Meditate for Motivation…and results!

So we’re two weeks into the New Year, we have started our new way of life, we are going to the gym and we haven’t been pigging out on the naughty stuff – Great! I know this is happening because the gym has been so much busier this week! However, I also get a feeling of Deja Vu as this happens every year..as we near towards February it quietens down again. Why? 

I talked about the importance of ‘thinking yourself fit’ in my last blog and it’s worth going into more detail here, because NOW is the time to really implement this new way of thinking – & there’s been lots of research to back up what I’m saying!  In a recent Harvard University study, Professor E. Langer found that by making people more self-aware of the exercises they were doing, they actually we able to reduce their blood pressure (ave of 10 points), lose 2 pounds and reduce body fat over the 4 week period as compared to the control group. The suggestion is that we can become healthier, and lose weight by simply being more aware of our exercising, rather than just increasing it.

It is not just ‘being mindful’ though, visualisation-meditation techniques are often used by athletes to improve performance, and indeed other tests have shown that even by mentally visualising a running race, we actually fire up the same responses in the brain as if we were really running the race for real. Doing this regularly can strengthen the neural pathway responsible for that particular action – so there are ongoing benefits here. 

So, this year make a difference & as part of your New Year plan to get fitter, take time to think about it first and take care of the mind as well. To get a really good visual of what I am talking about, try and watch the documentary called ‘Down the rabbit hole’ – here they use amazing graphics to show you how by learning a new skill (mental or physical), neurons are rewiring themselves ,the old pathways will be weakened, and new ones formed. This will change how you think about your body. These techniques are also shown to be effective in stopping smoking, and you can literally see how you become addicted to it. These events will be determined though by regularity and the quality of the practice – it won’t just happen overnight!

Here’s some good news as well – and that is the importance of REST in your new workout routine! Not just bodily, but your mind as well. In another survey it was shown how the actual endurance of cyclists was improved by 15% by them resting their minds before a competition, as opposed to the control group being cognitively active. Regarding the body, it is also important to rest, to achieve optimum results, otherwise the body may go in to a state of ‘overtraining’ (to be discussed in a future blog). 

So the best way to train the mind, ‘to be mindful’ – is to meditate. I mentioned this in my top ten tips video for 2012. Don’t worry, you don’t need to go to India to do this, you can achieve the same results from your bedroom. The art of meditation is essentially to quieten the mind, but this is not an easy thing to do and in fact most people who try, do not stick it out in the long run. The mind in continually wanting to talk to us from 1st thing in the morning till last thing at night – all you need to try and do is take at first 5 minutes in the morning and 5 at night to slow this down. You will need to be upright (otherwise you may simply fall asleep) and be in a quiet room. breathing will be the best place to start..and if anyone has tried Yoga, this is an integral part of the Yoga practice and largely why yogis are so fit! To control the breath is to control the mind. You literally follow the breath in and out through the nose, as if you are ‘following’ it with your mind. I will provide top tips to meditation in my next blog. 

But regarding being mindful to your new fitness regime there are 5 elements to consider:-

INTENTION.. that is you need to know what you’re about to do to get best results, to know the function of the exercise, so know how to prepare the body, how to breath (exhale on exertion), know your timing (seconds up/down) and the correct form. Basically plan and know each exercise before you begin.

BREATHING.. this is very important to be effective in your exercise. Muscles need oxygen to work, so don’t hold your breath, even though you may want to! Take a deep breath before you begin and exhale slowly as you perform the more strenuous part (exertion)

TIMING.. i.e being aware of your rhythm. This can be altered in different programs, and should be anyway to provide variety so the body does not ‘adapt’. You may count 2 seconds on the upward movement, 4 down – or really slow and do 4 up 4 down, there is no right or wrong, but build timing into your program & then change after 4-6 weeks.

FORM.. If you’re not sure how to execute a movement, ask. Don’t just check out someone else as they could also be doing it wrong. There are usually various ways of doing an exercise, but also numerous ways of doing it wrong and being ineffective, or even dangerous.

RECOVERY.. this refers to rest between both exercises and actual days of exercise. For specific strength training if your lifting heavier weights, you would have longer between sets to recover, for most training don’t have much more than 90 secs or less. Be warned of the dangers of too much exercise of the jaw as well – try and save it or later!

 So, if you find yourself faltering with your new fitness & health regime, stop and THINK about what you want. Rewrite your lists, prioritise and spend just those few minutes each day to getting your mind in the right space to see you through. If you have failed in the past…your mind could be the key to your success in the future…