This Is Why You Keep Starting Over

"Brainy What-Why-How"

Your weekly nibble of science-backed goodness to help you move better and feel unstoppable.

🧠

What (the TL:DR)

There’s a part of your brain called the basal ganglia — and it’s very cool, especially if you’re interested in that moment in skill-building when you shift from:

doing something → to being someone who just does it

i.e. you’ve finalised the learning. It’s a habit now.

And this part of your brain? It needs repetition, in stable conditions, to do its “automate things” job.

Why (the geeky neurology)

The basal ganglia (or BeeGees, as I like to call them) are a group of small, interconnected structures deep in your brain.

They’re not lone wolves. They’re social butterflies, constantly forming circuits with:

🦋  the cortex (thinking, planning) 🦋  the brainstem (automatic, reflexive)

After their gossipy catch-ups with their neuro-besties, they help regulate things like:

  • Movement control → starting, stopping, fine-tuning voluntary movement

  • Habit formation → tying shoelaces, walking, brushing teeth

  • Reward & motivation → processing dopamine signals that make us want to do the thing more

  • Filtering signals → deciding what gets a green light… and what gets red 🚦 

Soooo…

  • If your movement feels off (even though you’re strong),

  • your good habits don’t quite “stick,”

  • your motivation is inconsistent,

  • or you’re always starting too many things at once…

👉 this can be a basal ganglia issue.

(Not broken — just not being trained in the way it learns best.)

How (apply it to your life) 

Like everything in the brain, this is trainable! 😃 

First off: your BeeGees love good sleep. So there’s that.

But more importantly: they thrive on repetition and routine.

If you:

  • constantly switch routines or drills

  • try new approaches every session

  • don’t practice consistently

…then the BeeGees struggle to chunk* things into automatic patterns.

Yup: repetition builds mastery. And now you know why. But here are a couple more layers to it:

1️⃣ Reduce decision-making

The basal ganglia love predictability.

You can help them learn faster by removing unnecessary choices:

  • Don’t just practice handstands every Tuesday → practice them at the same time of day

  • Give them the same cue and sequence: “hands, shoulders, ribs, gaze… now I’m ready”

You’re building a groove the brain can run automatically.

2️⃣ Repetition with consistency (not intensity)

Pick:

  • one entry

  • one shape

  • one set-up

And repeat it.

Not perfectly. Just consistently

Consistency is what gets encoded. 

3️⃣ Train slightly below your max

If it’s too hard:

  • the cortex takes over

  • movement becomes conscious and inefficient

If it’s manageable:

  • the basal ganglia can actually encode the pattern

4️⃣ Let dopamine work 

Part of the basal ganglia’s job is reward.

And it rewards finishing the rep. It rewards showing up. 

Not just success.

This is how motivation becomes stable: instead of something you have to constantly chase.

The simple rule:

My favourite mantra (as an ADHD person who always wants to keep things interesting and change everything all the time):

“Stick to the plan.”

In ​handstand club​ we stick to the plan:

  • we show up, same time every week

  • we repeat the same drills, week after week

  • we leave space for rest

  • we choose one entry, one shape, one set-up …and we repeat it.

Not perfectly. Just consistently.

Because that’s what teaches the brain:

“This pattern is worth automating.”

Stay consistent on the good stuff, and consistent on questioning the unhelpful stuff,

Adell 💋 

*I discuss "neural chunking" in this ​free workshop​ which you might love. It also discusses the benefits of VARIETY in our movement, because nope, it's not all about repetition.

Want to go way deeper with me? 👀 ​

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