Psychologists use a procedure called “The Rubber Hand Illusion” to challenge an individual’s sense of body ownership. A recently published study showed that schizophrenics – who already exhibit a weak sense of self – experienced the illusion to a greater degree than healthy controls.

Other research suggests that focused physical exercise can help improve body ownership and thereby alleviate some symptoms of schizophrenia.

Body Ownership and “The Rubber Hand Illusion”

In the “The Rubber Hand Illusion,” participants begin to perceive a rubber hand as if it was a part of their own body. The experiment is fairly simple, but it can have some wild effects.

Researchers hide one of your hands behind a small sheet and then put a rubber hand into view. They then stroke a paintbrush along both your real hand (the one that’s hidden), and the rubber one.

What happens among two thirds of healthy participants is that they begin to perceive that the sensations of the paintbrush are actually coming from the rubber hand, not their real one. When participants are then asked to close their eyes and point toward their real hand, many will point closer toward the rubber one instead.

The “Rubber Hand Illusion” is a play on vision, touch, and body posture (proprioception). Often the stronger the effect, the less someone has a true sense of “body ownership.” To get a better idea on how the experiment works, you can check out a video of the illusion below:

Schizophrenia and “The Rubber Hand Illusion”

Those with schizophrenia are already known to have a poor concept of self, a big part of which includes their sense of “body ownership.”

In a recently reported study, schizophrenics were shown to have a much more heightened effect when undergoing this “Rubber Hand Illusion.” When asked to point toward their real hand, schizophrenics pointed significantly closer to the rubber one than their real one when compared to healthy controls. One participant in the study even reported floating completely above their body for about 15 minutes – a very rare case of an “out of body experience” (OBE) being spontaneously produced in the laboratory.

These findings fit perfectly with the already existing theory that those with schizophrenia have a weaker sense of self and body ownership.

The Importance of Physical Exercise for Schizophrenics

Previous research has shown that physical exercise can help reduce symptoms of schizophrenia (see here and here).

This is because physical exercise, especially focused activities like yoga and dance, can help improve an individual’s body awareness and body ownership.

I believe that unless I can integrate a healthy attitude long-term, there is no point in pursuing a healthy lifestyle. How many people do you know who literally work their butts off to lose weight, but then have trouble keeping it off? What happened is they overcompensated in order to meet a short-term goal, but they ultimately tired themselves out. They aimed for short-term gratification over long-term growth and sustainability. Thus, the results of their efforts didn’t last.

This is one pitfall of making any health-related goal that aims to meet a certain deadline. Sure it may motivate us up until a point (it’s an external motivator), but it may not instill the internal motivation we need to become a truly healthier person over the course of our lives. I find that health isn’t so much about a gym membership, or joining a sports league, or buying a treadmill, but an attitude we create about our bodies, one which greatly influences our habits.

In this post I am going to go over the bare essentials toward cultivating a healthier lifestyle. In the second half, I will go over some of the ways I apply these skills, as well as a couple material possessions I think will greatly aid any workout.

Bare Essentials of My Minimalist Workout

Awareness

Yes, awareness is important. If not for any other reason then because it is the one constant in all conscious action and decision-making. The more aware you are of your body, the more attune you are to its needs and demands. When I go extended amounts of time without exercising, I feel and notice my body getting weaker and having less stamina. On the other hand, when I am working out on a frequent basis, my body feels stronger and my stamina increases. This is just one example of how your body sometimes signals whether or not you are treating it right. Eventually, you’ll notice more subtle things. After sitting at the computer for an hour or two, you’ll notice your muscles begin to ache because they want you to move around. The more aware of my body, the more I know when its a good time to get up, go for a walk, or do some stretching.

Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is just another word for drive, passion, or intrinsic motivation. It’s commonsense: if we are going to commit ourselves to something, then we need to have the desire to do it. It is much easier to stick to an activity when we don’t think of it as a chore or obligation, but it is something we derive joy just from doing it all on its own. You can integrate enthusiasm into your health life in a number of ways. First, you can identify physical activities you already know you love – maybe you like nature walks or a particular sport you used to play a lot as a child. Secondly, you can create your own fun activities: maybe you can challenge someone to a competition, or make a game out of your work-out routine. You can also instill enthusiasm by listening to music that pumps you up (studies show this can work) or finding a workout environment that inspires you. Find ways to make health fun and it’ll become second-nature.

Exploration

I imagine that because we are all unique in different ways, we each should have a slightly different workout routine. Some people like running in the mornings, others at night. Some like team sports, others like going solo. Other preferences may include outdoors/indoors, what exercises to do, what machines to use, how often to work-out, how long is each workout, etc. You can’t go into your healthy lifestyle with a predetermined blueprint of how you should act; you need to explore these options on your own, find what works and what motivates you personally. Take suggestions from your friends, family,coaches, and fitness gurus, but experiment with advice before making it a fixed part of your routine.

Boundary Pushing

This is related to exploration, because you should always be testing your limitations and working to overcoming them. All the hurdles and obstacles you encounter help define your path toward improvement; don’t be discouraged when you find your abilities limited, instead use that limitation as a measuring stick for growth. When you overcome it, you know you are putting in the right work.

My Application

I think if you get these 4 attitudes down in regards to health: awareness, enthusiasm, exploration and boundary pushing, then you are well on your way to living a healthier lifestyle. Over time, you will cultivate new habits, see the costs and benefits, and know what works best for you. Most importantly, you will be in it for the long haul.

Some of my personal applications of these tools include:

Mindful Stretching/Yoga – This is one of the best ways to start increasing awareness of your body. When you stretch, you automatically turn your awareness to your muscles, joints, tendons, and posture. You’ll be able to identify the boundaries of your stretching, and over time notice yourself becoming more flexible and fit. With some exploration, you’ll discover stretches you never knew you were capable of, so be ready to experiment, but don’t do anything that causes too much pain or discomfort. Start with the main muscles and go lightly, then as you become more stretched out explore your boundaries. I prefer to stretch every morning to help wake myself up and get the blood flowing. When I do, I am usually more aware of my body throughout the day as well.

Use your body weight – You really don’t need much more than your body and some space to start working out. Pushups, crunches, planks, side planks, knee bends, squats, lunges, etc. Find ways to use your weight and gravity to work out different muscles. Here is one really inspiring video of some exercises this guy does with just his body and a living room. You can tell he knows how to have fun and be enthusiastic about his practice:

Use stuff around the house – I bet you I can choose almost any furniture in the house and come up with 3-5 exercises. I know it sounds silly, but we really don’t need to go to Sports Authority to pick up an exercise machine if we want to start building strength. Some common things I use are: chairs, backpacks, stairs, jugs of water, etc. It takes a bit of creativity and exploration, but you can come up with a full body workout if you put your mind to it.

Use anything else available to you – As I said at the beginning, my approach to minimalism is essentially “optimize what you have.” If there is a track a couple blocks by your house, use it to run on during the weekends. Or, if you are like these guys, you can use a local playground to do some serious muscle-building.

I like sharing videos like these because I think fitness is something we can all be more innovative about.

Isometric exercises – These are certain kinds of exercises involving the static contraction of a muscle without any visible movement in the angle of the joint. You can do many of them with just your own body, or you can do them against a wall. Here is one example of an isometric exercise designed to tone your chest. Here are some other isometrics you can do in your car at a stop sign or red light. You can find many more of these by searching on YouTube or Google.

Physical things

Although this article is mainly about optimizing your fitness without the use of weights or machines, I think there is a lot of diverse stuff you can do with just 2 or 3 sets of dumbbells. Here is a great resource that shows over 75 exercises you can do, including exercises for your shoulders, biceps, triceps, back, legs, and more.

In addition, I like having hand grips around, just because they are so easy to do while surfing the internet, or reading, or watching TV.

I also highly recommend working out where there is a full-length mirror (if you don’t have one, I would suggest picking one up). This is crucial if you work out alone (like me) because it’ll help you correct your posture and body awareness.

Your application

Now that you’ve found out a little about what I do (and some others), it’s time you start cultivating your own fitness practice. If you are someone who already goes to the gym several times a week or plays sports, you can add some of these ideas into your day to help bring your fitness to another level. If you are someone who has very limited experience with fitness, these are some great starting points.

Quarter Cup of Quinoa 160 CALORIES
6 GRAMS OF PROTEIN

Quinoa can be served as a great high-protein breakfast food. Try mixing it with honey, almonds, or berries.

Check out other quinoa recipes here.

One Cup of 1% Lowfat Milk 110 CALORIES
8 GRAMS OF PROTEIN

Want a quick source of protein? Pour yourself a glass of milk and chug it like a baby.

Half Cup of Kidney Beans 120 CALORIES
8 GRAMS OF PROTEIN

Beans, beans, they’re good for your heart… and they help you grow up big and strong.

Check out other kidney bean products at Amazon.

Two Servings of Cashews, Almonds & Pecans
340 CALORIES
10 GRAMS OF PROTEIN

You’d be nuts not to include nuts in your diet. Yeah that was a cheesy thing to say, but not as cheesy as some other items on this list. Okay, I should really stop now.

Check out other mixed nuts products at Amazon.

Quarter Cup of Hemp Seed 160 CALORIES
11 GRAMS OF PROTEIN

Grab a handful or add some to your salad. Very protein to calorie efficient.

Check out other hemp seed products at Amazon.
Also, a nice collection of hemp-seed based recipes.

Quarter Cup of Lentils
160 CALORIES
12 GRAMS OF PROTEIN

Both lentil and couscous are great sources of protein for vegetarians and vegans. Try incorporating more of them in your diet if you don’t already.

Check out other lentil products at Amazon.
Also, a nice collection of lentil recipes.

Two Eggs
160 CALORIES
12 GRAMS OF PROTEIN

Fry ‘em. Scramble ‘em. Or you could hard boil a bunch and save them for a post-workout snack?

Can of Tuna 120 CALORIES
15 GRAMS OF PROTEIN

Jessica Simpson’s favorite kind of chicken, what more needs to be said.

Check out other tuna products at Amazon.

Half Cup of Cottage Cheese
102 CALORIES
16 GRAMS OF PROTEIN

All cheeses are rich sources of protein, but cottage cheese seems to outshine the others. It only has two grams of fat and it goes good with many different types of fruits and vegetables.

Greek Yogurt
130 CALORIES
23 GRAMS OF PROTEIN

This single container of greek yogurt remarkably contains 23g of yogurt and only 130 calories. I think the numbers speak for themselves. My friends tell me it is very tasty too.

Find Stonyfield Oikos Greek Yogurt here.