Obviously there is a massive connection between the mind and body, and our training and exercise is impacted by this. While we understand this, it can still be hard to maintain focus and motivation throughout training on the day, or during the longer week or month blocks of training. So how does mental fitness enhance your workouts?
So what is the actual connection between mind and body in relation to exercise:
Mindset allows a focus to ensure the exercises are being conducted safely and correctly.
It allows us to stay in the moment and avoid distractions.
Research has shown that focus during training improves results and performance during sessions.
It ensures we are also training our mind, something that is crucial for sports and longer events.
It ensures that we turn up to complete our session.
The mind motivates us, pushes us to achieve.
The mind helps us understand and interpret the feelings of the body, understanding when we are just lacking motivation, as compared to actually needing to back off training due to potential injury.
The connection between mindset and training is vital, so how can we improve this in ourselves?:
Change how you think about exercise: Don't think of it as a chore, or something negative, treat it as a positive experience.
Build Intrinsic motivation: That is internal motivation, motivation for the enjoyment of the activity. Don't rely on rewards or external motivators, instead find your WHY.
Find exercise you enjoy: find something, whether a sport, a gym or an activity that you enjoy doing and stick with it.
Understand your motivation: Understand that motivation is always there, it's sometimes just buried deep down. You don't need to create it, it's always in you.
Take on mindfulness activities: guided runs, guided yoga, breathing exercises, podcasts are all great ways to build mindfulness and improve your mood and motivation.
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