HOW MINDFULNESS CAN BENEFIT YOUR WORKOUTS

There is a lot of misconception about mindfulness. As mentioned previously, there is a type of mindfulness practice that is very formal. There are special postures, you want the environment to be relatively calm and quiet. This type of training is great and certainly has a place in our wellness routine. However, there is a type of mindfulness that can be done anytime, even while completing our daily activities. This is the type of mindfulness I am addressing in this article.

All mindfulness truly means is single pointed focus on the present moment, or an object, or a thought, even on your feelings and body sensations. It does not have to be spiritual, it is more like a brain exercise. Complete awareness. Allowing all your senses to soak in the present moment. When we work out we really need to be there mentally.

Have you ever heard someone say “Show up to this work out, give it your all”? Well, having worked with athletes for most of my life I will tell you, that you can 100% be able to be somewhere physically and not mentally.

When we don’t show up mentally for our workout our form is sloppy, our effort is inconstant, and this is when injuries happen…..

When our mind is a million miles away we may not notice all our bodies feedback ques. One que I get from my body is when I’m dehydrated, even to a small degree of dehydration, my muscles get a little ache in them. This is a precursor to a cramp.

Another way to use mindfulness in your workout is during the muscle contractions. When I am using weight to strengthen the muscles, there is usually a contraction phase. This is when we are demanding the most out our muscles. Let’s say a bicep curl is our example. We have a weight in our hands. When our hand are down my our thighs, the arm is in extension. When we curl our arms by bending our elbows and we get to the top of the curl, we give a little extra contraction at the end. Really experience that moment and listen to your body. Feel how it feels to get that intense contraction at the end of the motion. Feel the blood rushing in. Hold it for a couple seconds, then slowly move out of your contraction.

When doing squats you feel that contraction the whole way down. Go slowly through the motion. At the end points stop motion completely. This helps prevent momentum from fueling the next portion of the exercise. This also helps us pinpoint the muscles we are targeting. Accessory movement causes muscles we do not intend on training to assist us in the motion we are completing. One example of this accessory muscle kicking in to help with the motion is when we accidentally use our hip flexors while we are trying to train abs. That is very common.

The low back is very easy to strain. There is training that shows you how to tighten your core as you do motions that can easily harm your low back.

All these are examples of becoming aware and able to focus on your body, and listen to the feedback. When we train mindfulness regularly it is easier to get your mind to focus during workouts. Mindfulness is a mind exercise and just like other exercises you get better and better the more you practice.