Exercise and the First Law of Motion
Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it. -- Newton's First
Law of Motion
Have you ever noticed that often, once you get moving, you want to keep moving?
I am happily surprised each time I start exercising again. (Yes, I will admit that I quit quite often.) But when I do start, it's often easier the next day to continue. Quite a while back I ran 2 miles after doing hardly anything the week before. The next night I played a nightime game of tennis with a neighbor. I would have never played tennis at 9 at night had I not already been in the mindset of active motion from the night before. I would have told myself I was too tired or that it was too late.
I've experienced this many times before and I'm learning that usually exercise doesn't make you more tired, it makes you more energetic overall.
Now, I understand that this "object in motion" stuff only continues until friction takes over. There seems to be plenty of reasons we stop exercising as well. Just as few things on the earth have perpetual motion, it's not possible to never rest or stop.
But I've found that I can do things that get me going again and that's the point.
I recently came upon a book called Mini Habits by Stephen Guise (affiliate link) and he talks about the concept of overcoming the initial friction of doing hard things by setting ridiculously small goals to get the motion started. I love the concept. In fact, he wrote on his blog about taking a one pushup challenge that plays on this very concept. The point is that just starting is the hardest part and we need to just get the ball rolling.
What are the things that set you in motion?
Law of Motion
Have you ever noticed that often, once you get moving, you want to keep moving?
I am happily surprised each time I start exercising again. (Yes, I will admit that I quit quite often.) But when I do start, it's often easier the next day to continue. Quite a while back I ran 2 miles after doing hardly anything the week before. The next night I played a nightime game of tennis with a neighbor. I would have never played tennis at 9 at night had I not already been in the mindset of active motion from the night before. I would have told myself I was too tired or that it was too late.
I've experienced this many times before and I'm learning that usually exercise doesn't make you more tired, it makes you more energetic overall.
Now, I understand that this "object in motion" stuff only continues until friction takes over. There seems to be plenty of reasons we stop exercising as well. Just as few things on the earth have perpetual motion, it's not possible to never rest or stop.
But I've found that I can do things that get me going again and that's the point.
I recently came upon a book called Mini Habits by Stephen Guise (affiliate link) and he talks about the concept of overcoming the initial friction of doing hard things by setting ridiculously small goals to get the motion started. I love the concept. In fact, he wrote on his blog about taking a one pushup challenge that plays on this very concept. The point is that just starting is the hardest part and we need to just get the ball rolling.
What are the things that set you in motion?
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