms.
Interrupt anxious thinking
Anxious thinking responds best to being distracted by a different task. These techniques are more about what effectively distracts you and less about a technically “right” method.
Try tensing and relaxing different muscles in your body, focusing on the muscle activity and seeing if it can help you stop thinking anxious thoughts.
Breathing with an intentional count, like four counts in and four counts out.
Putting on music, an audiobook or a radio show can interrupt anxious thoughts and bring your mind to bear on something else.
Loudly saying that you’re done thinking this way or verbally speaking affirmations can help get out of one’s head and hear a positive voice more clearly.
Choosing a soothing task that is also mentally engaging: word games on your phone, loading a dishwasher, doing a yoga flow or other set routine of stretching can all be effective anxiety interruptions.
Counting backward slowly sometimes works to interrupt the flow of anxiety.
Use cognitive defusion exercises
Cognitive defusion exercises are all about getting an outside perspective on our thoughts, or strategies that help us detach and look more clearly at our thoughts. They are used frequently in CBT and other types of cognitive therapy.
Use a silly voice: Some people find it helpful to detach from their thoughts by using a silly voice to say something like, “Oh, you think this is very concerning, do you?” or some other observation about the thought.
Leaves on a stream: Some people use the visualization that their thoughts are floating down a river, coming to them and then going away, as a way to see the thoughts as separate from their core identity.
Label your thoughts: Some people find it helpful to identify “that is an anxious thought” or “this is a fearful thought” as they have the thoughts, helping to take them out of being an assessment of reality and treating them as separate items which don’t have to be believed outright.
“Thank you mind”: When our minds tell us a warning in the form of an anxious thought, we can offer gratitude to our mind for trying to help us and warn us.
Practice self-compassion
Anxiety sometimes presents as excessive worry that one isn’t good enough or has negative traits. These thoughts, when played on a loop, can be demoralizing and can make everyday activities miserable. A way to combat this negative self-talk is to practice self-compassion. While it may seem odd at first, trying to see your current situation the way you’d see it if a good friend was going through it can be a start. Give yourself the kind of comfort you’d give a friend, instead of the harsh critique you often give yourself.
Another self-compassion exercise is to find and focus on a photograph of yourself from childhood. Instead of directing your thoughts toward your adult self, direct them to that child. Recognize that your adult self deserves the same kind of comfort that a child deserves, as you are also still learning, albeit different things.
The worry tree
The worry tree is a tool developed for those who experience compulsive or continual worry to help them make a conscious decision between worrying or doing something else. It is a flowchart graphic that is customizable to the person, but essentially starts by questioning, “what exactly am I worried about?” then “Can I do something about it?” and “Can I do something about it right now?” The tree guides people to let worries go when nothing can be done, to make a clear plan if nothing can be done right now, and to go do something if there is something useful to be done about the worry right now. It can help avoid rumination, where we think the same anxiety-inducing thoughts over and over without relief.
The bottom line
Thought exercises can feel different from our typical ways of thinking, but if you remain curious, you may find your mind changing, experiencing more methods for how to think positively over time. If you find that thought exercises make your anxiety symptoms worse, you may have an ineffective thought exercise for yourself, or your anxiety might respond better to treatment from a psychiatrist or counselor. Talking with a mental health professional is a good idea to get better answers about your specific situation.