The Benefits of Applying Mindfulness to Exercise

If all of your workouts involve some type of distraction, it may be time to add some mindfulness into your workout regimen

By Get-Fit Guy Brock Armstrong

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I have addressed the idea of mindfulness and its role in fitness before. In the article "Mindfulness as a Fitness Motivator," I mentioned a scientific study on the associations of what is known as Dispositional Mindfulness with cardiovascular health, which concluded: "dispositional mindfulness is positively associated with cardiovascular health, with the associations particularly driven by smoking, body mass index, fasting glucose, and physical activity."

I also dug into a super cool scientific trial that examined the relationship between exercise consistency and mindfulness. According to the authors, “those who were successful at maintaining exercise tended to score higher on measures of mindfulness and acceptance... exercisers having greater mindfulness and acceptance are less reactive; responding with more balanced appraisals to threats to their exercise regimen which in turn promotes increased exercise maintenance.”

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Another study of 62 women over six months found that those who applied mindfulness meditation practices to their daily or weekly routine had a much higher level of physical exercise and general movement, and a greater reduction in BMI, than those who didn’t employ mindfulness practices.

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