What do you think about while you workout? Do you tune into a television show while on the treadmill or listen to an audio book or music? Are you thinking about how many minutes you have left or what you have to do when you get home? Your mind and body are interconnected and how you think during your workout may have ramifications on the physical progress you’re making.
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Instead of zoning out while you exercise, staying mentally present can help you better understand your body’s needs, correct your form, and even work harder. Your body may be out of breath, tired, or sore, but your mind knows if you can do one more rep or one more minute. Athletes refer to this feeling as “being in the zone”. They’re not watching television or trying to follow a complicated audio book while they’re achieving great athletic success. They’ve learned to focus entirely on the task at hand and can’t even hear the crowd trying to disrupt their flow.
Learning to direct your attention towards your workout instead of away from it can help you reach your goals faster.
But how?
Try something new. Your brain is an expert at looking for opportunities to go on autopilot. Do you have to remember each day how to tie your shoes or drive to work? You learned how to do each activity and did it so often that your brain doesn’t require effort or focus to complete the task again. It’s the same way with an established, perhaps overused, exercise routine. Your brain is responsible for two primary signals—one that produces a feeling of excitement and energy and the other that produces a feeling of boredom. To engage the signal that lights up your energy levels, you have to step out of your comfort zone and try something new.
Break it up. Everyone is going to suffer some degree of boredom by doing the same exercise too long. Instead of spending thirty minutes on the treadmill, try breaking up each activity into smaller, more manageable parts. Simply shifting your attention from one task to the next can help you stay focused and mindful as you progress through the movements. You can also work in strength and cardio in the same workout by switching between activities every few miles, reps, or minutes.
Give your brain some stress. It sounds counterintuitive since for many of us, exercise alleviates stress, but the stress of an exciting challenge can help your brain boost those excitement signals. Entering a competition, setting a new goal, or even taking a group exercise class you’re unfamiliar with can all trigger some degree of stress that your brain interprets as something new and exciting. The risk doesn’t have to be great for your body and mind to benefit from the reward.
Visualize a successful outcome. If working out feels boring to you, try spending a few minutes prior to your workout visualizing the results you want to achieve. Your brain is very powerful and visualizing in great detail how you will look, feel, or act when you’ve accomplished your fitness goals can be enough to psych yourself up for a vigorous, motivating workout.
