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Health & Fitness

SCIENCE PROVES THE EXISTENCE OF WILLPOWER – KEEP TELLING YOURSELF, "'THIS WORKOUT FEELS GOOD'"

 

“Such experiments have prompted some scientists recently to propose a different theory of exercise-related fatigue, in which the brain, rather than the muscles, initiates exhaustion after receiving and analyzing inputs from the body. An attractive element of this theory, often called the psychobiological model, is that it allows more wiggle room. If exhaustion is determined by the brain and is, to some degree, subjective, then theoretically the right tweaks during training could convince your brain that you can go farther or harder than it would otherwise allow.”

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“But a deeper reading of the data, he continued, buttresses the idea that physical exhaustion develops, to a considerable degree, in your head. “If the point in time at which people stop exercising was determined solely biologically,” he said, self-talk would have no effect. But it did.”

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This study is just one more affirmation of “mind over matter” or, put another way, willpower.  Your thinking determines your actions which determines your reality.

 

What most people don’t understand is that the mind and the body are two different things - that the mind and the brain are not the same.

 

The human body, if given a chance, will avoid pain, have pleasure and do the minimal amount of work to survive.  Most people’s minds are not aware enough to, first, know the difference, and, second, to be strong enough to overcome the body’s desires.  You know when someone has a strong mind when they are accomplishing above average results in what they care about.

 

Every student I have trained with or have trained myself have been physically pushed to do things they wouldn’t want to do one their own.  The instructor’s hope is that they will eventually be able to have the willpower to push themselves as strong as they want, whenever they want, in any activity that they want.

 

Pushing someone physically is not to be confused with doing an activity that breaks the body in an unhelpful way.  An extremely knowledge instructor will know how to push a person, adjusting for any medical or physical issues, so that they are challenged and will grow without injury.

 

A person trying to figure out on their own what their limits are may or may not avoid injuries because they don’t what sensations signify harmful pain versus growing pains versus muscle soreness.

 

Challenge yourself.

 

Kind regards,

 

Bob Lee

Head Instructor

3rd Degree Black Belt

http://www.bodymindsystems.com/athletic-performanceinjury-prevention.html

Questions about how martial arts training can benefit you? Email bob.lee@bodymindsystems.com

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