The gym is the domain of Body, so we need to focus entirely on the body. This is accurate to any gym you train at: weightlifting gym, CrossFit, martial arts, water polo, rugby, etc. When we say “gym” we mean “training grounds” for the body.
If we are using our minds during body training we will be distracted and our minds will continue to be in use, when we want to exhaust the energy of our body, to push that energy into our mind and spirit domains.
This also goes if you are trying to watch a movie, or YouTube while training; you will distract the body. Even listening to audiobooks or podcasts can be difficult while training–you need to determine if this applies to you.
We do not want to actively train two domains at once. We can actively train one domain, like Body, while passively training another domain, like Mind or Spirit. However, you must control that the mental/spiritual passive training does not overpower the body, which means the mind/spirit overpowers the body training. An example of this would be getting stuck reading an article with a fear-based clickbait headline while you’re at the gym resting between sets–and what should be one minute of rest becomes 10 minutes of reading an article.
You can prime your spirit to help your body training, as well as your mind training. Music that pumps you up primes the spirit which encourages walking more vigorously and farther down the path of your body mastery.
Don’t Look at Your Phone While Training
You should not look at your phone to fill the blank space of rest between sets. “Sets” are not just for weightlifting, but can be training sessions of any sport or activity–or mental activity, but let’s focus on Body for now.
There are some reasons why you may look at your phone during rest, and all of them must be productive to the path. So you may look at your phone to track your progress or review your code as long as that does not distract you from the primary path of training and refining the body and skills pertaining to the body domain.
The mental PULL to look at your phone for entertainment or comfort during training–whether that training is body, mind, or spirit–is an opportunity for discipline. The more disciplined you are, the less the pull of the phone weighs on your mind and your spirit. Over time you will feel less pressure to look at your phone the more you resist the pressure to look at your phone. This is true with all addictions.
We know having a good day[LINK] demands exerting total control over Body, Mind, and Spirit.[LINK HOW TO HAVE A GOOD DAY]
Instead of Looking at your Phone
Instead of looking at your phone for comfort, you should meditate, visualize, or do breathwork like the free-to-learn in 10 minutes wim-hoff method.
In between sets you can spirit-condition by using your inner monologue to speak to yourself in a manner that improves your standing with yourself which will improve your performance at the gym.
Do not consume entertainment while training. The one caveat is if it enhances training, like listening to music which can add to your spirit, which will add to your bodily power. If we do anything alternative to the body domain while training, it must be to freshen the mind and spirit, NOT tax them.
Whenever you are looking at social media, or something else that contains no consumption value, or worse, negative value, you are allowing yourself to be taken advantage of by corporations that exist to manipulate and steal your focus for profit. They don’t want you to focus on your life, they want you to focus on their products & services so they can make money off of you. This is an unhealthy relationship, which is why social media is more like antisocial media.
We believe your focus should be used for your progress, not corporate progress. So focus on your life, and not their products & services.
Listening to audiobooks(Free audible trial) can be okay, but you need to determine if listening to audiobooks while training is okay for you, if it works for you, as audiobooks and podcasts are in the domain of mind.
Training is a remedy for an exhausted mind and a weakened spirit, so an exhausted mind may suffer from listening to audiobooks, as opposed to silence or powerful music that fills the spirit.
The mind must be refreshed with rest. While at the gym we should be using our bodies while resting our minds.
The spirit is refreshed by priming it in a multitude of ways. One way is how you talk to yourself by using your mind.
By not looking at your phone between training sets, you will prevent the Body, Mind, and Spirit(BMS) degradation from content meant to distract the Body and manipulate the Mind and Spirit.
When training the body, focus on the body.
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