Fitness Solutions Tip of the Week: Save time in your workout
In my teens and twenties I use to spend hours in the gym. I spent at least 90 minutes getting my cardio and weight training done. I looked good. I had a few injuries. I thought that was the price to pay for looking good. I also had more time. I didn't have the responsibilities I have at 55. Now, the question becomes how can I get the results in less time while staying injury free and in a way that gives me energy for the rest of my life? Well, I think the answer is mindfulness. What do you mean? you might be asking. What does meditation have to do with working out. What I have learned from over twenty years as a trainer and forty four years lifting weights is that mindfulness is the way to get more results in less time. The more present I can be to the sensations that come from working out and the greater the sensations I can tolerate in a given rep the more fatigued I will make the muscle in less time. We are built to make movement effortless. We are built to conserve energy when we move. Imagine what it would be like if moving took a lot of effort we wouldn't want to move so we are designed in away that most of the movement we do is effortless. We don't have to think about. Working out is the opposite. We move with intention. We are targeting a specific set of muscles. We want to take those muscles to fatigue. We can't have a fight or flight response jump in there and take us off the muscle we are trying to work. We can’t let our brains default to picking what ever muscle is available to move the load. We are trying to be more specific than that. This is why mindfulness can make a difference in your workouts. The more you are able to focus and be with the discomfort in the muscles the more results you can get in less time and in this world we live who wouldn't like to save time.
