To train your body or train your mind?

In the course of development, we tend to become more sedentary. Rather than working the fields or just walking to work, you find yourself indulging in armchair sports and letting your fingers do the walking. Then we get fat.

And that’s a bad thing.

Because being fat makes your brain shrink.

In a recent study, the brains of obese people looked 16 years older than their real age; the brains of overweight people looked “just” 8 years older. And that makes a big difference!

Especially when it seems that the areas of the brain where the tissue was most lost were the parts that do decision-making and memory work.

Recently I have been spending more time than usual in the gym. Lying down at the end of a pilates class last Monday, it occurred to me that we often try to decide between training our bodies and training our minds. As if the two are mutually exclusive.

So you might remember the “sporty types” and the “smart kids” at school didn’t tend to mix too well.

Yet, can we really train the body without training the mind? After so many years of karate training, I recognize some of the thought patterns that I access habitually from time to time. The way I breathe, the way I walk, the way I behave when I am out with friends. My physical training directly and substantively impacted the way I think.

My education likewise influences the way I exercise. Continually looking to understand the root causes and how to make things work better leaves me looking for more elegant and efficient ways of undertaking exercises. Even when I’m just “supposed” to be following along, I tend to find myself looking for better ways. And, I’m pleased to say, sometimes it helps!

Not all activities will give you the same benefits. But do consider the sort of mindset that you are being exposed to when you are exercising. Is it bringing you closer to your personal genius? Likewise, when you are exposing your mind to thoughts, ideas and strategies that seem professional or intellectual, be willing to ask yourself how it’s affecting your body.

Because training your mind trains your body… and when you train your body, you train your mind.