How Exercise Builds Pain Tolerance and Mental Toughness

More Strain, Less Pain

I’m guessing that by listing most of the benefits of exercise, I’m just preaching to the choir. However, one benefit I’d long suspected existed—but have been happy to see increasingly confirmed by research—is that exercise seems to increase your tolerance to pain. So, when you stub your toe, you’ll waste less time hopping on one foot and cursing—not bad!

Really though, I think developing a toughness that allows you to move forward unphased by the mental, social, and physical challenges that are inevitably thrown at you is something that pushing yourself through trying workouts is invaluable for accomplishing.

Try this: zone in on how you feel, even for just the day, after a workout pushes you to your limits. Compare that to any other day and see if you notice the difference that I do.