are you getting enough exercise?

are you getting enough exercise?

WAIT! I'm not calling you out or anything. I understand why you might be working out less lately. Holidays, exams, weather, work, parenting, etc. But is that actually bad for you? Dr. Alia Crum is a Stanford psychologist who studies mindsets - how our beliefs impact our biology/physiology. In better words:

That the total effect of anything is a combined product of what you're doing and what you think about what you're doing.

That's an awesome quote. And she did a study to back it up. She asked a group (of hotel house workers) how much they exercise. Then, she told half of them that the 'exercise' they get at their day job is healthy for them. Well, 4 weeks later, this half improved their health metrics - lost weight, decreased blood pressure, and felt better overall.

So, despite not changing activity level, their health improved. Only because of how they thought about it. Now that doesn't mean exercise is entirely a placebo. It is not. It just highlights that your mindset around it is important. So how can we use it to get the most benefits?

1. Embrace the good feeling you get from any exercise. This isn't about "self-acceptance". It's about using your mind to get more benefits, without exerting more effort.

2. Be objective. In the last week. Did you really just sit in bed all day... or did you go out with the family? Did some walking, stretching, etc. You probably got some healthy movements here and there. Notice them.

3. Compare to others less. If you're constantly assuming that guy in the gym works out better than you, you'll never feel like you're doing enough. Your body will kinda agree and you'll get less out of every rep.

Going back to how this email started. "are you getting enough exercise?". Well, you decide. Just know that your decision changes your physiology.

This is from episode #56 with Dr. Alia Crum (timestamped).