I majored in neuroscience as an undergraduate student at BYU because I’m endlessly fascinated by the brain and it’s incredible power over our bodies. And when properly understood and applied, that “brain power” can be leveraged in countless ways to improve our physical fitness (see my two-part YouTube series on 13 Neuroscience-Based “Brain Hacks” for Setting & Achieving Your Fitness Goals).
For this week’s tip, I want to convey an additional neuroscience-based strategy that’s very simple and easy to implement, yet also unbelievably effective. The foundation for this strategy is summed up nicely in this quote (original author unknown), which is also our Quote of the Week:
“It’s easier to ACT your way into a new way of THINKING, than to THINK your way into a new way of ACTING“
We’ve all been there. You know you should work out… you know you’ll be glad you did after the fact, or would regret it if you didn’t… but you still simply can’t summon the motivation to do it. We’ll I’m here to tell you that you’re going about it all wrong! It’s extremely difficult to try to just change your mind about wanting to exercise. To THINK your way into becoming motivated.
The trick? Accept that you’re not feeling motivated. Don’t try to sit there and convince yourself that you are before picking up some weights. Instead, just pick up a super light weight and start lifting it! You can tell yourself “I’m just going to go through the motions without really putting any effort into it for 5 minutes. And if I still don’t feel like doing it, I’ll stop and go do something I do want to do.”
Then the magic happens. As soon as you start actually going through the motions, even if you’re putting almost no effort into it, your ACTIONS start to influence the way that you THINK and FEEL. I won’t go into the complex neurobiology behind this effect, but it doesn’t just apply to working out. If you’re unhappy but force yourself to smile, you will start to feel more like smiling! If you lack confidence, but get into a power pose and start acting as if you were confident, you’ll start actually feeling more confident! If you do an act of service for someone, you’ll start to feel like performing more service. There is actual scientifically-proven power and truth behind the phrase “Fake it until you make it!”
And when it comes to exercise, that power is FURTHER compounded by another factor. Within as short a time as 5 minutes, your brain will begin releasing endorphins and dopamine into your bloodstream – which is way you always feel really good after exercise. You can actually leverage that endorphin release to build motivation at the beginning of an exercise as well!
APPLICATION: If you don’t feel like working out, don’t try to convince yourself that you do before acting. Instead, just ACT! First go through the motions of something exercise-related without any real effort, and THEN 9 times out of 10 the motivation will quickly come!!
Note: For the rare instances where you do the above but STILL don’t feel like working out, then my advice is don’t! Go do something else. Perhaps a different type of exercise or physical activity. Otherwise telling yourself that you’ll just go through the motions and won’t continue to your actual workout if you still don’t feel like it won’t have any power, because you’ll know you’re lying to yourself. Also, if the above strategy doesn’t elicit motivation, your body may be telling you that you’re sick, or need a rest day, or something else along those lines.
Relevant Research Article(s):
1) The Effects of Acute Exercise on Mood, Cognition, Neurophysiology, and Neurochemical Pathways: A Review
Related Dr. Gains YouTube Video(s):
1) 13 Neuroscience-Based “Brain Hacks” for Setting & Achieving Your Fitness Goals (Part 1)
2)13 Neuroscience-Based “Brain Hacks” for Setting & Achieving Your Fitness Goal (Part 2)
Dr. Gains 
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