> The overall findings showed that low-need-for-cognition individuals were more physically active
"Need for cognition" may translate into the vernacular as "easily bored." So easily bored people find exercise more tedious and do less of it. It has that effect on me. And consistent with their conclusion, cogitating via wildlife tracking, orienteering, audiobooks, podcasts or conversation makes exercise more tolerable for me.
Being chased by a bear would also result in decreased boredom, increased cognition and a sudden interest in vigorous exercise, but it would probably not be as long lasting. Being chased by an imaginary bear is likely more sustainable.
Weight lifting, specifically complex lifts with heavy weight fully engages me: if I don’t do the exercise correctly, either; (1) the bar doesn’t move; or, (2) I will hurt myself. I have focused, exclusively, on lifts of type #1. Things like squat, deadlift, bench press, etc., with moderate-heavy weight do the trick.
I enjoy weightlifting and powerlifting as well, but I can't say it's ever maximally mentally stimulating. Yes, I have to concentrate in a way, but it doesn't feel like I'm thinking deeply or quickly, as I might while playing a team sport like basketball. Most of the mental effort is in concentrating on my muscle contractions, feedback from my nerves, and mental preparation before the lift.
Now that I type this out, I'm realizing that weightlifting (in an appropriate setting/mood) is not dissimilar to meditation.
That revelation came to me when I was talking to a friend who is very into yoga. It turned out that he and I received similar benefits from yoga and powerlifting respectively. They both improved our mind-body connection and had strong calming effects.
I just got into (light) meditation over the past few months, and I've found the practice has made working out more pleasant. In the past I always made myself do it, but it was more of a struggle to not want to be done and doing something more mentally stimulating. I think the meditation has helped train me to make the most of the experience and not be craving more stimulation (at least, as much as before).
+1. The OP said "being chased by an imaginary bear is likely more sustainable", and this is the kind of that that lifting heavy weights can simulate. Many top level powerlifters have said that when they're attempting a personal record lift, they pretend that they're lifting a heavy car off their wife or children. Nothing scarier than a heavy squat.
>Many top level powerlifters have said that when they're attempting a personal record lift, they pretend that they're lifting a heavy car off their wife or children.
One danger about that is that they might push themselves too hard. If it came down to lifting heavy car off my wife or child, messing up my back permanently is a price I would gladly pay for success in the endeavor. Messing up my back is not something that would be a great exchange for beating my personal record.
As a general rule, i'd guess top level athletes don't have the best outcomes when it comes to long term health outcomes for precisely this reason: at the elite level, there's a trade of between maximising short term personal performance and long term well being.
I don't get this chase for personal numbers. They are anyway smaller compared to everybody else apart from the current top dog, usually much smaller. Maybe this is the only way to motivate properly for some.
I enjoy doing moderate weightlifting not for bulking up or setting some arbitrary numbers, but for great feeling from my body (endorphins initially, long term just a body that works perfectly fine), to have strength and more importantly stamina to do whatever activity life throws at me. This is more than enough for me, very rewarding, and most importantly, sustainable.
Similarly, martial arts and neigong. Requires a lot of intense deliberate practice with physical movement to get anywhere. It is very easy to "muscle it".
Many physical skills are like that though. But maybe it is also because my strongest learning style is kinesthetic. There are technical nuances to even something that seems as simple as biking ... or even walking.
I concur: I worked out regularly at the gym for ~3 years then I felt very bored and switched to martial arts. I still go to the dojo three times a week (and I am now entering my 30th year of regular practice).
Recently getting back into weightlifting and I love it. Team sports aren't really my thing. Since I no longer have time to hike, I needed a physical outlet. I was too fat to run, so I started lifting. Unfortunately my trainer wasn't watching my form so I probably have bursitis in my shoulder. Other than that, I find it's a very satisfying activity.
The only problem, I think, is that I now look like a jock at work. I think people look at me funny now, as if I'm going to beat them up and steal their lunch money.
> Being chased by a bear would also result in decreased boredom
Some observations:
(1) Fight-or-flight is only one out of a spectrum of conscious experiences. Any meditator or psychonaut can tell you about the endless states of mind. There is a lot to explore with just that. There are many peak experiential states (profound feeling of aliveness, connectedness, etc). I can guarantee you that a profound sense of aliveness is way better than fight-or-flight, as is the feeling called "fiero" (the sense of profound pride and joy of accomplishing something after years of arduous training or work).
(2) I don't train my martial arts with heightened sense of danger and adrenaline, or at least, that is not my only mode of training. If anything, I am going for dead calm at high intensity.
(3) Some meditation disciplines, such as Dzogchen, understand boredom as a form of restlessness, and the gateway to greater awareness. Boredom is understood as a state that can happen with any activity, and has more to do with the mind's inability to accept what is going on in the here-and-now.
Tinkering with my mind and body gives me a great deal of satisfaction (and frustration!) as does tinkering with code.
> (2) I don't train my martial arts with heightened sense of danger and adrenaline, or at least, that is not my only mode of training. If anything, I am going for dead calm at high intensity.
Same here, but a different life and death sport--auto racing. My sports psychologist turned me onto this (and also progressive relaxation); just four little words he told me that positively changed my driving forever "you are an observer." That state of mind of being detached emotionally from racing, transformed me from driving near the front--to being The person to beat.
Oh and btw; if your really serious about your sport--there's nothing like finding a sports psychologist who specializes in your activity. Nothing like it.
This seems reasonable and might be true, but they didn't study how often people exercise. They had study participants wear accelerometers and tracked their total physical activity during waking hours.
What they found was that people with a high need for cognition were less active overall, including when not exercising.
I think at least part of what they are observing is that people tend to sit still while thinking, so if you think a lot you spend more time being sedentary.
In the full paper there is also an interesting conjecture that high NFC people may enjoy exercise less because they are more sensitive to the physical discomfort it causes. That one seems reasonable to me too but it is just a conjecture.
I suspect I'm high NFC and that's why I enjoy sitting and reading and programming like a thoughtful lump, and spend most of my time doing these things. But it's not good for health, so what's a high NFC person supposed to do, schedule in time doing things they don't enjoy? Or can they somehow reframe low cognition activities as enjoyable? Or can they add cognition to activities that normally don't require it, or combine them with high cognition activities? (E.g. using a treadmill desk while you work, or listening to podcasts while you jog)
Then the interesting bit is the question of "how do I push it to that level every single day without pushing it as far as making myself ill".
For me working out isn't that fun. But if I push myself too far over a few weeks - then I will become ill. And I would like to keep working out as close to the limit as possible. The problem becomes a low-frequency one - and it's not that easy to manage.
I think you might love rock climbing, esp bouldering. It’s hard on the body, but your mind is engaged like a game of chess - to be fair more like solving set chess problems, it’s so satisfying when you figure one out.
IMO this is also true for grappling martial arts, specifically Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Removing strikes and focusing on ground grappling makes a wonderful substrate for a thoughtful martial art. You have plenty of time to think what you are going to do next, and you have to focus on anticipating you opponents intentions (and what is remarkable is that usually it's your conscious mind the one doing the job, I find other martial arts such as boxing much more subconscious/instinct-driven than BJJ). In order to achieve this you have to keep your mind calm, and when you have someone's whole weight on you (or you're being choked out and start feeling the pressure on your neck) this can be hard to do. That's an interesting handicap.
Never found a martial art as intellectual as BJJ. I usually give the same example: I doubt you could learn anything about boxing reading a book. But for sure you can expand your BJJ game reading a book (of course it's not a substitute for real training). What I mean is that there is a huge amount of of knowledge in BJJ that you can acquire, consciously, reading a book, watching a video, or listening to someone's explanation.
Again, in boxing, you won't improve much your combinations just listening to an explanation on how to punch. Training is not just necessary to improve, but also to reach a minimum level of proficiency.
But even though in boxing listening to an explanation won't improve your combinations significantly, listening to an explanation on how to escape the mount (the position where your opponent is basically sitting on top of you, both knees in your armpits, ready to deliver punches or proceed with submissions) will definitely make a difference, even if you don't practice it much. If you consciously know the sequence of movements, chances are you're getting out much faster than someone who doesn't, even without the intuition that you can only achieve with continuated practice.
You can strategize at many levels, you usually have time to think (not always, obviously) about your next move, the pace is slower than in the striking martial arts, or even standing grappling martial arts. You don't need only instinct and subconscious skills, you also need hard knowledge about the technique being used.
However, repetitive movements can make it easier to reach optimal stimulation levels. Woolgathering or chatting while jogging or biking can be pretty good.
There's "exercise" and then there's physicality appreciation. I'm very easily bored and the best cure I found yet is to skateboard, this after programming, philosophy, history.. What a boring study.
"Need for cognition" may translate into the vernacular as "easily bored." So easily bored people find exercise more tedious and do less of it. It has that effect on me. And consistent with their conclusion, cogitating via wildlife tracking, orienteering, audiobooks, podcasts or conversation makes exercise more tolerable for me.
Being chased by a bear would also result in decreased boredom, increased cognition and a sudden interest in vigorous exercise, but it would probably not be as long lasting. Being chased by an imaginary bear is likely more sustainable.