The most powerful part of any workout is the mind, it dictates whether we are going to exercise and when we don’t “feel like exercise” the mind puts an end to our fitness efforts.
Tricking the mind into liking exercise is the art of seduction. It’s a process of deliberately enticing the mind to engage in a relationship with exercise.
Research has shown it can be done with brand-name active wear and sports gear.
How brand-name active wear can make you feel like exercising
A study by the University of Freiburg, Germany (2017) found that cyclist felt good about exercise after being shown a video of the positive effects of cycling and given a brand-name compression shirt.
The control group weren’t shown a video and given the same compression shirt with no brand name. The participants in the control group found the cycling exercise arduous.
Researchers said; understanding the health benefits of exercise put the participants “in the mood” and the shirt provided them with the confidence they felt they lacked.
The shirt was a diversion from the personal limiting beliefs about the participants’ ability to do and enjoy exercise.
Brand-name sports gear can lead to better performance
In a 2016 study by the marketing department of the University of Notre Dame, the researchers found that performance brands cause a placebo effect on sports performance.
The study involved 200 students sinking putts at different locations on a green. Half were told they were using a Nike club, a brand students identified as an elite sports brand. The others were given the same club, however unbranded.
Even though both groups used the same putter, Nike users needed 20 percent fewer strokes to sink the ball than the generic-branded club users.
Frank Germann of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business said:
“Our results suggest that the use of a strong performance brand causes participants to feel better about themselves when undertaking a task—that is, to have greater task-specific self-esteem. This higher self-esteem lowers their performance anxiety which, in turn, leads to better performance outcomes.”
Both these studies show the power of the human body to perform athletically when the mind believes it can.
The placebo effect in fitness
Placebo is Latin for ‘I will please,’ and refers to a belief in an external treatment with no active properties to help the person find their inner ability to heal from illness.
Placebos are used in science to test the amazing ability of the human body to restore its self to good health by triggering the person’s belief in the benefit of the treatment and their expectation of feeling better.
I believe you already have all the tools you will ever need to get fit and healthy for life. I’m here to teach you how to use them humbly. It’s my absolute pleasure to be on this journey of health and fitness with you.
Treat yourself this week with new active wear and join me for exercise!
If you are ready to kick start your fitness then perhaps our 9 minutes to fitness program is the answer for you. Click below for more information and to download your Free 9 minute workout.
Live well with fitness!
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