The №1 Reason You Should Exercise

Why do you exercise?

Not that “it’s healthy” explanation. It is true, but not motivating enough.

“I don’t want to be fat” — that is a little better. But it is still not the real reason.

“I love the way exercising makes me feel” — that sounds even better.

Let me tell you my reason: mind over matter!

Mind over matter

As you can already guess, this piece is not about well-known physical benefits of exercising. This is about the mental (spiritual) aspect of training.

I realized a long time ago that physical exercise is the best proof of the proverb mind over matter. All pro athletes, all the people who are in serious shape, understand this: after a certain point, it is not about the strength or endurance of your muscles. It is about your mental toughness and determination, not about the physical aspect.

How do you get to that conclusion? Well, I like to run occasionally. A few years ago, I decided it is time to start running more often to get back into shape. At that time, I could run around 3 kilometers (km) and that would be my maximum at the time. I plateaued there for about a year and I felt that it was the best that I can be at that moment. Around 3rd km I felt very tired, my lungs and legs were refusing any further progress.

The Matrix

Then all of a sudden, I remembered that all the limitations are just in our mind (spirit). Let me remind you of a famous scene from the movie Matrix, when Morpheus teaches Neo how to use martial arts in the matrix. He tells him the following words:

“Do you believe that my being stronger or faster has anything to do with my muscles in this place?”

So, on that day I ran for 6 km and I felt I could have done even more! I stopped just because I didn’t want to risk an injury.

The crucial question is: did I get much fitter all of a sudden? Did the endurance of my muscles double in one day? Hell, no! It had nothing to do with my physique, diet, type of training or anything similar. It was all a mental game. That day, for some reason, I made a firm decision to run more than 5km (as I used to back in the day) and that was it.

Mental toughness

Let us go back to top athletes in any discipline. They overcome fatigue and exhaustion with mental strength: they do not (just) condition their muscles to endure practically anything.

Here is an example: running a marathon — 42.195km (26.385 miles) is an enormous challenge for 95% of humanity. And did you hear about ultra marathons? How about 24 hour races? Some people can run over 300 km in 24 hours!!!

And did you hear about a guy named David Goggins? He is a former Navy Seal, held world records in disciplines such as pull ups etc. Among other things, he ran the Moab 240 race. In this race, he ran 240 miles (more than 380 km) in approximately 63 hours!!! How do you get to such an absurd level?

Here is a little hint: not with your muscles or tendons.

“This life is all a f*cking mind game. Realize that. Own it!” (№48)

So they all know that it is a matter of the mind, not the body. As the saying goes: free your mind and the butt will follow. Yes, you need to train if you want to run a marathon. Warm-up, stretch, eat the right food and prepare for big challenges. But that will not make you a marathon runner.

Michael Jordan (not a fan, by the way) did not become such a champion by training hard, staying after practice, etc. Many have trained really hard, gave all that they had, and were not even close to him. But he had tremendous confidence, self-belief, he did visualizations before the game and he was driven to become who he is.

The final word

In the end, it’s all a mind game. Yes, train hard, put in the effort, but it will not be enough if you did not make that “click” in your mind. Many people never made that inner decision. But if that happens to you, you did it.

As stated earlier, it is mind over matter. Own it. Then you will win it!