In this post we discuss how to pay close attention in the gym to improve your results.
Like most people I expect your life runs to a schedule. Things to do, places to be, deadlines to meet.
You’re busy, I get it.
This doing mindset tends to spill over into other areas of life however. Not least your exercise programme.
You go to the gym with yet another list of things you need to do.
Chest press, check.
Leg press, check.
And so on and so forth.
Perhaps you even try to distract yourself once you’re there by watching the TVs or checking your phone. Anything to get through the workout quicker and with the least amount of boredom.
If you’re bored you’re not paying attention
If you pay close enough attention to anything it becomes interesting.
I’m staring at a blank white wall right now but if I think about it, there’s plenty to notice.
As the clouds obscure the sunlight from outside the shade of white is constantly changing.
I’m sitting very still but I can feel different sensations of pressure, warmth, tingling and tension.
This is just me sitting on a couch staring at a wall.
What does paying attention during exercise feel like?
Let’s swop the couch for a chest press and see what’s available if you pay close attention.
• Select a light weight and take hold of the grips. Sit tall in the seat and very slowly begin to push the handles away from you.
• Which muscles appear to be working?
• If you feel the exercise in a particular area such as your chest, can you increase the tension in those muscles without moving the handles faster?
• What happens if you gently push inwards on the handles instead of just pushing them away from you?
• Does one side appear to be working harder than the other?
• What happens if you tense your abdominal muscles? Does it make the exercise easier or harder?
• Once you get to the end of the range how close can you get your upper arms to your chest? What does that do?
• As you begin to lower the weight focus on what you feel in your chest. Move as slowly as you can without stopping.
• Pause just before you get back to the start position and float the weight you’re moving just above the stack. Now gently pull away again as smoothly as you can, like a chauffeur driving a luxury car.
The benefits of paying attention when you exercise
First I bet you weren’t thinking about the list of things you’ve got to do either at the gym or later in the day.
You weren’t checking your phone, watching the news, or assessing the size of someone’s backside on MTV either.
For once, and perhaps for the only time today, you were aware of your body and noticing subtle changes.
Now imagine you brought the same level of attention to every exercise you performed in the gym.
Do you think your results would improve?
That you’d have less chance of getting hurt?
And that you’d feel better afterwards?
Try it. Let me know.