By Kevin Kolodziejski
Develop Mental Flexibility: Live and Ride Better Because of It
Dorian Yates does yoga now.
While that name might not ring a bell, here’s what you share in common with him. He pedals. He pedals regularly and really hard for short intervals.
The question of yoga aside, here’s how you two don’t match. He does all his pedaling inside. Those really hard, short intervals are part of a HIIT workout performed exclusively on a stationary, dual-action air bike.
Another thing you two don’t share in common makes this seemingly dime-a-dozen tale one in a million. Dorian Yates won Mr. Olympia, the most important professional bodybuilding contest in the world, six years running in the 1990s.
Before Dorian Yates Found Yoga
The 5-foot-9-inch Brit weighed 260 muscle-packed pounds and displayed nary an ounce of fat during his time as champ. He also possessed, as Jason Serafino writes in an article for Bar Bend, a “billboard-sized back and mountainous pecs.” And to make his pecs like mountains, Yates typically performed sets of 6 to 10 repetitions on an inclined bench press using more than 400 pounds.
But that was then and this is now . . . if now is four weeks ago. At that time, Yates did a taped interview with Escape Fitness and explained that at the age of 61 his lifestyle, goals, and needs aren’t the same as they were when he ruled the pro ranks, so his training is “entirely different now,” a combination of the aforementioned high-intensity interval training on a stationary bicycle and less-intense yoga.
At the start, though, he was really bad at the second one. So bad, he admits, “I couldn’t stand on one leg without falling over all the time.” He kept at yoga, however, because he found it to be “kind of like life. If you try too hard, you just make it harder.”
And now, about three years later and as a result of yoga, he says he’s more mobile, more agile, and that his body feels “great.” That he could do pretty much anything athletically “apart from lifting heavy weights.”
Serafino says Yates’ body looks great, too. After seeing a picture he posted on Instagram during a beach vacation, the scribe describes Yates’ abs as “tight and mean” and his build “athletic.” Which is all well and good, but to what end for you? Is all this talk about a XXX-sized cyclist now doing yoga supposed to get you to do the same?
No sir. You’re the only one who knows if incorporating yoga into your exercise regimen is right for you. It simply leads to a valuable lesson Yates has learned from doing yoga.
The Valuable Lesson Yates Learns From Yoga
To be more flexible. But he’s not talking about a physical flexibility that allows him to do the downward facing dog, the lower-lizard pose, or even touch his toes.
A spillover effect of practicing yoga, Yates tells Escape Fitness, is that he now handles stress much better than he used to. It’s improved what those in the mental health field often call mental flexibility, and he’s achieved that by doing what his yoga instructor advises inside the studio outside it as well. “Just relax and breath . . . Don’t try to get to the end.”
So this article will end, not with a list of yoga stretches to improve your physical flexibility and thereby your comfort and endurance on a bicycle, but with four easy ways for you to increase your mental flexibility. Doing so can only do you good, whether you’re on the bike, the job — or even the recliner at home when your four-year-old twins start to fisticuff.
What Exactly Is Mental Flexibility?
In an article for Psychology Today, Meg Selig, calls it “the ability to size up and adapt to an unexpected or difficult situation and take action while keeping your goals and values in mind.” Besides reducing stress, Selig believes mental flexibility boosts brain power, generates energy and creativity, and allows you to find the middle ground in difficult go-rounds with people.
Along with suggesting 10 ways to improve it, Selig acknowledges that some of hers may not suit your personality, so it’s best to pick and choose. When I looked at her list, I realized I had already been doing four of them for a while. One in particular has led to far less stress while I do my column writing — as well as a good number of aha moments. Plus, it can be applied to whatever job you do. “Stop working when your brain gets tied up in knots.”
The Making of an Aha Moment
When the words just won’t flow, I now get up and go. I no longer sit for hours, produce little, and pride myself on being mentally tough. I cook, clean, or workout, and sometimes — surprise, surprise — I quickly stop, grab pencil and paper, and feverishly write down an idea. More likely, though, is when I reread the part of the article that killed the flow a day ago the next morning, I see a way to alter the article a bit that allows me to move on.
Either scenario is an example of what may very well be the greatest benefit to mental flexibility. Your brain continues to work on your problem as you work on something else, which allows you to, as Selig explains, develop a creative solution, which can lead to better rides.
The Making of a Better Ride
Three other steps Selig suggests to improve mental flexibility work well for me when I ride or plan one and should for you, too. To see obstacles as opportunities, engage in positive self-talk, and do the opposite of what was planned — a different course or type of ride, perhaps — as a way to regain enthusiasm or gain perspective.
Kevin Kolodziejski began his writing career in earnest in 1989. Since then he’s written a weekly health and fitness column and his articles have appeared in magazines such as “MuscleMag,” “Ironman,” “Vegetarian Times,” and “Bicycle Guide.” He has Bachelor and Masters degrees in English from DeSales and Kutztown Universities.
A competitive cyclist for more than 30 years, Kevin won two Pennsylvania State Time Trial championships in his 30’s, the aptly named Pain Mountain Time Trial 4 out of 5 times in his 40s, two more state TT’s in his 50’s, and the season-long Pennsylvania 40+ BAR championship at 43.
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