Activation Energy — and Why Coffee Is Just Disgusting Without It 😖

In chemistry, activation energy is the amount of energy required to start certain chemical reactions … (Think: the heat applied to the water to dissolve coffee bean granules). 

After the right amount of energy has been applied, the chemical reaction proceeds as it should … (Think: When your coffee’s all dissolved, there’s no need to keep heating it up).

Without activation energy, it’s just a nasty, slimy, bitter "coffee water" mix. With activation energy, it’s a glorious cup of coffee sent from the heavens.

water + the beans + ACTIVATION ENERGY = coffee.

Now that’s out of the way, we can talk about what this random story has got to do with improving your fitness training.

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Honestly — and this is no exaggeration — I believe getting to the gym and warming up is at least two-thirds of a great workout.

At least two-thirds.

Getting out of inertia is the most significant part. Then momentum comes in as your "assistant" for the rest of your training.

I’ll explain…

If we consider a great workout to be the combination of physical training and mental state, then just getting your optimal mental state and getting the physical work started correctly is far more important than cracking a personal best or beating your deadlift record.

In fact, you probably can’t even get those achievements without using your activation energy.

Getting my stuff together, getting my mind ready, and deciding I’m going to do something towards achieving a set target — regardless of how small or large that “something” is — completely changed my consistency levels.

Screenwriter and author Steven Pressfield discusses this concept in his book The War of Art.

Expert writers know the secret of destroying "writer’s block": It’s not the writing that’s hard; what’s hard is simply sitting down to write.