08/10/2023
I exercised last night. Again.
I don't think I'm quite past the Hump of No Return, but very close to being so.
Here's the thing about cardio and psychology; most of us know that consistent cardio throughout the week is a powerful antidepressant. I would say more substantial than even an actual antidepressant. But there's more to this. Just the knowing that I followed through and exercised last night has a significant impact on my psychological state today.
I have come to believe that the brain needs to know it's in repair for it to fully maximize its neuroplastic repair potential. The knowing in itself is more powerful than what we might think.
I'd be curious to run a between-subjects group study on depression and cardio with positive/negative hypnosis as the independent variables. One control group and two experimental groups. One experimental group would take part in cardio + negative hypnosis; a hypno script that would say you didn't exercise well, or maybe you didn't exercise at all even though you did. The second experimental group would be cardio + reinforcement hypnosis; a hypno script that reinforced how well you exercised the night before. The purpose of the IV being to ensure one group is thinking positively about their exercise and the other thinking negatively about their exercise. I guarantee you, the positive group would not only reflect improved cardiovascular health at the end of the study, but also improved psychological health, over the other IV group.
My point being, cardio causes positive neuroplastic changes in the brain. Yet these changes are split 3/4 of which come directly from the physical exercise, and the remaining 1/4 comes from just the knowing that the exercise is taking place.
