5 Reasons You NEED Meditation in Your Workouts

Ever heard of the Mind Body Project? It was a fitness/meditation studio in New York that closed earlier this year.

And no, this isn’t an ad or partnership.

After reading this GQ article, we decided to look deeper into their methods and the powerful combination of meditation and fitness put together — Right up our alley, we know. We’re the kind of people who condone mindfulness and eating to get more fitness perks out of your meals.

“Meditation erases the stress before it can take hold.”
— Barry Zito

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Let’s get to it. Here are five reasons you need to add meditation to your workouts right now.

Boosted Mental Health

We know that exercise is good for our mental health and mood. We also know that meditation is good for our mental health and mood. Is adding them together a superpower for mood-boosting? Some studies say it is, although why the combination is so powerful is still up in the air. If you already love working out for how it makes you feel, you can only go up from there by adding a quick meditation before hitting the treadmill.

Faster Recovery

Recovering with the power of our minds? Let’s go! During intense exercise (such as HIIT), the stress hormone cortisol can sometimes spike in your body. Too much cortisol over a long period of time is never a good thing. Meditating after you exercise (and cool down!) turns on the parasympathetic nervous system, which cleanses the body of stress hormones and helps you return to a calmer state.

More Focused Workouts

Meditating before working out also has its own suite of benefits. For elite athletes about to partake in a highly competitive and consequential game, it can bring you into a calmer, more focused state of mind, allowing you to achieve peak performance, even under pressure. For all of us other athletes, meditating before working out increases body awareness, puts us in tune with our breath and movements, and boosts overall focus and motivation. You head into your workout relaxed and with an empty mind — No more ruminating, heavy thoughts as you lift. All good things if you ask us.

If you’re looking for some guidance with your meditation practices, give this one a try on YouTube:

Goal Achievement

Combining meditation with your workouts can help you achieve your fitness goals. We said what we said. Not only do you recover faster from workouts, allowing you to stay on track with your rigorous schedule, but you also perform better and stay more motivated. If those two things aren’t enough to help you hit your goals, then note that studies show meditation enhances the cognitive function of your brain’s frontal lobe, which is partially responsible for goal setting, execution, and task planning.

Increased Pain Tolerance

In a previous blog post, we noted this bonus to meditation, but it’s a perk so good it’s worth mentioning again. Meditation can increase your pain tolerance. This means working harder, working longer, and hitting fitness goals faster. Plus, for those of us with long-term injuries or chronic pain, meditation can help you push through — not that you should ever workout when injured, but for big competitions like triathlons or other high-level sports, pain and goal achievement sometimes go hand in hand.

You’ll gain some benefits no matter where you use meditation with your workout (even during!). However, depending on how much time you have in your schedule, or if you are crushing out a shorter workout format like HIIT, you can even do a pre-workout meditation followed by a post-workout meditation to reap the full benefits. Ready to give it a try? Get out there and get mindful!

P.S. If you’re looking for other ways to incorporate mindfulness into your training, check out these five easy activities.

"I meditate every day and I usually do it for ten or fifteen minutes in the morning, as that prepares me to face whatever comes next." — Kobe Bryant