Stop listening, start paying attention

By no means am I telling you to stop listening to music on your run, but on occasion? That’s exactly what I’m telling you to do.

So many of our members can’t bare the thought of doing a workout without something to listen to. Whether it’s music, a podcast, or an audiobook, most people at the gym need some kind of distraction to get through their workout.

It’s a phenomenal way of making your workouts sustainable. Doing “double duty” by exercising and learning something at the same time is a great way to motivate yourself into going to the gym—I do it myself!

I do think this has been taken too far, however.

Here’s my issue:

How are you supposed to work on technique if you’re always distracting yourself from your workout?

I was going for a run in Door County, WI and I left my headphones at home because it looked like it was going to rain. What was going to be a three mile run turned into a six mile run because I was just having one of those days where I felt incredible and was almost euphoric being able to run in nature in perfect weather.

And that was when I noticed that one of my hips was dropping lower than the other in my stride. And my left ankle was much tighter than my right—which meant that I was striking a different part of my shoe on one side.

“it made me realize that sometimes the interesting thing I need to learn comes from assessing myself, not listening to a podcast.”

If my stride was so different from side to side, would this effect my body long term? Maybe not on a 5k, but when I’m training for a marathon, probably!

I hadn’t thought about my running technique in so long because I was always distracted with something else in my earbuds. And it made me realize that sometimes the interesting thing I need to learn comes from assessing myself, not listening to a podcast.

I know it feels painful, but once a week, can you work out with just your own thoughts?

Give it a try.