Arnold Schwarzenegger, who you may know from just about any great action film in the last 30 years or as a very hench politician, has just suggested that all gym goers would do well to read a book called Stolen Focus by Johann Hari. He says it could help people push harder in the gym, and you know what? He’s probably right.
It’s no big surprise that Arnie would be giving out good fitness advice, but this book, in particular, is one that a lot of us would do well to read, especially as you’re likely reading this article in-between scrolling through social media aimlessly, instead of doing something with a bit more intent behind it.
Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention–and How to Think Deeply Again
Your Attention Is Important To Your Performance
We’re all guilty of not always giving our all in our workouts. Whether pushing it in a home gym, or smashing out the best exercises for chest day, we all sometimes punctuate our sets by looking at our phone for what we’re pretty sure is around a minute, but is likely far longer. It’s easy to do, because phones are so powerful and fast, and frankly, working out is hard.
In Arnie’s Monday newsletter, he talks a bit about persistence, consistency, and keeping in mind that your strength will always increase as long as you put the work in. However, he also has a new book of the month, which is Stolen Focus by Johann Hari. It’s an important book too, because it’s one we can all benefit from, both inside and outside of our workouts.
The book talks about how our ability to pay attention just isn’t what it used to be. It’s easy for that to fall into the category of just tech-fear-mongering, but it’s also true. It’s so easy to simply drift into your phone instead of focussing on the task at hand, or even getting lost in your own thoughts. While this obviously extends outside of the gym, it’s also a big hit when training.
Our attention is integral to getting the most out of every lift and movement, but also for maximizing our rest in-between exercises and sets. Without properly paying attention, it’s too easy to only give the bare minimum of effort, and not really push yourself for one more set or rep. It also makes it far more likely that the ideal 60-90 second break you’re meant to be having could be twice as long or more, and that’s just no good. So, if it’s good enough for Arnie, it’s got to be good enough for all of us too.
