Episode 35Feb 2, 2026· 7:21
Cabin Fever Got You Down? Why Exercise Is Your Secret Weapon for Mental Health
About this episode
Stuck inside because of bad weather? Ashley Grant gets real about the mental health struggles of being trapped indoors and why working out at home has been the only thing keeping her sane. In this episode, she shares practical tips for staying active when you can't make it to the gym, from YouTube stretch classes to adding weights to your Zumba routine.
Ashley opens up about the dramatic difference exercise makes…
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Full transcript
00:00
I mean, the truth is that if you're working out,
00:01
it is like one of the best ways to get over cabin
00:05
fever, to get over mental health issues, to get
00:07
over feeling kind of blah. And that's that's
00:10
kind of what I've been using exercise for. Welcome
00:19
to More Movement, please. What's up, you guys?
00:20
Famous Ashley Grant here. This is the podcast
00:22
where I hope to inspire you to move your body
00:24
more. And I've got to tell you, I'm still looking
00:27
at some snowy conditions. It is. It's crazy.
00:29
I'm so ready for the snow to be gone. You know,
00:34
the funny thing is I grew up in Tampa, Florida.
00:36
And the idea of snow was something that you traveled
00:39
to go see. And it was a novelty. And now that
00:42
I'm living in a state where it snows, like there
00:46
are some days where I absolutely love it. And
00:48
I get excited by the fact that I'm indoors and
00:51
not able to go anywhere. But ever since I got
00:54
serious about fitness. Oh my God, you guys, I
00:57
can't stand being indoors. I want to go to the
00:59
gym as much as I can. It drives me up the frigging
01:02
wall that I have not been able to go to the gym.
01:05
And yes, I know what some of you are probably
01:07
thinking. I probably could get there. In fact,
01:10
I've gotten several messages from several people
01:13
that I could probably get there. And the truth
01:14
is, if I really tried, I probably could. But
01:17
the reality is that I was a little bit nervous
01:20
about trying to drive on my roads in my neighborhood.
01:23
I'm looking at a lot of sheets of ice and I've
01:27
watched several of the neighbors like fishtail
01:30
in just right in front of my window. And I don't
01:33
want to do that. And because I can work out online
01:37
and because I do work from home. Not having to
01:41
leave, I'll take it for right now. It does kind
01:44
of suck. I do really, really want to get back
01:46
to the gym. I mean, please do not misunderstand
01:47
anybody who knows me, knows that I'm an extrovert.
01:50
I love to be around people. I get excited by
01:52
it. I freaking love it. But yeah, I haven't wanted
01:57
to put in the risk that would be required to
02:01
get to the gym. And it sucks. I miss my girls.
02:05
I miss them so much. I miss some of the guys.
02:07
I miss soul. much of the group fitness and working
02:11
out in person. And I'm really looking forward
02:14
to getting back into the gym, but I have to just
02:16
continue harping on the fact that I am just so
02:18
freaking grateful that I can still work out from
02:20
home online. The only thing that I will say is
02:23
it does kind of suck that I have smaller weights
02:26
at home. I've never wanted to invest in dumbbells
02:29
until now. And I hope I won't ever need them
02:31
again. I have a set of threes and I have a set
02:34
of fives and I have been actually. Trying to
02:37
hold them together to, you know, get closer to
02:40
what I normally am using at the gym. In previous
02:44
episodes, I've talked about the fact that my
02:46
smalls are eights and my bigs are fifteens. And
02:49
I will often use twenties whenever I can or whenever
02:52
I feel like I'm able to. But this week, you know,
02:55
or this past week of only being able to use threes
02:58
and fives has been a little bit, you know, a
03:00
little bit weird. And so I've actually been adding
03:02
in extra reps. One of the things I did on Saturday
03:05
is I actually added weights to my Zumba routines.
03:09
The Zumba class that I was taking online, I added
03:11
the threes to it. I was using the threes for
03:14
a lot of the dances. Helped a lot because, you
03:18
know, I was still putting in a bunch of reps
03:19
and still, you know, getting the good feels that
03:21
I was hoping for to continue feeling like I'm
03:24
actually working my body. And I can tell you
03:26
that even though I've been using smaller weights,
03:28
I am still feeling the feels like I'm feeling
03:32
like I'm actually working and moving my body.
03:34
And that was the goal. And one thing I have been
03:36
doing, though, is I've been like using multiple
03:39
weights in my hands to do some of the exercises
03:41
so that it'll be closer to the weight that I
03:44
have at the gym. But I have to tell you guys,
03:47
like the main reason I wanted to record today's
03:48
episode is the mental health aspect, right? Like
03:51
I've been having some pretty significant cabin
03:53
fever, especially since, like I said, I have
03:55
missed my gym people so much. I've missed my
03:57
gym buddies. And I'm so freaking grateful for
04:00
the fact that I've been able to work out because
04:02
it has been the only real thing that's been helping
04:05
to keep some of the cabin fever at bay. I won't
04:08
say it's keeping it all at bay because Lord have
04:10
mercy, I cannot wait to get out. But I... I'm
04:14
really grateful that I've had the movement because
04:16
I can tell when I've been sedentary too long
04:21
now. Like if I go several hours where I haven't
04:24
moved or haven't gotten up or started, you know,
04:26
stretching or squatting or something, I can feel
04:29
it now. And one thing that's actually kind of
04:31
funny is my husband will sometimes even say to
04:34
me now, have you worked out yet? Because, you
04:37
know, he knows that if I haven't, that's when
04:39
I start getting kind of mean. I don't mean to
04:42
be. I really don't. But I'm definitely nicer
04:45
whenever I'm working out. I'm definitely nicer
04:47
whenever I've gotten my movement fixed for the
04:50
day. So that's really been helping me a lot.
04:55
And so if you're stuck at home, stuck inside
04:58
like I have been, and you're looking for something
05:01
to give you some good feels, some warm feels.
05:05
do some movement, man. Like go on YouTube and
05:08
find, you know, a stretch class or a dance class,
05:11
or there's a lot of videos I've seen that are
05:14
full body workouts with no equipment. I've seen,
05:17
you know, body weight workouts where you're using
05:19
your body as the weight to be able to, to get
05:22
in a good exercise. So I highly recommend you,
05:24
you do that because. When we move our bodies,
05:28
we just feel better. It triggers things in our
05:31
brains, sends out all those good feels, all those
05:34
good chemicals. We get the endorphins. We get
05:36
the dopamine hit. We get the serotonin hit. We
05:39
get all those good things. Our cortisol levels
05:41
go down. We feel less stress. It's the best thing
05:46
you can do whenever you're starting to feel those
05:49
bad feels. And so if you haven't worked out today,
05:52
I highly recommend it. Here's what I'm going
05:55
to be doing for the rest of the week. Today is
05:58
Monday. And so my goal for this week is to, at
06:02
some point. God help me get back to the gym.
06:05
But in the event that I don't, I still plan on
06:07
working out every single day. I will be doing
06:09
my Zumba classes. I will be doing my low impact
06:11
cardio classes. I'll be doing my stretch classes.
06:14
I'll try out some more walk in place classes
06:16
and report back. I'll be doing Tabata and all
06:19
those good things that I absolutely love to do
06:22
to move my body and work my body. That is the
06:24
goal. That is my plan. And so I hope this inspires
06:27
you to move your body too, because... It is the
06:30
best thing for you. It really is. It is amazing
06:33
the difference that it has, the impact that it
06:36
has on your brain, on your physical health, your
06:39
mental health, your emotional health. I mean,
06:41
it's honestly even helped my emotional health.
06:43
It makes me feel more regulated emotionally.
06:45
So onwards and upwards, my friends. Have you
06:48
worked out today?
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