Imagine this: you’re in the middle of a really tough workout and it’s starting to get painful. Your heart is pounding, muscles are aching. You’re tempted to take a break or even quit entirely. 

What’s happening in your mind at that moment? What are your thoughts saying about it? And how are your thoughts impacting your performance?

If you’ve never asked yourself these questions, you’ll love this episode of the WAG podcast. Michael and Adee discuss how mindfulness training can help you create a distinction between pain (which is physical and unavoidable) and suffering (which comes from the story your mind is telling about a situation).

We can’t escape physical pain during a tough workout, but we can notice our thoughts around the suffering. Observing these thoughts without buying into them can prevent them from negatively impacting our performance.

These concepts translate to many other areas in your life, too. If you can train yourself to believe you can endure pain in your workouts, that will carry over into your job, relationships, and more.

We would love to hear from you! If you have a question you want us to answer on the podcast, let us know by leaving a voicemail at workingagainstgravity.com/podcast. And don’t forget to follow along @workingagainstgravity on Instagram and leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Topics: 

• 02:42 – Michael’s ability to enter the “pain cave” and suffer in workouts 
• 05:02 – Getting validation for being “tough” (and needing that validation)
• 06:50 – Michael driven more by the fear of losing than a love of winning
• 07:46 – How does Michael think about pain & train himself to be like this?
• 08:24 – Difference between pain (physical) and suffering (story in our mind)
• 09:40 – Noticing the story we tell in our minds about pain
• 12:49 – How you talk to yourself during workouts can translate into other areas
• 14:00 – Michael describing his SealFit experience (50 hours of nonstop working out)
• 17:32 – Benefits outside of workouts of noticing your internal dialogue 
• 20:31 – Why Michael chooses to do extreme physical challenges
• 21:50 – Action step: do a monostructural workout and notice your thoughts during it