What to do when nothing feels right…
Crush that workout.
Hey Team—
I’m heading into my second week of healing from this rib injury. I’m back to doing most lower-body work—running, squats, etc.—and today I’m going to try some light jiu jitsu drilling. It also feels good to spend more time at home, getting back into a routine.
Summer often brings big swings. Sometimes it’s full of adventure—new experiences, exciting plans—but other times the busyness leaves us tired and cranky. The same goes for our physical and mental health: summer can be a great time to make progress and feel good, or it can derail our routines and undo a lot of the work we’ve put in all year.
One framework that’s really helped me manage these swings is understanding the two different systems our brains use for motivation and satisfaction: the “More” system, driven by dopamine, and the “Here and Now” system, driven by serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. This idea comes partly from the book The Molecule of More, by Daniel Lieberman and Michael Long. Here’s a quick breakdown, and some practical ways to apply it.
The Two Systems
The “More” system (dopamine) fuels our desire for novelty, improvement, and adventure. It’s like a wave: the higher the peak of satisfaction, the deeper the trough afterward, which makes us crave even more. The same thing never quite satisfies the second time, so we keep chasing bigger or newer highs—whether it’s food, shopping, social media, or workouts.
The “Here and Now” system (serotonin, oxytocin, endorphins) gives us calm, stable satisfaction from routine, trust, love, and connection. This is what lets us enjoy doing the same things over and over—our morning coffee, familiar workouts, quality time with family.
Overusing the “More” system can leave us feeling restless, distracted, or burned out. Paradoxically, the way to fix that is not to keep chasing more, but to slow down and let the “Here and Now” system come back online. At first, that withdrawal can feel uncomfortable—but it pays off.
How to Put This Into Practice
✅ Move your body. Exercise is the single best way to support both systems—along with sleep, good nutrition, and stable relationships.
✅ Watch out for “dopamine stacking.” If you can’t get through a task without coffee and a cookie and your favorite playlist and Netflix in the background… that’s a red flag. Pick just one or two of those, and enjoy them fully.
✅ Stick with your routine—especially when you feel unsatisfied. Don’t let boredom or restlessness derail you. Show up and do the work anyway. Most of the time, you’ll feel better halfway through and even better when you’re done.
✅ Aim for long-term dopamine, not short-term. Small, steady progress—like adding a rep or hitting a seasonal PR—builds a much healthier kind of “addiction” than the instant gratification of social media or junk food.
✅ Use tools wisely. Modern entertainment can help make some tasks bearable—like steady-state cardio on a trainer—but try to choose the least exciting stimulus you need. Leave your phone on outdoor runs, listen to a book during lifting, save TV for long basement cardio sessions. Avoid social media.
Hopefully this helps us better understand how these systems work—and how to use them to your advantage!
Happy training,
Ben