How sport helps to socialise again

The Next Level gym chain’s campaign continues to support people in mental health. Find out more in this interview with psychologist Annie Vladimirova

How has the lack of a social life affected our mental health?

We lived in a world where we too often complained about the lack of space. No place to park, no space in your favorite restaurant, crowded tourist sites, shops… The constant eventfulness, the movement from destination to destination and the immersion in the digital masked all too well the loneliness and the difficulty of creating stable relationships… What isolation did as a survival mechanism in the pandemic – laid bare all the sick places of the human being in terms of connecting.

And physical contact and, more to the point, severely limited communication, how did it affect us?

The lack of physical communication very quickly created unsuspected deficits because our brains are used to exchanging pheromones, seeing movement and changing environments. Being alone no longer seems a luxury. In isolation, people work many more hours than they do at home. Processes are sped up and time for the individual as a free chooser is reduced. A huge percentage of young and actively working people say they have begun to worry much more intensely about how they are going to form partnerships? Will they be able to have a family at all? They began to feel frustration at the loss of opportunities to live beyond the walls of their home, at the sense of stagnation.

What isolation has done more is force us into brand new stereotypes. In them, many people began to lose their habits. Some live in chaos because they don’t want to maintain the home-prison. Others in stagnation and lethargy because the monotony has sucked the meaning out. As a consequence, notions of possibility became very distorted. Going on a date, hanging out with friends… is a much less tangible reality.

Many people are looking for “venting” out. Do sports, fitness, expending physical energy help?

There is a mindset – “It’s a shame to walk alone! Everyone will think I’m necessarily going to look for a mate!”, “I’ve forgotten the skills and what to do!”, “There’s no particular point in trying to network! It’s always the same with me!”, “How will I let them see me in bad shape!?”, “What will they think of me since I have no experience in the gym?!”…

These are cues-logical deductions that turn out to be invisible but serious roadblocks to overcoming loneliness!

But: in the gym, contacts happen more spontaneously and casually, because the movement of the body also liberates the behavior. Personal space is reduced. People give access to themselves more easily. Almost everyone has gone for one purpose, which is physical activity. This brings down more easily the barriers and evaluations that we shy away from. In this context is also the beneficial effect of endorphins from sports activity, which reduce criticalness of others. As a result, people are much more readily inclined to communicate, to give useful support to sport, to help each other. There you have it, the way to network…

And the relationships in the gym, the contacts? Are they a factor?

In the gym, no one accepts or rejects a person on the criteria of lonely or connected. Positive perception by others comes not from the relief and intensity with which you train, but from much easier and simple factors-a smile, a willingness to make small talk or give helpful information, to step away from an appliance or help use an appliance.

In the gym, all people are a community, and the idea of a degree of competence is not identical to that in a corporation. The gym is the place where no one will be rejected for not having enough skills. On the contrary, it is the feeling of being able to help and guide someone that gives a positive emotion to the opposite person. A more realistic perception of gestures and facial expressions gives people wider access to each other. Let’s not forget mirror neurons, which hem give us the ability to learn, in this case new exercises, new movements, but in a very easy and non-violent way attract people to us.

Are group workouts the most direct route to socialization in the gym?

It’s surprising how when mental fatigue falls away through sport and a person puts aside their problematic thinking, they see much more clearly and calmly the ability to connect with others. And yes, this happens very fluidly in group workouts. A huge percentage of shy people who can’t communicate without a specific task or structure find peace in communicating with coaches. This contact proves to be an important and specific springboard to move into more spontaneous, out-of-the-frame contacts.

The sense of coping, day after day, is what creates a stable self-esteem. New self-perception also provides new opportunities in bonding. When we step out of the digital and the four walls, a much more intense connectedness to reality is felt, because through action the illogical conclusions that sabotage us fall away.

But how to behave in the hall? Is there a golden rule?

First, you can check which workouts are most recommended for your mental health and emotional mindset right now on the platform we created with Next Level. Thanks to the questions you’ll answer, you’ll also get the best advice and guidance. When you go to the gym, ask questions to “tame” the place. Questions about the workouts and schedule, about the equipment, about the group classes.
Try to attend the group that makes you feel most comfortable. That way you become part of the group dynamic and the overall plans.

Along with this, try all the options in the gym until you feel “yours”. This way you will meet a lot of people, gain experience, have security.

You don’t need great achievements to be liked. It takes perseverance to create your place in the gym and a relationship with the people there who want the same as you.