Training Like a Bodybuilder & Mindfulness - What We Can Learn From the Two

Developing your physique in the weight room is more than just moving the weight from A to B. How you set up, the cadence at which you move, your range of motion, and standardizing all of those pieces until you reach failure is a skill in and of itself. It takes time to master, especially as you introduce progressive overload (i.e., adding load, reps, and setup changes over time). In my opinion, it’s one of the most valuable skills you can build in the gym.

To understand what I mean by this, this link goes into more depth

This, above everything else, seems to be the skill that takes my clients the longest to master.

To get good at this, you need to be completely focused and distraction-free in the gym. You need to be able to accept and push through the discomfort of a difficult set and keep your tempo and execution consistent as the set gets harder and harder. All of this takes acceptance of discomfort, but also awareness of where your body is in space and the sensations that come with that.

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a widely used form of

treatment in clinical psychology.

It focuses on increasing psychological flexibility rather than directly trying to eliminate symptoms. Instead of aiming to reduce symptoms (like anxiety or depression) directly, ACT helps individuals accept unpleasant emotions and experiences while committing to actions that align with their personal values.

It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Steven C. Hayes and others as an evolution of behavioural and cognitive therapies that integrates mindfulness principles.

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy - Core Principles

---

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is centered around building something called psychological flexibility, the ability to be present, stay open to what’s happening internally (even when it’s uncomfortable), and still move in the direction of your values. That sounds simple, but in practice, it takes time, awareness, and intention (2, 5).

Here’s a breakdown of the six key processes that ACT helps you strengthen (1, 2):

1. Cognitive Defusion

This is about seeing your thoughts as just thoughts, not facts, not instructions, and not necessarily something you need to react to. It helps you step back from the mental noise and make room for more deliberate choices (1, 2).

2. Acceptance

Not everything we feel is comfortable or convenient, but ACT teaches that we don’t need to fight or avoid those feelings. Acceptance is about making space for discomfort so that it doesn’t derail what matters to you (1, 2).

3. Contact with the Present Moment

A lot of us are caught up in replaying the past or anticipating the future. This skill is about grounding yourself in the here and now, being aware of your surroundings, your thoughts, and your body without judgment (2, 4).

4. Self-as-Context

This one’s a little abstract but powerful. It’s the idea that you are more than what you’re thinking or feeling in any given moment. You can observe your experience without becoming consumed by it (2, 4).

5. Values

Values are the qualities that matter to you, who you want to be, how you want to show up, and what gives your life meaning. ACT helps you get clear on these so your actions have direction and purpose (1, 2).

6. Committed Action

It’s one thing to know what you value, it’s another to take action toward it, especially when things get hard. ACT focuses on helping you take meaningful steps, guided by your values, even in the face of discomfort or uncertainty (2, 4).

Sound familiar to our conversation about training execution?

---

These six processes work together to help you live with more clarity and intention. It’s not about getting rid of anxiety, sadness, or doubt, it’s about learning how to carry those things with you while still choosing what matters (2, 5). This is very similar to pushing through a really hard set... You're accepting the discomfort that comes with pushing through a really tough set and still continuiing on

Going through some of the more difficult times in my life over the past year, I worked with, and still work with, a psychologist who introduced me to this form of therapy. I can confidently say that even just following along with this video by Dr. Russ Harris every morning (okay maybe every few days) has helped tremendously in getting more out of each set in my bodybuilding journey along with being more present in my every day life (6).

But these tough times have also helped me realize the deeper mental benefits of lifting. Because whether you realize it or not, just practicing being aware of what you’re doing in the gym and noticing your observing self, is mindfulness in itself.

Sources

---

1. Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (1999). Acceptance and commitment therapy: An experiential approach to behavior change. Guilford Press. 

2. Hayes, S. C., Luoma, J. B., Bond, F. W., Masuda, A., & Lillis, J. (2006). Acceptance and commitment therapy: Model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2005.06.006 

3. Powers, M. B., Zum Vörde Sive Vörding, M. B., & Emmelkamp, P. M. G. (2009). Acceptance and commitment therapy: A meta-analytic review. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 78(2), 73–80. https://doi.org/10.1159/000190790 

4. A-Tjak, J. G. L., Davis, M. L., Morina, N., Powers, M. B., Smits, J. A. J., & Emmelkamp, P. M. G. (2015). A meta-analysis of the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy for clinically relevant mental and physical health problems. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 84(1), 30–36. https://doi.org/10.1159/000365764 

5. Gloster, A. T., Walder, N., Levin, M. E., Twohig, M. P., & Karekla, M. (2020). The empirical status of acceptance and commitment therapy: A review of meta-analyses. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 18, 181–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.09.009

6. Harris, R. (2018). The Hexaflexercise [Audio file]. ACT Mindfully. https://www.actmindfully.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/The_Hexaflexercise_from_ACT_Made_Simple.mp3