The Surprising Power of Quiet

What I gained when I turned down the noise.

My new, local Barnes and Noble.

During this training cycle—one of the most intense and focused of my life—one shift has changed everything. Not a supplement. Not a rep scheme.

Silence.

A few times a day, I’ve started putting down my phone. Stepping away. Just for a little while. For a walk. A sliver of sunshine. A place that fills my soul. And more often than not, those places have books.

While I was writing LIFT, I discovered that I couldn’t seem to focus at home. There was always the clarion call of a million things to do around the house. . .and the kids barreling through the front door. Our black lab barking at a FedEx truck. But in a quiet corner of a library, or an empty office on a Sunday, or a coffee shop where no one knew me? I found my flow. My mind cleared. My ideas sharpened.

And there’s science behind this. Research shows that environments away from home, especially those with ambient quiet—think libraries or nature— reduce cognitive fatigue and increase focus. A study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that individuals performed 17 to 22 percent better on concentration-demanding tasks in quiet work zones compared to active, noisier areas.

With this in mind, and with competition season heating up, I started experimenting with turning the music off while I train.

No beat to push me. No lyrics to distract me from the discomfort. But gradually, I began to notice something else: a deeper connection to my movements. I could hear my breath. Feel the rhythm of each rep. Without the noise, I was more present, more grounded in my body.

Research supports the benefits of silent training in enhancing the mind-muscle connection, improving form, and building mental resilience. A study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology investigated how focusing attention on specific muscles during resistance training affects muscle activation. The researchers found that participants who directed their focus to certain muscles during bench press exercises experienced increased activation of those muscles compared to those who did not focus their attention.

We often treat quiet like a luxury—something rare in a world of nonstop pings, emails, and digital distractions. According to TikTok, I might even be on trend: in the past year, there have been numerous reels of travelers “rawdogging” flights—ditching in-flight entertainment to simply sit in silence and focus. Amanda Brown, in her Good Riddance newsletter, touched on this as well, noting how constant communication has reshaped relationships.

Quiet isn’t the absence of effort. It’s the space that makes effort possible. And, these days, it’s become the very thing that sustains me—not just in writing or training, but in life.

If you’re looking for something to curl up with in your own quiet corner—my upcoming book LIFT is available for pre-order now. 📚 (Be sure to place your order at BN.com between now and Friday, April 25 and use code PREORDER25 at checkout.)