Anxiety, Schrödinger, and Pushing Iron
Stephen Burba, owner and coach at BG Powerhouse gym goes through his workout at his job and explains how it helps manage anxiety, depression, and self-esteem through a biological and philosophical lens.
Photos by Brennan Campbell
Photos by Brennan Campbell
Stephen Burba talks about how anxiety and depression stem from similar sources: uncertainty and a loss in prediction, and how he tackles that with his clients and community, "Once you get comfortable with the discomfort, it gives you just a little bit more time to think clearly in the moment when it happens in the real world, and you compound that over time."
Stephen Burba, 35, has been the owner of and a coach at BG Powerhouse since 2017. His goal is to help people be their best selves through teaching weightlifting, the science of the body and mental illness, and the philosophy through which determination and prediction are formed. When doing the sled pull, especially with clients who work on their anxiety, Burba explains how it puts the body into a different mental state that reflects internal stress in the real world, and how responses to that stress can be trained "Pay attention to your thoughts. The suffering that you're in right now is just chemical, you're going to feel this outside in the world."
Right before dropping into a squat with 365 pounds of weight, Burba explains how the works of Pavlov, Schrödinger, and Schopenhauer helped him come to terms with energy and behavior and how they influence depression and anxiety.
Despite not having a good upbringing at home, Burba found an escape via weightlifting and a former coach. He feels it is his duty to help his community, especially kids like him, find an outlet with physical strength training that will help aid in psychological strength as well, "As soon as I graduated . . . I realized, man, kids need this. They need an outlet, they need to have an authority figure thats not a parent, who can show them a better way."
Burba's gym focuses on mental strength and pushing past unpredictability. He likens the gym to exposure therapy, bringing the stress into a safe and controlled environment.
Burba uses a specific training model in which he alternates between adrenaline inducing exercise and strength prioritizing exercise to feel the full effect of the weight, training his body and his mental reaction to stress. Burba uses this model with his clients as well to push the brain and the body.
Burba finds disassembling the equipment to be remedial and therapeutic after an intense workout. He says it helps the body and mind recover and realize that this indeed was a controlled environment and safety is guaranteed.
Burba takes a minute to breath after finishing his overall workout and dissasembly.
Burba passes a wall of weightlifting trophies won by himself and other gym patrons. His gym caters more towards competitive atheletes while Burba himself caters towards those suffering from mental illness.
Community is a big part of Powerhouse. Burba chats with a regular while in recovery after his workout.
