Episode 35Feb 2, 2026· 7:21

Cabin Fever Got You Down? Why Exercise Is Your Secret Weapon for Mental Health

▸ Show notes from the creator

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About this episode

Ashley Grant shares a personal check-in episode recorded during a winter weather stretch that has kept her from driving to the gym due to icy roads and neighbors fishtailing outside. She describes improvising home workouts with 3lb and 5lb dumbbells — stacking them together and adding them to online Zumba classes — to approximate the heavier weights she normally uses. The episode centers on exercise as a mood and…

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Who this episode is for

This episode may resonate with you if:

You're stuck inside due to bad weather and the walls are closing in — you're restless, irritable, and can't figure out why you feel so off.

You've built your social life around a gym or fitness community and being cut off from those people is hitting harder than you expected.

You've noticed that when you don't move your body, you become a version of yourself you don't really like — snappy, low, hard to be around.

You only have limited or makeshift equipment at home and you're wondering whether it's even worth bothering to work out.

You're someone who used to not care much about exercise and now you're surprised to find that skipping it genuinely makes you feel worse.

Questions this episode wrestles with

Does working out at home actually do anything if you're used to heavy weights?

answered

Ashley shares that even with only 3s and 5s at home — when she normally uses fifteens and twenties — she's still feeling like she's actually working her body, by stacking weights together and adding extra reps.

"weights in my hands to do some of the exercises so that it'll be closer to the weight that I"

Can exercise actually fix cabin fever or does it just take the edge off?

open question

Ashley holds both things at once — exercise has been the only real thing helping, but she's honest that it's not keeping all of it at bay, and she still can't wait to get out.

"it has been the only real thing that's been helping to keep some of the cabin fever at bay. I won't say it's keeping it all at bay because Lord have mercy, I cannot wait to get out. But I... I'm"

Why do I get irritable when I skip a workout?

answered

Ashley describes how movement triggers the brain chemicals — endorphins, dopamine, serotonin — and lowers cortisol, which is why skipping it makes her noticeably meaner, to the point her husband now checks in on whether she's worked out yet.

"you do that because. When we move our bodies, we just feel better. It triggers things in our brains, sends out all those good feels, all those good chemicals. We get the endorphins. We get the dopamine hit. We get the serotonin hit. We get all those good things. Our cortisol levels go down. We feel less stress. It's the best thing"

Setting expectations: This episode is not a guide to the science of exercise and mental health, nor a structured program for beating seasonal depression. It's Ashley talking through her own cabin fever while snowed in — missing her gym friends, stacking 3lb and 5lb weights together to approximate her usual 15s, and noting that her husband now asks if she's worked out yet because he can tell when she hasn't.

Tone & style

Ashley starts from a place where snow used to feel like a novelty, but getting serious about fitness changed that — now being stuck inside drives her up the wall. The turning point is realizing that improvised home workouts (stacking 3lb and 5lb weights, adding dumbbells to Zumba) are still keeping her mood manageable, and she ends grateful for the access but openly eager to get back to her gym people.

Personal experience and opinion. References to endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and cortisol are stated as general claims without sourcing — not medical or fitness advice.

toneWarm & casual

focusAshley shares how working out at home with 3lb and 5lb dumbbells has been the main thing keeping her cabin fever and mood in check while snowed in.

stylesolo_monologue

energymedium

complexitybeginner

pressure Levellow

emotional Texturewarm, self-deprecating, grateful, restless

Notable quotes

"funny is my husband will sometimes even say to"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"of fives and I have been actually. Trying to hold them together to, you know, get closer to what I normally am using at the gym. In previous episodes, I've talked about the fact that my"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"it has been the only real thing that's been helping to keep some of the cabin fever at bay. I won't say it's keeping it all at bay because Lord have mercy, I cannot wait to get out. But I... I'm"

— Famous Ashley Grant

Episode transcript

Organized into 4 chapters — open any part to read the full text.

0:001. Snowed In and Missing the GymAshley introduces the episode from a snowy, icy situation that's keeping her from driving to the gym, explaining why she's chosen to stay home despite wanting to get back to her gym community.2:432. Making Do with Small Weights at HomeAshley describes improvising with her 3lb and 5lb dumbbells — stacking them together and adding them to Zumba routines — to approximate the heavier weights she normally uses at the gym.4:483. Exercise as the Main Thing Keeping Cabin Fever at BayAshley shares how working out has been the primary thing managing her cabin fever and mood, including her husband noticing she gets 'kind of mean' when she hasn't moved yet.7:214. Her Plan for the Rest of the WeekAshley lays out her weekly workout intentions — Zumba, low impact cardio, stretching, walk-in-place, and Tabata — and wraps up by asking listeners if they've worked out today.

Open full transcript

Mentioned in this episode

personFamous Ashley Grant

The host of More Movement Please, recording from home while snowed in and unable to get to the gym.

placeTampa, Florida

Where Ashley grew up, where snow was a novelty you traveled to see rather than something you lived with.

websiteYouTube

Ashley recommends it as a free resource for finding stretch classes, dance classes, and no-equipment full body workouts when stuck at home.

Key themes

Cabin fever from being snowed in

Ashley is stuck at home due to icy roads and neighbors fishtailing outside her window, and describes the restlessness of not being able to leave as 'driving me up the frigging wall.'

Missing the gym community

Ashley repeatedly says she misses her 'girls,' the group fitness classes, and working out in person — framing the social loss as distinct from the physical loss of the gym.

Improvising with whatever weights are around

Ashley describes stacking her 3lb and 5lb dumbbells together in her hands and adding them to Zumba routines to get closer to the 15–20lb weights she normally uses at the gym.

Exercise managing her mood

Ashley notices she gets 'kind of mean' when she hasn't moved, and her husband now asks if she's worked out yet as a way of tracking her mood.

Working out at home as a fallback, not a preference

Ashley is grateful she can work out online but is clear that home workouts with small weights are a compromise she's tolerating, not a lifestyle she's chosen.

Exercise and brain chemistry

Ashley names endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and cortisol as the reason movement makes her feel better, framing these as the mechanism behind the 'good feels.'

Growing up in Florida vs. living somewhere it snows

Ashley briefly contrasts her Tampa upbringing — where snow was a novelty you traveled to see — with her current reality of icy roads and being stuck indoors.

Noticing when she's been sedentary too long

Ashley says she can now physically feel it when she's gone several hours without moving — stretching, squatting, or getting up — which is a change she attributes to getting serious about fitness.

Weekly workout plan while still stuck at home

Ashley lays out her intentions for the week — Zumba, low impact cardio, stretching, walk-in-place, and Tabata — while holding out hope she'll make it back to the gym.

Connected episodes

Shared experience

Home workouts as unsatisfying compromise

#14If It's Not in Your Calendar, It Won't Happen: How to Schedule Workouts That Stick

Shared experience

Home workouts as inferior to group fitness

#33Snowed In? Here's How to Keep Moving Without the Gym

Contrast

Home workouts vs. in-person group fitness

#37The 10,000 Steps Scam: How a Marketing Campaign Became Fitness "Fact"