“You are a victim of the rules you make for yourself.”
Day 8 Morning Scorecard and Exercise Self-Reflection:
New Brain Cells: Use Them or Lose Them
Science has shown that exercise creates new cells in your brain. Most of those cells are created in the brain's hippocampus, which is the learning center of your brain. However, if these new cells are not attached to learning a new skill they will die off. This is because your brain doesn’t think you need those new cells so it discards them. This ability of exercise to make new cells and attach them to learning is a really good reason to work out in the morning before you go about your day, creating optimal conditions to learn new skills and have them stick.
FACT: When you initiate movement your GABA neurotransmitters (relaxation) can be increased between 27-80%.
TAKEAWAY: Movement (even stretching) is the best way to decompress from your day. GABA is the same neurotransmitter that alcohol attaches to, so if you want the benefits without the hangover, movement is the way to go.
Addicted to Comfort: Making a New Normal
Through technological advances, it has become easier and easier for us to do less and less. From a physical standpoint, this lifestyle of comfort is a double-edged sword. Yes, we get to go about our day in a more relaxed fashion but this addiction to comfort tends to make any physical discomfort pretty unbearable. This is one reason why exercise seems so arduous because other parts of our physical lives are so easy. Cars, escalators, and fast-food are very convenient but they don’t do us any favors in the long run. Constant access to these comforts distort our reality and make our bodies demand comfort at all times. In a way, our bodies have become like spoiled royalty that never learned the value of hard work. So while you teach your body to accept the discomfort of exercise, remember it's about progress not perfection. Whenever you try to break an addiction, patience is required. So with your exercise goals, give yourself permission to fail on occasion and congratulate yourself on incremental changes that will accumulate into new habits over time.
FACT: Science has shown that when you walk in nature your subgenual prefrontal cortex (rumination center) deactivates significantly, compared to when you walk in an urban setting.
TAKEAWAY: Nature provides a “soft fascination” for people in it, not too stimulating not too boring. If you want to calm down your brain, walking in nature is one of the fastest and cheapest ways to accomplish this.
“I hated training, but I told myself “suffer now and then live the rest of your life as a champion.””