Zen and the Art of Weight Maintenance – Part 3

The first two parts in this three-part series looked at mindfulness and food intake. Today’s post is about how we can make use of mindfulness while weight training.

Certain exercises come to mind when you think of paying mindful attention to your workout. You might get the image of a session of Tai Chi, Yoga, or Pilates; but you can do any form of exercise mindfully and enhance its effects, its safety, and your enjoyment of it.

To Begin A Mindful Exercise Session, Take A Few Moments To Clear Your Mind

To Begin A Mindful Exercise Session, Take A Few Moments To Clear Your Mind

Begin By Clearing Your Mind

To begin a mindful exercise session, take a few moments to clear your mental slate. Just stop, take a breath or two, and focus on any part of your body and on how it feels. Personally, I like to focus on my feet; I stop and notice the feel of the soles against the ground or the feeling of my toes in my shoes. This step will help you change gears from being in your head, to being more aware of your body. It can help make you feel like your workout is a little sanctuary from some of your usual mental clutter by immediately changing your mindset every time you begin.

Lift Weights Slowly

While you are performing your weight training routine, move as slowly and deliberately as you can stand. You will likely notice that, done in this way, each repetition is much more challenging than you might be used to. As you slow down, you use less momentum, causing your muscles to do more work. You also have more time to focus on performing the exercise with the best possible form. The extra effort will fatigue your muscles in fewer reps, which leads to less stress on your joints, and, since your form will be more precise, you will be much less likely to injure yourself.

Focus On Your Breathing

Finally, focus on your breathing. You may find that you have a tendency to hold your breath when you are lifting weights or working on a machine. This is an excellent time to change that bad habit. To breathe properly during a repetition, breathe out as you lift, press, crunch, or otherwise perform the motion that requires the most exertion. Breathe in as you return to the start position. (For example, if you are doing a bicep curl, breathe out as you curl your fist toward you, and breathe in as you lower the weight back to the starting position.)

An especially pleasant side effect you might experience from this kind of focused attention on your form and movement is a greater appreciation of your body. When I started paying closer attention as I worked out, I found that watching the movement of my muscles became more and more interesting and I noticed smaller changes, which kept me more motivated. I also found that I developed a deeper respect for my body and the way it works. But perhaps the best payoff of exercising mindfully, even above the safer, more effective routine, was that I started to look forward to my trip to the weight room as my time to let go of the day and just enjoy the feeling of admiration for my body’s strength and abilities. Anything that could make me look forward to getting to the gym is a technique worth trying!