# Trick your brain into loving your workout



## Daniel (Sep 24, 2009)

Trick your brain into loving your workout
by David Rock
_Psychology Today blog:_ Your Brain at Work

Sept. 21, 2009

_*Trouble maintaining exercise? Trick your brain into loving your workout.      *_

I truly admire people who seem to exercise effortlessly every few days.

I'm not one of them. I know lot of very good reasons to work out, both for your body and your brain. Yet it's just not been a regular part of my life so far, and now that I can see it needs to be, in my 40's, it's tough.

So I have starting to use what I know about the brain to trick my own brain into creating a new set of exercise habits. Here's what I have been learning through my struggles and breakthroughs.
*
Unconscious responses*
Today I got into a hotel elevator to go to the gym (I'm in Singapore this week). I intended to press the button labelled ‘gym'. But before I knew it, my hand had, all by itself, pressed the button labelled ‘bar' instead.

That's the trouble with my (and many people's) brain. Subconsciously, we don't see exercise as anything to look forward to, it's just not something we _want _to do. So it's really easy to be distracted. This distraction usually happens before we're even aware of it. (Fortunately I caught this distraction before I had a first drink.)

The brain is naturally tuned to minimize effort, unless there's a perceived reward on the other side. (That's why millions of ‘effort saving' products exist in the world, from the TV remote control to the automatic garage door opener.) Effort is subconsciously perceived as a threat. The reason is that effort (both physical and mental) uses up valuable metabolic resources, which only a fraction of society have easy access too (and only in the last 150 years or so). The brain focuses a lot on minimizing threats, neuroscientist Evian Gordon calls this an 'overarching organizing principle of the brain'. So we tend to automatically avoid effort, and as a result find ourselves in the bar by accident a lot more often than the gym. How do you work around this when exercise is important?

*Turning threat into reward*
Everything the brain interacts with is either a threat or reward. One study showed that we even class nonsense words automatically into one of these categories. It's one of the brain's most all-encompassing functions.

In the brain the best way to counter a threat is with a possible reward. A reward way down the track, like living longer, while attractive as an idea, is still quite uncertain, and uncertainty tends to be a threat. That's perhaps why knowing all the good reasons why we should exercise doesn't seem to do it for a lot of people.
*
Developing a (healthy) addiction*
Instead of trying to talk ourselves into exercise by focusing on it's long term benefits, we need to find ways of turning exercise into a reward-rich event in the present. Once we have tricked our brain into thinking that exercise is a reward, then we need to pay a lot of attention to this reward experience so that we develop a kind of healthy 'addiction' to exercise. How you do this can come in infinitely different ways, depending on what works for you. I think the key is to find a strategy that suits your interests, lifestyle and needs. Let's explore a few possible examples based on insights from brain research.

*Rewarding, in just the right way for you*
My own strategy is to tie exercise into my work, as I already love my work (sorry, that does sound bad but it's true). Exercising is the one way I know, for sure, I can unblock an idea or project in my head. If I am stuck for an idea, a swim or a run does it every time. So I link exercise to something I am already placing as very important, which means I feel rewarded by. It helps me unlock other painful experiences like being out of ideas. (The reason insights happen during exercise involves an part the ability to quiet down the overall ambient noise of the brain as I wrote about in a recent post.)

Another short term reward that might work for you could be being able to sleep better. Another might be the joy of the ‘runner's high' you get half way through a good work out. The key is to find a reward that's important to you. Importance means interest, and interest means dopamine, and dopamine means a lot of things, including in a big way, reward.

Another idea is you could download interesting podcasts to listen to while you exercise, so the reward is about your audio experience, to distract you from the pain. I'm a fan of NeuroPod, brain science podcats. (I also have a few brain-related podcasts myself you can download free.). Or better yet, listen to some stand up comedy: humor is a great dopamine raiser. This way you either get smarter (which raises your sense of status, a strong reward), or laugh a lot while you work out. Your brain could really look forward to these kinds of events. When you look forward to something it means your brain is interested in it, it's being perceived as a reward. That's the key. _Make it interesting. _Without being interesting, somehow, exercise will always be something to avoid and you'll find yourself in the bar before you know it.

*Building your social (exercise) circuits*
Another strategy that works for many people is to link to the social reward response, by joining a group exercising, like playing a team sport, or by working out with a buddy. This has a series of benefits. Firstly social connections themselves are inherantly rewarding (read more on this in another recent post.) Secondly, we don't want to let someone else down, so we're far more likely to turn up. That's because the feeling of letting someone down is a threat - we will drop in their status, which activates a threat response in the brain.

So, one great way of ensuring you do exercise is to do it with a friend you like and don't want to let down, and doing something that still lets you both have conversations, especially if this involves, believe it or not, a good conversation about other people. Gossip doesn't just feel good, it turns out to release some wonderfully rewarding hormones too.

*In an emergency, work out how to avoid pain*
Sometimes I need to call in the 'big guns' to focus on exercise. I  know that avoiding pain tends to focus the brain more than activating reward. So another strategy is to plan an event that would be exceedingly painful if you didn't work out in preparation for it - like running a marathon or going skiing for several days. This one works for me: the thought of being in so much pain I couldn't consciously choose to go to a bar after a day on the snow, is enough of a threat to get me out running daily for a few months before a ski trip. Bad is stronger than good, therefore sometimes avoiding pain is the motivation that's needed.

*The ends justfy the means (at least when it comes to mental strategies)*
When it comes to creating routines for exercise, whatever mental strategy that works for you is good. That's because the benefits of exercise truly are spectacular, including a healthier heart and a sharper brain. Exercises helps you grow new neurons and even live longer. Its just that the knowing these benefits doesn't create change: what creates change is truly wanting to do something day to day, which requires some kind of day to day reward.

The good news is that your brain loves a good reward and can become addicted to new rewards fairly easily. A new study showed that most new habts are created within a month and few take more than 66 days. Try a new rewarding activity for just a few week and you might find you develop a positive addiction that's harder to stop than it was to start.

_David Rock founded the NeuroLeadership Institute and is CEO of Results Coaching Systems, a global consulting firm. His most recent book is __Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long_.


----------



## Fiver (Sep 24, 2009)

I know that when I go for a long walk to expend excess energy or get exercise (as opposed to needing to walk to clear my head or think something through,) I get rather excited at being able to play a particularly favourite music genre at decibels that would get me lynched if I cranked my speakers that loud at home. That's a reward for me, a great incentive to get out there and do it. And NO, I'm not telling you what kind of music, but I'll tell you I was a geek in high school and you can make your own guesses. (I'm now a geek _and_ a dork, and I wear it proudly!)


----------



## Daniel (Sep 24, 2009)

> I get rather excited at being able to play a particularly favourite music genre at decibels that would get me lynched if I cranked my speakers that loud at home.


By the way, a study with soldiers in Israel showed that magnesium (such as from spinach) lowers the risk of ear damage when exposed to gun fire....or MP3 players 

Personally, when working out indoors, I like to watch video lectures


----------



## Daniel (Oct 19, 2009)

Make Workout Time Fly
by Mehmet Oz, MD and Michael Roizen, MD 
_RealAge.com_

September 24, 2008 

You know those days when you think about how great you'll feel after your workout -- but you still can't get started? Say goodbye to them. These three workout games make time fly by, keeping your mind occupied, and they prevent fitness plateaus by keeping your body stimulated.

*1. Change the rules but work the same.* Make your workout harder in one way but easier in another, so the amount of work you do stays the same. For instance, if you're using a treadmill, increase the speed and decrease the incline. Then switch, so you're walking more slowly but on an upward slope. *Even though your intensity remains steady, the variety makes the workout feel different.*

*2. “I can do anything for 30 or 60 seconds.”* Add high-intensity intervals here and there throughout your workout, but only do them for 30 or 60 seconds each. The time limit creates a doable challenge, and the mini challenges make it fun.

*3. The trigger switch.* Pick something that happens randomly, and use it as a trigger to change your workout. For instance, if your stationary bike faces a window, you might decide that every time a red car goes by, you'll increase the intensity by one level, until you reach your personal max. When you get there, switch: Use every red car as a signal to reduce the intensity one level, then work your way back up again. On a stair climber, you might use random events to change the way you're stepping -- do baby steps, then deep steps, then step with no hands touching the side rails. Suddenly, you're done!


----------



## Daniel (Feb 9, 2010)

Men's Health Lists : 20 Ways to Stick to Your Workout


----------



## Daniel (Apr 12, 2010)

A fun metric to gauge progress:

YouTube - Did you know how slow you run? // Wiedzia


----------



## Daniel (Apr 19, 2010)

Another tip:



> *Don't associate pain with the  desired action.* "I find something in the new behavior that I  can enjoy so that needing to be disciplined is no longer a factor," she  writes. "Since most forms of exercise are anathema to me, I make running  palatable by letting myself watch TV only when I am on the treadmill."
> 
> 5 Keys to Making Healthy Changes - realage.com


----------



## Daniel (May 3, 2010)

*Burn More Fat on the Treadmill*
By Scott Quill
_MensHealth.com_

Treadmills make me feel like a lab rat: caged in a gym, getting nowhere,  with a vague sense that life is pointless. Which got me wondering how  scientists keep their clueless little research rodents running on  treadmills in their experiments. 

         Turns out it's Cheerios. Cheerios and a little electrical shock if they  slow down.

         "It's a very small current. But they don't seem to like it," Steven  Britton, Ph.D., a professor of physiology at the Medical College of  Ohio, tells me. After a session, he says, he rewards each rat with a  Cheerio. "In Norway," he mentions, "they give them a little piece of  chocolate."

         Intriguing. But shock therapy isn't going to happen at my gym. And  chocolate is part of the sweet holiday minefield that puts me and other  men on the treadmill in the first place. Then Britton, being a  scientist, makes an intuitive leap: "If people are informed of the  consequences of being overweight and not exercising, that's kind of a  little shocker."

         Eureka! So I, being a journalist, twisted his idea and did some  research, making a negative jolt a positive push: 

*Men who exercised for 30 minutes*  on a treadmill boosted their levels of phenylacetic acid—a natural  antidepressant—by 77 percent. Perfect for gloomy winter days.

*Running for an hour or more **per week* reduces your chance of  coronary heart disease by 42 percent, according to Harvard researchers.

*Running on a treadmill* instead  of on roads reduces your chances of a stress fracture by at least 48  percent, a study showed.

         Taping these findings to the treadmill's control panel would help. But  *here are some more practical boredom busters* that will make your time on  the belt seem to go faster. For all of these, make sure you jog easily  for 5 minutes to warm up, jog another 5 to cool down, and stretch  afterward.

         Then go ahead, have a Cheerio.

​


----------



## Daniel (May 9, 2010)

The Magic of Music--Study Finds Music Can Increase Strength, Calorie Burn
by Brian Willett

...You may not realize it, but the soundtrack to your workout can actually have profound effects on the outcome of your session. Studies have established that the tempo of the tunes on your IPOD can influence your heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output and oxygen consumption – the faster the beat, the more your pulse races, and possibly, the more calories you’ll burn.

But that’s not all. While the aforementioned study is more likely to affect your cardiovascular exercise sessions, another recent study indicated that music can also make a difference in resistance training sessions as well...Those in the music group exhibited greater endurance, increasing their number of repetitions by an average of 16.5 repetitions, while the non-music group only added an average of 10.6 repetitions to their efforts...


----------



## Daniel (Jul 24, 2010)

5 Mind-Blowing Benefits of Exercise 
_US News and World Report_
            By                        Deborah Kotz 
          June 30, 2010

*Think exercise is all about toned abs and weight loss? It also makes you happier and smarter*

Maybe you exercise to tone your thighs, build your biceps, or flatten your belly. Or maybe you work out to ward off the big killers like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.  But how about sweating to improve your mind? "Exercise is the single  best thing you can do for your brain in terms of mood, memory, and  learning," says Harvard Medical School psychiatrist John Ratey, author of the book, _Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain._  "Even 10 minutes of activity changes your brain." If you need a little  extra incentive to lace up those sneakers, here are five ways that  exercise can enhance your brainpower:






*1. It reverses the detrimental effects of stress.*  Jumping on the treadmill or cross trainer for 30 minutes can be an  instant way to blow off tension by boosting levels of "soothing" brain  chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.  What's fascinating, though, is that exercise may actually work on a  cellular level to reverse stress's toll on our aging process, according  to a June study from the University of California at San Francisco. The  researchers found that stressed-out women who exercised vigorously for  an average of 45 minutes over a three-day period had cells that showed  fewer signs of aging compared to women who were stressed and not active.  Working out also helps keep us from ruminating  "by altering blood flow  to those areas in the brain involved in triggering us to relive these  stressful thoughts again and again," says study coauthor Elissa Epel, an  associate professor of psychiatry at UCSF.

2.* It lifts depression. *Research suggests that  burning off 350 calories three times a week through sustained,  sweat-inducing activity can reduce symptoms of depression about as  effectively as antidepressants.  That may be because exercise has been found to stimulate the growth of  neurons in certain brain regions damaged during depression. What's more,  animal studies have found that getting active boosts the production of  brain molecules that improve connections between nerve cells, thereby  acting as a natural antidepressant.

3.* It improves learning. *Exercise increases the  level of brain chemicals called growth factors that help make new brain  cells and establish new connections between brain cells to help us  learn. Interestingly, complicated activities, like playing tennis or  taking a dance class, provide the biggest brain boost. "You're  challenging your brain even more when you have to think about  coordination," explains Ratey. "Like muscles, you have to stress your  brain cells to get them to grow." Complicated activities also improve  our capacity to learn by enhancing our attention and concentration  skills, according to German researchers who found that high school  students scored better on high-attention tasks after doing 10 minutes of  a complicated fitness routine compared to 10 minutes of regular  activity. (Those who hadn't exercised at all scored the worst.)

4.* It builds self-esteem and improves body image.*  You don't need to radically change your body shape to get a confidence  surge from exercise. Studies suggest that simply seeing fitness  improvements, like running a faster mile or lifting more weight than  before, can improve your self-esteem and body image. 

5. *It leaves you feeling euphoric.* Yes, that  "runner's high" really does exist if you're willing to shift into  high-intensity mode. Ratey recommends sprint bursts through interval  training. Run, bike, or swim as fast as you can for 30 to 40 seconds and  then reduce your speed to a gentle pace for five minutes before  sprinting again. Repeat four times for a total of five sprints. "You'll  feel really sparkly for the rest of the day."


----------



## Daniel (Aug 20, 2010)

12 Tips for Getting Regular Exercise -- and the Benefits for Happiness and Fitness. | Psychology Today


----------



## Daniel (Sep 7, 2010)

*Set it and forget it *

Watch the clock go ticktock and a 20-minute treadmill jog can feel like the Boston Marathon. (It's only been five minutes?!) Instead, try a countdown. "I set a kitchen timer with the minutes I'm aiming to be active and go until I hear the alarm," says Tom Seabourne, Ph.D., director of exercise science at Northeast Texas Community College in Mount Pleasant. When you can't see the time, you're more likely to concentrate on what you're doing right now—your form, how strong you feel—rather than how long until you can stop. Plus, you'll avoid the urge to let up on the intensity when you have only a minute or two left. 

_from: _Secrets of the Fittest - MSN Health & Fitness


----------



## Daniel (Oct 3, 2010)

Fit is the New Fun -  Men's Health Magazine


----------



## Daniel (Oct 29, 2010)

Short bursts of exercise will make you fitter quicker - _The Independent_

..."Doing 10 one-minute bursts of activity on an exercise bike, interspersed by one-minute rests, three times a week, works as well in  improving muscle as many hours of conventional long-term biking less  strenuously," said Professor Martin Gibala of McMaster University,  Canada, who led the study.

To achieve equivalent results by traditional endurance training would  require over 10 hours of moderate-intensity cycling in a period of two  weeks...


----------



## Daniel (Nov 2, 2010)

_The Happiness Project_: 6 Tips for Sticking to Your Resolution*

5. Do it every day*. It's counter-intuitive, but I've found that when I'm trying to get myself to adopt a new habit, it helps me to do that thing _every _day, instead of _most _days  -- which would seem easier. For example, I blog six days a week (okay, I  do get one day off), and I think that made it much easier for me to get  into the swing of blogging. So if you're trying to start going for more  walks, say, try going for a walk every single day.


----------



## Daniel (Nov 4, 2010)

A little humor:


----------



## Daniel (Nov 16, 2010)

*Go Through the Motions
* 
On days when you don't feel like working out, make the only requirement of your exercise session a single set of your favorite exercise. "It's likely that once you've started, you'll finish," says Rachel Cosgrove, C.S.C.S.

Read more: Men's Health Lists : MensHealth.com


----------



## David Baxter PhD (Nov 16, 2010)

fftopic: 

Whenever I read the title of this thread, I'm reminded of a line by Pee Wee Herman in the film _Pee Wee's Big Adventure: _"Your mind plays tricks on you! You play tricks back!"


----------



## Meg (Nov 20, 2010)

We got a Kinect a couple of days ago and that's one way to love your workout!  It's fun and completely exhausting.  Well, I'm exhausted, anyway.


----------



## Daniel (Feb 23, 2012)

*Ignore the "Fat-Burning Zone"
*
It's a myth that you have to work out continuously for 20 minutes before you begin burning fat. The thinking once was that you needed to exercise in a range between 60 percent and 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. Any lower was too easy, and any higher made it too difficult to efficiently use fat for fuel.

Ignore that theory. Your body uses more energy overall when training at high intensities?just look at the physique of a sprinter. Going all out also makes better use of your time. You can finish your cardio in an intense 10- to 15-minute workout.

Stick to interval workouts that feature short bursts of high-intensity movement followed by active recovery periods. This approach is best for your heart and for fat loss.

Read more: Ignore the "Fat-Burning Zone": Men's Health.com​


----------

