Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

For the last couple of days, I’ve been talking about a book I found called Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. How does flow relate to exercise? You’re in luck, it’s one of the best things about exercise.

Physical activity is one of the easiest ways to get into flow. Sports have so many of the requirements of flow. Exercise is a task that we have a chance of completing. It requires concentration and most sports have clear goals. Physical activity also provide immediate feedback (whether you’re falling down, performing the move correctly or concentrating on your form).

What if you’ve never experienced flow while exercising?

Guess what, it can still happen to you. The most important thing is to have clear goals. For example, if you choose to run, your goals could be to complete a certain mileage in a set amount of time. You can keep increasing the mileage to keep the activity challenging.

If you chose inline skating for your physical activity, it’s pretty clear if your goals have been met. Are you still on your feet? Good job! If you’re not, your goal should be to fall down less next time you exercise. The same goes with roller skating, riding a bike, riding a skateboard, skiing or snowboarding. Once you’re able to stay on your feet (or board), then you can work on speed and agility. There are so many goals to achieve with these sports.

Weight training is another activity that is VERY measureable. Every workout in which you are able to raise the weight you’re lifting, even if it’s by only 2.5 pounds, that’s an achievement. I have to admit that I have really enjoyed watching the plates stack up on the bench press bar.

No matter which activity you choose, if you set clear goals for yourself, you’ll be that much more likely to get into flow. Keep upping the difficulty and you will have an exercise that you can enjoy. Instead of going to the gym thinking of drudgery, you will be excited to see if you can beat your previous best.