Your Workout Playlist Could Be The #1 Thing Holding You Back.

photo courtesy http://fortemag.com.au

Bringing your favorite music to the gym is a big mistake.

At every gym I’ve ever worked out at the radio is played over loud speakers. Since I’m not a big fan of 80% of what they play on the radio, this muzak is not an issue for me. If on the other hand they were streaming all my favorite songs at the gym, I would find myself continually involved in the playlist. I’d be keeping the beat with my foot, humming along, admiring a clever riff here and there, recalling where I was and who I was with when I first heard it, etc. But thankfully they’re not playing my favorites, and so I can tune it out and concentrate on the workout.

Having a favorite gym playlist on your device is an intentional distraction from the task at hand. If you believe working out is boring and therefore you need multiple distractions to get through the terrible ordeal of self-care, you’re missing the whole point of working out. If you were working out properly with good form and with the required intensity and concentration and following a plan, your workout would be the exact opposite of boring. In addition you’d be too spent and out of breath to have the energy to be swiping your phone or adjusting your iPod every two minutes. Nobody who experiences a positive transformation in their body would ever describe the process as boring. Hard work is never boring. Uncomfortable, yes. Painful, sometimes. Challenging, always. But never boring.

People are bored because they’re doing it all wrong, with low energy and lacking the desire to learn, and thus they see little if anything in the way of desired results. It would be one thing if people were watching a video on how to perform their chosen exercise correctly, but never once have I seen anyone who is on their phone at the gym doing such a practical, logical thing as watching a workout video to improve their form. Rather, it’s all CandyCrush, Instagram and Tinder.