metacomet
18-03-2009, 01:00 AM
You're 20 minutes into your work out, lungs are burning, muscles aching etc. The thought of taking it down a notch, even stopping for breath, floats above your head, tempting you.
"Gotta keep pushing" you tell yourself... but the mental image of immediate comfort, of catching your breath, even stopping, is all it takes. Next thing you know, you're walking at a slow pace, or laying on your back, huffing air while you think to yourself "$#*@ me, I am a weak piece of #$(%." :p
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_gKEFrmLQ4As/SX8FGH81W3I/AAAAAAAABLs/v0S4FH2wa3o/s400/Exhausted.jpg
Even if you're strong and healthy, these moments come up for all of us during exercise. How to push through them?
You must learn to look beyond time and the present moment! The present moment is full of pain, full of effort, your entire mind is focused on it, it makes you want to quit. But the present moment, situated in time: is, like time: an Illusion. Therefore, the present moment can be overcome and what feels like the absolute limit or utmost strain of your body can be easily surpassed. After all, the present moment is finite... fleeting... it will be gone. And so will the pain. This is victory.
http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/83/94783-004-E7018629.jpg
If you were to focus on the time after the exercise, which will come sooner or later, you can overcome the present moment.
The reason we exercise to begin with, is our looking forward to the afterglow. The afterglow of exercise is what makes it nice... but the afterglow doesn't come until after an exercise.
The fact that we exercise in search of an afterglow is evidence that we will push forward into activities that are painful during the moment - in order to be rewarded in the future. But the future is not right now , right now your lungs are burning and you just want to stop and wrap it up.
http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1613/PreviewComp/SuperStock_1613R-19621.jpg
Time in this dimension is being sucked in one direction : forward.
The only way to push through the climax of a workout, the most intense and painful moment, is to set your vision forward in time.
Pick a location 20 yards ahead, or 20 seconds ahead, and as you continue to workout, you will reach that goal. The passage of time between now and that moment is an illusion. It feels very real at the moment , the pain can be intense, the temptation to stop can be enormous, but that moment will soon be gone, and the temporary goal will have been reached.
This is a form of mental time travel, and it's something we do everyday. It's more difficult to do during exercise because the temptation of quitting or giving into the moment is very real. However, there is a great reward in reaching to the future, the end of your run, the end of your workout, and meeting yourself at that moment, is equally real.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3292/2338988068_248771d3e0.jpg
Instead of the sweating, heaving, even frustrated individual you find yourself being during the most physically difficult moments : you must realize that there is a you in the future who has pushed themself through all of that and come out as a beaming, healthy, strong individual. That person is real - that person is right there, 20 seconds ahead of you, 20 yards ahead of you - you need only meet them. The time between the beginning of your workout and the end is not real - it is a memory waiting to be had. The person at the end of your workout is real and is a 'you' waiting to be realized. If you give into the temptation to quit during a workout, the 'you' you are aiming to be at the end may not be what you had in mind. 'They' exist in another timeline, one where you pushed yourself to the limit.
All of us have versions of ourself in different futures which exist in different timelines. The way I keep strong during an exercise is to remind myself that there is a version of me which is stronger and brighter in spirit - but I must push through the illusory passage of time and pain in order to 'meet' that self. And I do meet him : each and every time! And so do you. If you didn't you would never exercise.
After every workout, all the pain and intensity is just a memory. A recent memory, echoing itself in the fatigue of my muscles, the shortness of breath, etc... but just a memory. The weaker version of myself is now in the past of a different timeline.
There is a weaker version of yourself in the past as well. You knew back then there would be a bigger stronger version of yourself someday. That day is now. You've already time traveled - whether you know it or not. Take small bites and you can travel through any workout.
http://www.clipartof.com/images/clipart/xsmall2/22528_yellow_man_in_his_growth_stages_of_life_as_a _baby_child_and_adult.jpg
"Gotta keep pushing" you tell yourself... but the mental image of immediate comfort, of catching your breath, even stopping, is all it takes. Next thing you know, you're walking at a slow pace, or laying on your back, huffing air while you think to yourself "$#*@ me, I am a weak piece of #$(%." :p
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_gKEFrmLQ4As/SX8FGH81W3I/AAAAAAAABLs/v0S4FH2wa3o/s400/Exhausted.jpg
Even if you're strong and healthy, these moments come up for all of us during exercise. How to push through them?
You must learn to look beyond time and the present moment! The present moment is full of pain, full of effort, your entire mind is focused on it, it makes you want to quit. But the present moment, situated in time: is, like time: an Illusion. Therefore, the present moment can be overcome and what feels like the absolute limit or utmost strain of your body can be easily surpassed. After all, the present moment is finite... fleeting... it will be gone. And so will the pain. This is victory.
http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/83/94783-004-E7018629.jpg
If you were to focus on the time after the exercise, which will come sooner or later, you can overcome the present moment.
The reason we exercise to begin with, is our looking forward to the afterglow. The afterglow of exercise is what makes it nice... but the afterglow doesn't come until after an exercise.
The fact that we exercise in search of an afterglow is evidence that we will push forward into activities that are painful during the moment - in order to be rewarded in the future. But the future is not right now , right now your lungs are burning and you just want to stop and wrap it up.
http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1613/PreviewComp/SuperStock_1613R-19621.jpg
Time in this dimension is being sucked in one direction : forward.
The only way to push through the climax of a workout, the most intense and painful moment, is to set your vision forward in time.
Pick a location 20 yards ahead, or 20 seconds ahead, and as you continue to workout, you will reach that goal. The passage of time between now and that moment is an illusion. It feels very real at the moment , the pain can be intense, the temptation to stop can be enormous, but that moment will soon be gone, and the temporary goal will have been reached.
This is a form of mental time travel, and it's something we do everyday. It's more difficult to do during exercise because the temptation of quitting or giving into the moment is very real. However, there is a great reward in reaching to the future, the end of your run, the end of your workout, and meeting yourself at that moment, is equally real.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3292/2338988068_248771d3e0.jpg
Instead of the sweating, heaving, even frustrated individual you find yourself being during the most physically difficult moments : you must realize that there is a you in the future who has pushed themself through all of that and come out as a beaming, healthy, strong individual. That person is real - that person is right there, 20 seconds ahead of you, 20 yards ahead of you - you need only meet them. The time between the beginning of your workout and the end is not real - it is a memory waiting to be had. The person at the end of your workout is real and is a 'you' waiting to be realized. If you give into the temptation to quit during a workout, the 'you' you are aiming to be at the end may not be what you had in mind. 'They' exist in another timeline, one where you pushed yourself to the limit.
All of us have versions of ourself in different futures which exist in different timelines. The way I keep strong during an exercise is to remind myself that there is a version of me which is stronger and brighter in spirit - but I must push through the illusory passage of time and pain in order to 'meet' that self. And I do meet him : each and every time! And so do you. If you didn't you would never exercise.
After every workout, all the pain and intensity is just a memory. A recent memory, echoing itself in the fatigue of my muscles, the shortness of breath, etc... but just a memory. The weaker version of myself is now in the past of a different timeline.
There is a weaker version of yourself in the past as well. You knew back then there would be a bigger stronger version of yourself someday. That day is now. You've already time traveled - whether you know it or not. Take small bites and you can travel through any workout.
http://www.clipartof.com/images/clipart/xsmall2/22528_yellow_man_in_his_growth_stages_of_life_as_a _baby_child_and_adult.jpg