How do we measure effort?

We tend to divide effort into categories. Exercise trains your body. Work challenges your mind. Relationships demand patience. We schedule them separately and often assume that what happens in one stays there.

A study published in 2023 suggests those boundaries may be less distinct than we think.

Researchers studied 50 cyclists across two experiments. Everyone followed a cycling program for six weeks. After each workout, one group also completed challenging computer tasks requiring sustained concentration and resisting automatic responses. The other group listened to neutral sounds.

The cyclists doing the extra mental work improved more on several endurance tests. They also reported that cycling felt less difficult. Practicing concentration after a workout had apparently helped them sustain physical effort. Read the study.​

Think of it as a possible form of cross-training.

Mental fatigue can make exercise feel harder. The researchers proposed that repeatedly practicing demanding mental tasks could build resistance to that fatigue, making subsequent exercise feel more manageable. The results support that explanation, although the exact mechanism remains uncertain.

The interesting possibility is that some of what we train through one activity may serve us in another. It also challenges the assumption that switching activities means arriving with a fresh supply of energy.

Consider a difficult workout after a demanding workday. You’ve spent hours concentrating, making decisions, and managing competing priorities. Then you’re disappointed that you feel drained because you’ve “just been sitting.”

Sitting describes your posture. It tells you very little about the effort your day required.

Here are three ways to apply this idea:

1. Plan around your whole day. Look at your work calendar when scheduling demanding workouts. If a session feels unusually difficult, consider what preceded it before deciding you’ve lost fitness or discipline.
2. Make your breaks less demanding. Moving from a spreadsheet to a heated argument online keeps you mentally engaged. Try a short walk without your phone and notice whether you return feeling more refreshed.
3. Experiment with mental practice after physical effort. After an occasional manageable workout, read a challenging passage and summarize it from memory. This loosely follows the study’s structure: physical training followed by focused mental work. That particular exercise hasn’t been tested for endurance benefits, so treat it as an experiment, monitor your concentration, and preserve recovery.