Tricking Your Mind Into Fitness

Mukund
Hello and welcome to Pedal My Way podcast where we talk about anything related to cycling and fitness. I’m your host, Mukund Murali. If you’re a fan of the show, please remember to subscribe to this podcast and follow the website paddlemyway.com.

Also follow @pedalmyway on Instagram to let me know of your cycling and fitness goals.

Rob
Hello mccant. How you doing?

Mukund
Hey rob.

Rob
So today I thought we’d talk a little bit about things we can do to trick ourselves. Those small steps we can do to encourage ourselves and trick ourselves into working out, exercising better, eating better, being more healthier and more effective in our day-to-day health routines and exercise routines. I think it’s a it’s a topic that is very rich in, in detail and there is various directions we can take it a lot of people need these small sort of steps that you can take. Be a little bit healthier and a little bit more proactive in their fitness routines and regiments, so I thought we’d talk about tips and tricks that you can do to. Encourage yourself to be a little bit fitter in your day to. Day life. What do you think about that?

Mukund
Definitely. Sounds like a good idea, Rob. Again, just to make sure this is not motivation, it’s more on. Even though you’re motivated sometimes you might not feel like it. So we are trying to provide some guidance on how we can trick ourselves into physical activity.

Rob
Yeah. For me the motivation is is a part of it. It’s a side part of it, but it sort of takes motivation sometimes out of the equation, sometimes for example, this is a small thing that I I do that we’re talking about now in terms of tricks. I don’t tend to want to workout when I’m I’m working during the day in my office. So what I do is I keep dumbbells and some exercise equipment in my office around me. Now just so that when you. Know if I’ve. Got a work problem I’m I’m at my computer and I’m sort of thinking about things. I have something to do. I have an exercise that I can do. You know whether it’s lifting weights, doing push-ups, doing body weight exercises, something that I can do to process those thoughts. I can process the the information that I’m. I’m getting it work and I can sort of build that into my exercise routine as well and I’m not thinking about working out at that point. I’m thinking about the work problem, but being able to do that within my workspace and I know not everyone is gonna have the room to be able to do that in their workspace. But there are small things you can do. Small exercises you can do within your workspace. 

While while you’re doing other things, it’s, it’s not necessarily tricking yourself into working out. But what? Does is takes the motivation out of it. You don’t have to go like, oh, I’ve got to go workout now what you’re actually doing is you’re giving your brain the ability to process the information that you’re thinking about. Like we talked about before with with, when you go for a walk, you’re able to sort of problem, solve a little bit more effectively. I I find, at least for myself, than you would if you were sitting in a room trying to. You know, come up with an answer to a. Double exercises is great for that and and one of the small so-called tricks that I I employ when I’m trying to sort of stick to a fitness routine which I try to regularly do is I I keep the workout equipment by my computer and. Then I’ll. I’ll. Keep working out, and then I’ll often sort of kill two birds with one. One stone, so to speak, I’ll solve. The my work. Problem, But I’ll also get a little bit healthier too. At the same time.

Mukund
So it’s like how some people they walk holding a phone while on the call, you kind of do curls. What type of exercise do you do?

Rob
If I’m trying to solve a technical problem in my head and I’m trying to sort of put all the pieces together and try to figure out. How we can help a client at work? For example what their problem is, what their business is involved in, what their particular customer wants. If I’m trying to come up with all they put all these pieces together and sort of a a jigsaw and my brain is just not. Maybe I haven’t had my caffeine that day. Maybe I’m. Just a bit. Slow that day. What I can do is I can start. Sizing a little, but it doesn’t have to be too much. Just, you know, lifting a little bit of weight with a dumbbell. Or like maybe a few pushups, a few sets ups, whatever it is, whatever. Exercise you’re comfortable with. It can, really. Help for me process the information come up with a solution and also feel better about the way I’m coming up with the solution if my problem solving becomes better when you have that a little bit of adrenaline encourages you to sort of think about things a little bit differently, perhaps different parts of your brain are being used at that point. Your body is also thinking about how best to activate muscles and things like that. Different parts of your brain are working while you’re working out, so resolving that problem, but generally that’s a it’s a great technique I’ve found for fitting in a little bit of a workout, but also just having that option to to work out while while you’re working is. Is a great way to sort of plan out your day be a bit more efficient and also make it so that you don’t have to be motivated to go to a gym where you. Have to be. Motivated to go outside and go do a different thing. It takes that out of the equation and it’s been a a great help for me at least, and maybe it will be some other people too.

Mukund
True, you’re trying to get a workout and while doing something else, right, it’s it’s two birds with one stone.

Rob
Kind of. I was trying to think up, come up with a a different phrase for it, but that that’s exactly it. That’s all my all my brain can right now. Maybe I need to work out right now so my brain works.

Mukund
I see you doing 10 push-ups, Rob.

Rob
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m I’m. I’m currently doing all sorts of bicep curl. No, I’m not. I’m just on my computer right now. It’s harder to do it while you’re actually on a podcast because they’ll be out of breath if I was. Doing that, but actually actually.

Mukund
Well, that can be a motivation to our listeners.

Rob
Yeah. Yeah, just. Just do it. Do it all working out at the same time. But no, it’s it’s definitely been a big help at work that we’re doing, doing that and working out. And obviously that’s just one of the small things that I can recommend. Is there anything particular that you can think of right now that you do? You’ve. Incorporated into your routine. That sort of. Is something that you’ve worked for you in terms of fitting a trick into your life?

Mukund
Yeah, I wouldn’t call it a trick, per se. Or rather, I don’t consider this a trick. It might be to you is I try when I’m on a. Team call or when I’m on a group call where I don’t need access to my computer. I take the call when I go on a. Right. So when the when the weather is nice, you know when there’s not much traffic so that I can avoid the road noise or even within my my neighborhood, I just go for a quick walk 5-10 minutes, 15 minutes during the duration of the call. Some of the meetings you’re not an active participant, but you just listen in. So that I can get my calories in my steps in while also kind of you know doing work related thing. I don’t know if it’s a trick, but that’s the, but I do it sometimes and the other thing when I’m between workout days, so I try to split my week into strength days and. Cardio days. If a day is in between one of those two phases, I just go for a walk and I just take my phone with me, listen to podcast like a couple of miles. That helps me kind of refocus like you said. You know it it helps refocus rethink. It just gives me a good perspective. It kind of freshens my mind. Again these two are things I do on a fairly regular basis so so that’s why maybe it’s. Not a trick. This has helped me kind of keep track of my physical activity. If you don’t have to workout every day, even a casual walk for like 15, 20 minutes. As immense health benefits has been scientifically proven.

Rob
The podcast thing I really connect to because it’s it one of those things that I I think I do too. What? What I’ve I’ve started doing is I will only listen to a certain podcast when I’m running. I want to hear the next episode. I have to go for a run. To me that is kind of a trick. It’s sort of like saying well. I can’t listen to it at home. I’m I’m I’m I’m putting these these sort of barriers in my way to sort of prevent me because I really if I really want to listen to. The. Next episode I have to do this exercise to be able. Do that so I.

Mukund
Is it a pedal? My way podcast episode draw by any chance?

Rob
Yeah, I I listen to the, I listen, I I listen to exclusively to my own podcast. I’m not sure whether that’s narcissistic or not, but yeah, I I only listen to the pet on my Wife podcast when I it’s the only podcast I listened to. I didn’t know there were others. Apparently there are 1,000,000. Of other podcasts.

Mukund
Actually I do the same thing too. I am. I love history. I listen to a few history podcasts, so whenever a new episode comes on, I’m like, you know what? I’m gonna save it for one of The Walking days where I listen to them. It’s a perfect time. It’s like half an hour, 45 minutes. About a mile 2 miles. And then they come back. You know, I am happy that I did my podcast and also got my steps.

Rob
I think what happens is I start to associate those positive memories of the podcast with working out in a way, yes, that makes sense. Like, I feel like I get a positive feeling when I’m listening to this podcast and I’m getting information like you said, with the History podcast. For me, it’s like true crime podcasts or something like that because I’m obsessed with those ones. But it’s something like, I really enjoy that.

Mukund
Yes.

Rob
That feeling. And then I associate that feeling and listen with our guest, with working out. And so my brain is excited to go workout again. My brain is like OK, let’s go. We get to do this.

Mukund
And thinking better. When I went that episode or when somebody talks about that fact, at least from my podcast, it reminds me of scene when I’m walking right. It just brings back that memory. It turns on those key elements.

Rob
Yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s sort of like that studying technique, right? Where they where they build a mind palace and they connect with those visuals where the particular thing that they’re studying and it connects it sort of connects to that map in your brain of like the the language cortex with the visual cortex. And so I think the same can be true of exercise, I think. And this does go back a little bit to motivation. But I think doing something you enjoy listening to a podcast, doing something like that, doing something you enjoy while you’re also working out, even if you don’t necessarily enjoy working out, you enjoy the experience of doing the thing because you you’re also listening to that. Podcast you are out in nature, you are. You are by by definition then enjoying working out. Even though working out is not the primary element of that process, right?

Mukund
Yes, exactly. Yes, my when I go for these walks, when I listen to podcasts, I. Think about the walk as much as they do about the podcast, because sometimes I’m. Just. Have a, you know feeling of floating? Because I don’t remember walking, but rather what they talking on the podcast? Have the time my. It’s an autopilot. Like I just my legs keep moving, but I just keep visualizing what is being said on the podcast, but when I’m distracted, yeah, I think distraction is the better word. I’m not. I don’t think as much about the walk as I do about the podcast itself.

Rob
You’re right, distraction is a lot of it, isn’t it? It’s sort of. Like when I was first starting running and you know that first it when you get to that couch to 5K program, whatever you’re using and you you accomplish that 5K, you know how much your your legs are burning after that first 5K and that accomplishment it’s not something that you you can sort of continually focus on when you’re running. Cause if you’re continually focusing on the pain and the discomfort you’re in. You’re not going to take that next stride because you’re gonna. Your body’s gonna want to stop. Your body’s gonna want to go. What? We’re in pain. Why? Why are we doing this? So you’ve got, like, having that distraction. Having some some other element to. Can can have a significant impact. It has, for me at least, and I’m sure it will for other. People and has for. Other people, there’s certainly, as I said, the the rules that I set for myself is there’s a particular podcast that I listen to and I only allow myself to listen podcast if I’m if I’m running and work or working out in general and. It’s worked pretty well because it I have to fight like I have to find time in my routine for this podcast, so I’m I enjoy it. So even if I don’t feel like working out, that’s the only way I’m gonna listen to my podcast is if I work out. So I have to connect the. Right.

Mukund
We talked about the behavioral aspect of it, how you can trick yourself, at least from what we do. Do you use any tools rob to trick yourself into working?

Rob
Not necessarily. I don’t generally use fitness watches, smart watches that often, but what I like about a. Few of them is. They give you visual cues into your performance while you’re working out, and that sometimes those visual cues incentivize you to keep going at and to sort of. Like they gamify the process. So for example, I have a watch that I wear when I’m running, and it’ll tell when you’ve done a certain a disc. And what I try to do is then track those runs and then try to sort of beat that the next time. The tools that I’m I’m employing really are connecting that sort of, I don’t know, ego side of it like I’m going. To beat this this. Past record that I had and you know you don’t always accomplish those those goals, but you want to beat that that past time so. If you’ve run 5K in, I don’t know, 5 minutes you want to get. It into 4430 you like? 420 You you it it makes.

It so that. If you say you’re doing a 5K and you’re at like 2022 minutes in it makes it so you just, you know, I’ve got a couple of minutes to to beat my my record. I’m gonna try and run as fast as it just gets that that little bit of energy out of legs that maybe you wouldn’t necessarily have. So that that’s sort of a tool that I use those sort of smart technologies a little bit to sort of keep myself. Committed and keep myself honest, my own goals and and what I want to accomplish and sort of like truthful to the to the idea of like, OK, we have to keep making progress here and we have to sort of. Make even incremental progress one second down from your past record. Whatever it is .1 of a second down from your past record, it’s progress and it it it’s also gives you a a boost for the next time that you you want to get out there and and go for another run. That’s one that I can think of right now is any of the tools that you can think of that you employ that you’re working on.

Mukund
So when I was doing CrossFit at a proper CrossFit gym, whenever you log in, the workout of the day what it’s called, you enter your store in it. It’s either for time you do so many repetitions, or you do a particular set of repetitions in so much time. So you’re always trying to. Meet or beat your existing repetitions or time for that particular workout. Yeah. So from like what you said you’re trying to meet or beat your your existing time for the five minute mile 430 mile, right? So what you mentioned so, so we do this for each and every workout, it’s more to. Track your progress. I guess you can say it as a tool, but the aim is to if I did a particular workout in 15 minutes, we try try to make it less than 15 minutes, right? Even if it’s 1459 but one second, save this one second saved right like I think you and I go by the mantra of progress achievement. So we did progress, we did get that one second faster.

So that is one thing that I was used to. I have a Rover at home. It has a built-in track, connects to your phone. If you repeat the same workout, you can see how you fared comparing to the. 1st. One so that is one thing which is very similar to the CrossFit tool that I use. I use that sometimes when I’m trying to roll again, progress is kind of in built in what I do. But it’s still, you know, it’s nice to get that boost when I when I know that I’m trying to do better than the last time, you know, I did that after all. I’m getting old. So it’s good to know like. It faster.

Rob
100% and they totally connect with the with the aging thing too. It’s sort of. But it’s also like going OK, we’re in our 40s now, but when when I was in my 20s, I couldn’t do this. And now it’s like, OK, I I feel like I feel it makes me feel even better. Actually, when I think about it, cause it’s like, OK, this is pretty impressive now because we’ve got something here that. We. Didn’t have 1520 years ago when we were so-called at the the peak of our physical health.

Mukund
Right. And all these exclusion of tools and gadgets, I try to be as simple as possible. That’s one of my kind of a personal thing. I just want to. Good. With as less, what do you call it? Headache. I call it a headache because there’s so many things to keep track of, so I don’t have a, you know, I don’t do a smart watch. You know, I don’t have.

Rob
Yes.

Mukund
A fancy timer or anything. It’s just on my phone. It’s actually interesting to see technology evolve in the direction, but at least for me, it’s too much of a overhead. I just try to keep tings simple as much as possible.

Rob
Yeah, it’s a lot to manage.

Mukund
So, we talked about the behavior part of it. We talked about tools. I think the last thing we can touch upon is food, because I think that affects a lot of your overall health.

Rob
Yes.

Mukund
What do you do, Rob? Do you? Trick yourself into eating healthy.

Rob
I probably do a what a lot of people do in terms of how they first of all, how you shop and also how you store food in their house. I keep snack food as far away as possible. From my eye level. Because like chips, chocolate or whatever. Obviously everybody loves chips and chocolate. Everyone wants to eat them all the time. But as you said, we are in our 40s now. We cannot just stuff our faces, the chips and chocolate. So no matter how much I want to I put it, I store it in spaces that are further higher in the cupboard. Having the temptation, it’s just like I was saying with the apps, once you have. For example, a fast food app on your phone, and they’re saying, oh, we’re going to have a 25% discount if you get a delivery today, a lot of people are gonna be motivated to get that discount. And even though you want to eat healthy, you’re gonna save money by getting fast food. So of course, I’m gonna try to do that recently, maybe within the last three or four months. Remove any sorts of food at. Relatively healthy or any healthier otherwise for my phone because it just you, you think about food all the time, right? If you if you have it in front of you same thing with the the snack food I’m talking about you put it far. Away in the. Cupboard you don’t think about it. I eat healthy anyway, but it prevents that little bit of a thought of ohh I can get fast food because I’m eating healthier. I deserve a treat. That whole deserve a treat. Thing becomes a problem when you have. People advertising treats to you all the time gets very easy to be like. OK, I’ll just have one treat and then the next day is another discount offer and it’s whatever it is. Hamburgers, fries, whatever pizza, whatever. It becomes overwhelming.

Mukund
Talking about fast food apps, I don’t order on an app I make my phone call to our local pizzeria for Pizza Night. Most of the time I just go in, order there and take home. The reason is not as much as healthy, as much as getting what I ordered. I’m a vegetarian so so lots of times I got meat in my food, so I’m always concerned about that when I order it online. So I’d rather go there, see what’s inside. You know, sometimes, you know when I know the restaurant well, that they won’t screw up, which is fine. Yeah. So that’s my thing on keeping track of online orders. But on the whole, I don’t trick myself. I’m conscious of what I eat. I don’t have a craving for anything sweet. Or I should have a dessert after every meal, kind of a thing. It’s more of. Hey, how much sugar have I taken in today? And mostly it’s more on how much protein have I consumed that particular day. Because protein has, you know, even for a person who’s not into strength training, protein is important. For our everyday. Living so people don’t realize this protein, most of your food intake is recommended to be protein. Just because there is needed for is the basic building. Block. Try to make sure that I have at least the minimum. Needed. So I try to keep track of that. I don’t trick myself into it because I know the importance of it.

Rob
What? What sort of proteins work best for vegetarians?

Mukund
A lot of legumes, actually, a lot of beans, legumes as beans. You know, any any type of beans – Canned beans. I make a lot of soups, lot of vegetarian chili kind of meals. So that has lots of protein. I like quinoa – the grain. I like couscous. Whole food is what I go to. Wheat has protein in it. A lot of Indian food has a lot of wheat in it. Like we have naan or those types of breads and also a Dal. The Indian dish that’s protein and chickpeas. We eat a lot of chickpeas as well as eggs for protein. That and egg whites if you want the healthier option. Yeah. So we have a few options there as well. Brown rice.

Rob
You said the chick peas, I was thinking about is the Indian dish. Uh Channa masala.

Mukund
Yes, that was yes, that was chick peas.

Rob
Is. It.

Mukund
You are correct, yes.

Rob
We we get that from a local restaurant here near here. I’m sure it doesn’t, it pales in comparison to most native Indian cooking, but it’s it’s one of my favorite dishes. The I’m obsessed with Indian food.

Mukund
Nice. I will take you some places. So we should make a trip to India.

Rob
Absolutely, we should do a PedalMyWay trip.

Mukund
Yeah, definitely. Cool. So we covered the behavioral aspect of it, when you try to do workout or rather mini workouts when you are, you know, doing some office. Work and some tools that you use and the. Food. What do you want to leave as a catch all?

Rob

I think for me the take home catch all of this is these sort of small things that you do overtime. You see that doing that on a daily basis is such an important part of building that habit of being healthy and being fit it. It seems obvious when you look at it. But just starting these sort of small daily things, whether it’s working out while you’re working, whether it’s only listening to your podcast when you, you’re on a workout, you know whatever, that that small thing is, it’s surprising. And it surprised me how much of an impact that, that change. Had on my overall fitness in the long term, just changing the psychology of things, getting rid of fast food apps on the phone. Just changing those things, just making that one positive step can have that transformative impact over the long term. If you commit to it day-to-day and you know you don’t always succeed, but you commit to a process and then you try as much as you can and and you do better the next day, right?

Mukund
I agree with you and I like your idea of mini workouts, and they also have these, what is it –  those bikes right that you can ride while at your desk, instead of instead of an office chair, I think that’s a good way to trick.

Rob
Yes, I see those.

Mukund
A workout or getting your workout done while doing something productive and also you don’t have to trick your body if you’re already motivated to do it, but you might have to trick yourself if it’s one of those off season you’re not in the mood. To do it, kind of. At least if you can do some stretching while watching TV right at the end of the day, stretching is a very good way to get your physical form in shape. Just because we are lacking flexibility in a general meaning. Just because of the way we work, the way we’re sitting at the desk, the way our lifestyle is, so stretching or trying to touch your feet without bending your knees, that’s one of the big indications of how flexible you are and also touching your feet while sitting down right while you’re free to extended in front of you, bend your back, touch your feet. The more you can.

Rob
Yes.

Mukund
The better flexible you are, at least from what I’ve experienced and still I’m not as flexible as I would like to. But you know it’s it’s an ongoing thing. It’s a hey, you want to maintenance more as you keep getting older?

Rob
Yes, exactly. Another point of this is that the best time to start is now, right? We’re not getting any younger. Nobody is like the best time is always to start these small habits while while you’re just you have. Age as an adult.

Mukund
Exactly. And as you keep getting older not. Only your age you. I try to say that, you know, I have a lot of wisdom, lot more wisdom as I keep getting older on what not to do so. So you can what you you know your what your body is capable of.

Rob
I definitely know not what what not to do.

Mukund
Exactly. So, I mean, I’m not going to win any cycle races or any running races with with my son, but I can lift heavier than him just because I’ve done it for longer, right? So he will take much longer to because strength is harder to build or it takes a long time to build. It’s not harder. It takes a longer time to build than cardio, just just.

Because strength needs a muscle to be broken up and rebuilt. Broken up, rebuild. That’s how you gain strength and gain and gain size. So that takes a long time. But again, like you said today, it’s not too late. Even today is early. You can start today if. You’re you know, if you want to.

Rob
Exactly. That’s the perfect way to do it.

Mukund
This has been an interesting conversation, Rob, you know, thanks for bringing this up.

Rob
Yeah. Thank you, man. Yeah. I think it’s a very important topic and hopefully people learn some information that they can use in their day-to-day lives from it and just keep getting fitter and getting healthier and just enjoying. Themselves as much as possible.

Mukund
And the weather is getting better. So I don’t have a reason to slack off like I did even a month ago, so.

Rob
Yeah, I know those blue skies in the and the temperatures getting up there a little bit, so it’s definitely running season and perfect time to get outside and enjoy it.

Mukund
Yeah, sounds good. So thanks, rob.

Rob
You too, Mukund. Tt was great speaking with you.