During this mission, your mind may give you hundreds of reasons why you should skip the workout today and do it tomorrow. The monkey within you wants to submit to the temptations like a comfortable bed or a nice TV show.
With each instance where you show up for the workout despite all the distractions, you are doing more than just building muscles or losing fat. Two of the biggest benefits are:
Discipline: Discipline is like muscles. The more your use it, the stronger it gets. So, every time you say “yes” to exercise and “no” to temptations, you strengthen your discipline, which helps you in other aspects of life as well
Addiction: The neurochemicals released after exercise make you feel good and this, in turn, gets you addicted to working out, increasing your chances of showing up the next time as well
Now, this is all good to know, but there is more!
In his book The Power of Habit, author Charles Duhigg calls exercise a Keystone Habit, the term he uses for habits that improve multiple aspects of life. It turns out that the time spent working out also improves your productivity in the other areas of life. You start becoming limitless. How?
Let us start with the immediate benefits of clarity and elation after a workout. You must have noticed that no matter how tired you get after a workout, your brain seems to be riding a horse, or a rocket (in a good sense), all thanks to the neurotransmitters we saw earlier.
Research shows that a single workout can improve your ability to focus and switch attention from one task to another for at least 2 hours. This brings clarity, as no residue of the previous task stays in your mind once done, helping you live in the present moment. On top of this, you feel elated, so you don’t lose your calm even under stress.
A mind running out of control is so common in our culture that it is often treated as separate from the body. But as you practice movement, you improve the harmony between your mind and body. Ultimately, it is not the duality of mind and body, but their unity, that is the key to a fulfilling life.
To be continued…