http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2012/03/bg-249-strengthening-the-body-mind/

Great pod cast on ego-noise during exercise. I definitely noticed during jogs that when the body gets slightly tired (but still could go on) the mind likes to chatter about anything and suddenly you stop before you need to preventing yourself from giving that 100%.

Isn't the exercise just ego-movement?

For example if meditators like to sit in the lotus position and sit for a long time so the natural pain threshold is crossed related to pain aversion it's logical that this skill could be used for any task that requires you to go beyond the comfort zone. I like the example he uses in that when you workout you're goal shouldn't be to get stronger in some future date but instead to get weaker in the present moment. This of course is what happens when you workout. You get weaker, until enough time passes by and you get stronger. So many people exercise while mentally striving for a future healthy self but there would be more willpower energy if people just exercised for its own sake and let the results happen on their own. It's better than some people I see who obsess next to the mirror after each exercise to see if their muscles grew by a fraction of an inch.

Have you read his book Richard? I was intrigued by the interview but have a bit too much to read at the moment.
Last year I bought and tried the workout-program by Shawn Phillips (a colleague of Rob McNamara's I think, I'm pretty sure Rob is the person posing in the exercise photos in the book) and it's approach to exercise was very interesting and it was the first time I stuck to a physical training practice seriously for any length of time without giving up. As Rob seems to be more of a meditator than Shawn, I'm curious about his book.

The idea that one should exercise to get weaker in the present is a really interesting one, thanks for bringing that up here.


Shawn Phillip's method is called "Focus Intensity Training" and seems to be designed somewhat from the point of view of a meditator.

I haven't read it but with the podcast I'm able to get the gist of it. I'm currently using:

Hundred Pushups

Two hundred situps

When I feel inadequate and tired after a workout I feel I achieved what I'm supposed to do. The next stage is to feel inadequate and pathetic at mental tasks and to keep pushing to improve. It makes sense in terms of zen in that one must always be aware of cause and effect. It's not what the ego strives for but what a person actually does.