Why weightlifting is meditation

"When the fight was over, nothing was solved, but nothing mattered. We all felt saved." - Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club


What is meditation? Wikipedia defines it as "a practice in which an individual trains the mind or induces a mode of consciousness, either to realize some benefit or as an end in itself." What this means is that it can have an external purpose (whatever you choose that purpose to be) or it just doesn't need one, it can be an escape from one's own mind.

How do you meditate? Get in a comfortable position in a place with as few external stimuli as possible, close your eyes, and focus on your breath. Sounds simple, doesn't it? If you've ever tried it, you would know that it's one of the most difficult things to achieve, and for a simple reason. The brain doesn't like to focus on such a simple thing for too long, it searches for more. The mind starts to wonder, and after a few breaths you realize you're no longer focusing on exhaling and inhaling deeply, but you're thinking about your job, that TV series you watched or how the back of your neck starts to itch.

However, if you manage to focus and keep this focus for even a measly five minutes, you will find yourself in a much calmer state, somewhat at peace with yourself and the world. So, then, it sound like it would be pretty useful to be able to do this for longer and more often.

This is where working out comes in, especially lifting challenging weights. When the body is about to perform an exercise in which a large majority of the muscle system will be involved, the central nervous system (brain) will have to be completely focused on that task. You can't think about your cat, your job or what's for dinner. Because if you and your mind are not completely there, the weight will not move and/or you will get hurt.

For most people the process goes like this: they get into a mental state where they try to prepare for the exercise. They know and have practiced the necessary cues many times in their head (for example straight spine, shoulders back, abs tight). It is a ritual that is followed religiously. Maybe they listen to a song to get pumped up, but even those that do it know that once the weight starts moving, they no longer hear the music, no longer see the wall in front of you, all the people around disappear.

The reason for this is simple, the central nervous system is trying to recruit and control as much of the muscular-skeletal system as possible to work as one in order to perform the exercise. For the brief moments that you're moving the weight, you become the center of your own universe and you are alone in that universe. Starting to sound pretty similar to how meditation is portrayed in certain images, right?

What about the after effects? What happens after you finish a strenuous workout? Well, the muscles are depleted of their fuel, your nervous system quickly has to refocus on the world around it, but something's different. The volume is turned down. External stimuli no longer excite you as much. The world seems to be moving slower. You are at peace. Your brain is rewarding you with pleasant chemicals for going trough such a difficult activity, which is what our bodies were meant to do: struggle and succeed.

So, why did I choose that quote from Fight Club to describe this experience? Most people never realized that fighting is just a metaphor, even though it can be a metaphor about fighting. Life is about fighting. With your environment, with people around you, with tasks and goals, with adversity, with yourself.

In that same way, working out is symbolic for fighting, failing and succeeding, regressing and progressing. It doesn't affect the world around you in any apparent or direct way, but it affects you, and you in turn influence your environment.

Isn't it nice to be able to look at your surroundings with a clear and balanced mind? Isn't it wonderful to be able to turn down the volume? Isn't it amazing to be able to escape from that voice of worry and doubt inside your head?

Why don't you find out for yourself. Go run fast. Jump over an obstacle. Throw something as far as you can. Lift some weights. Fight.