How to build mental endurance with exercises that don’t wreck your body

People are absolutely kicking their own asses right now on the Internet, participating in daily long bouts of endurance exercise, as part of some fitness challenges making the rounds.

Some do this, I guess, to prove to themselves--and the Internet--that they can. Exercise-induced self-flagillation, as digital theater.

This is totally unnecessary.

There is value in building mental strength in such challenges. And there might be some physical improvements.

But there’s also increased risk of injury. And a lot of wasted time.

Here’s a secret many fitness gurus (and orthopedic surgeons!) would prefer you did not know:

Short bursts of intense exercise also strengthen your mental resolve, give you efficient fitness gains, and do so with less risk of injury.

No ultra marathon required.

Don’t believe me? Test it out.

Challenge yourself, appropriate to your fitness levels. Get on a stationary bike or go to a track. Work as hard as you can possibly work for thirty seconds. Recover for 60-90 seconds. Do it again, four or five more times. (Rememeber to warm up first!)

See how you feel. See what your brain starts to say to you.

I do this three times a week. And no matter how loud I turn up the “Rocky” theme, I can’t drown out my mind’s desire to quit.

“Remember that study that said you get all the benefits from the first two sprint intervals? So why are we doing more?”

“Why turn the bike resistance up to 18 again this round? You can really go faster at 16.”

“You know, two sessions a week is plenty. Three is overkill.”

The battle takes place in every single session.

So I benefit from overcoming a desire to quit---just like endurance events. But I do it in 12 minutes. And I don’t get stress fractures.

As always my experience is n=1. If you love marathons or other endurance events and are healthy, great. Carry on.

But for most of us, endurance exercise is unnecessary, and even harmful in the long run.

There is another way to challenge yourself, build endurance, and fight the mental battles that can only be waged and won with hard physical exercise. Try sprint intervals.