Q:At the gym, groups of people in high-intensity classes shout and laugh and sweat all over each other. Is it some kind of a mental condition? I can think of nothing worse.
A: I can certainly think of a few things worse than a group of people getting their heart rates up and training through their three energy systems to become fitter, leaner and healthier. Yes, the perspiration is a pungent payoff, but exercising beats cynicism every day of the week when it comes to wellness and longevity.
Your cynical observation made me smile. It’s one of the greatest ironies of the thinking, chattering, educated classes. Well, certainly from my university “era” doing a BA (Bugger All). We were taught to study and interrogate, and so we cynically analysed the unthinking masses and their mindless actions, grateful that we were, indeed, enlightened.
Yet, studies link cynicism to negative outcomes. Truth is, if science is to be believed, we were slowly killing ourselves. Cynicism has — in peer-reviewed studies — been linked with coronary heart disease, high levels of inflammation, cognitive decline, depression and anxiety, and a higher risk of all-cause mortality. Try a micro dose of optimism, or trust, three times a day for a few weeks — the results may surprise you.
All that being said, I used to enjoy those classes, but not so much anymore. And, when I was deeply embedded in the metabolic conditioning cult, come hell or high water, I could not get some friends or family to even try it. They despised the idea, so I gave up.
A study published in Frontiers in Psychology a week ago finally explains why. This is what I love most about sports science: when the most obvious, intuitive things are “confirmed by science”. They found that different personality types enjoy different types of exercise, and propose that matching an exercise modality with your personality type is more likely to result in sticking to a workout regimen. This makes sense.
In an article explaining the findings on CNN, we learn: “More extroverted people, for example, prefer high-intensity training sessions with others, such as team sports, while people who scored highly on ‘neuroticism’, a metric that measures someone’s emotional instability, preferred private workouts without people watching them and punctuated by short breaks.
“As for those who scored highly on conscientiousness, they ‘were more likely to have a well-rounded fitness ... and we think that’s because conscientious individuals are more likely to be driven by the fact that exercise is good for them’,” said the study’s co-lead author, Flaminia Ronca, an associate professor in exercise science at University College London.”
An important nuance that is discussed by the study authors, is that personality types overlap. Someone may be neurotic but also conscientious. Therefore, even though they may not enjoy doing a group HIIT (high-intensity interval training) class, they do it anyway because they understand the benefits they’d enjoy.
In the study, the authors found that those who had neurotic personality traits enjoyed the biggest reduction in stress after an eight-week programme of strength training and cycling. Take notes.
I, known for my awkwardness in singing in chorus with a politically correct mainstream that is overly obsessed with pandering to feelings over pragmatism, see things differently.
I despise paying tax. Not because I don’t understand its purpose. I’m at my wit’s end seeing my money lining the back pockets of overweight politicians. Yet, despite how I “feel”, if I don’t pay my tax I will end up in a 2mx2m cell reading Business Day on my smuggled-in smartphone.
Override your feelings and your personality. Do what you need to do and start experimenting with another cognitive concept — neuroplasticity and “rewiring neurons” (I love that electrician metaphor) to shift what you find pleasurable. Create new neural pathways by building habits. Start manipulating the reward centre in your brain, and douse your grey matter in endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, brain-derived neurotrophic factor and anandamide.
If that’s too “Tony Robbins” for you, then take it from me. I used to think running or long, brisk walks were a waste of time. I now crave them. Guess what those thousands of steps are doing for fat loss and a myriad other issues? When something is good for us, we really need to think less and do more.
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