Anyone who has ever tried to “start” an exercise program or fitness routine can tell you how hard it can be to stick with. Most people don’t. Why is that?
For anyone in the process of beginning a lifestyle change program that includes a regular exercise routine, the key to adherence and success is creating a fitness habit. When most of us think of habits, we usually tend to think of the difficulty that is often associated with trying to break a bad habit. However, we can learn a lot from looking at how habits are created in the first place. In beginning a physical fitness program, people are trying to adopt a new set of behaviors that most often requires the rejection of their longstanding social norms, simultaneously.
With this in mind, is it any wonder that many people fail to fully complete the lifestyle change? Ultimately, the reasons why people fail can be reduced to one of three categories:
This may seem to be exercise arrogance, but knowing why people fail is the surest shortcut to developing a blueprint for success. If you’re looking for the recipe to a magic formula that includes specific advice on program design or nutrition, you will not find it here. If on the other hand, you want to learn the psychological skills and strategies needed for behavioural change and success – read on.
When most people begin an exercise program, they tend to hope that their enthusiasm and effort will translate into rewards such as looking better and being healthier, for example. It’s important to recognize that such rewards are delayed; they don’t occur right away. This is why enthusiasm alone is not enough. It’s what gets you started, but it’s not the thing that creates or maintains changes in long-term behaviour. The real key to lasting change comes in creating a fitness habit – an exercise plan that’s easy to follow. If the exercise plan is perceived to be too difficult, or too time consuming, it’s not a winner!
Creating a Fitness Habit
Generally, fitness habits are developed as a result of two basic factors: reward(s) and repetition. Whether the goal for your exercise program is to lose weight or build muscle, it’s likely going to take at least a few months. Therefore, the formation of a new habit around physical exercise and proper nutrition depends mostly on repetition and delayed reward. This isn’t all that unusual, however. Many of our habits grow from repetition and delayed reward. Brushing our teeth several times a day does not yield any immediate reward, but that doesn’t deter most people from engaging in dental hygiene! We don’t get a diploma each day at school but that doesn’t mean that we don’t value education enough to regularly attend. Many people begin investing in retirement savings plans, decades before they intend to retire. Certainly, the rewards are delayed, but this doesn’t stop most people from making regular contributions to secure their financial future.
The Cycle of Change
Likewise, people shouldn’t excuse themselves from forming a fitness habits in the area of physical exercise and proper nutrition today – just because the rewards of looking better avoiding future health problems in the future are delayed. The process of changing existing behaviours and creating a “fitness habit” is better thought of as a cycle rather than an all or nothing step:
People only begin to contemplate the possibility of change once they face-up to the fact that they have a problem and are presented with a compelling reason for them as an individual to correct it. Most often, the desirability for change is increased when one is afforded convincing, personal and timely information, which is intimately tied to their current behaviour problems, runs contrary to their established expectancies, and has intimate ramifications for some or many aspects of their life. The grand task for the early contemplator is to seize the moment, and let the opportunity for a better life pass them by without moving from contemplation to determination and action.
Once someone has decided that they want to make a change, they must consider all aspects of their behaviour problem realistically, begin to modify expectancies, and set realistic goals. If the goal is unreasonable or inadequate, attempts to follow a path towards it will fail. As a result, people with good intentions often become discouraged, such that they relapse or abandon the change process altogether. Determination will lead directly into action when goals are consistent with individual capabilities, values, and needs.
Conclusion
It’s truly remarkable what people are capable of achieving once sufficiently motivated and invested in a realistic goal. If you know what your goals are, the next step is recognizing the potential means and barriers to the accomplishment of the goal. In designing an exercise plan, one should take stock of individual strengths and weaknesses, both physically and mentally. If you know what’s limiting your ability to change, and you’re serious about change, then you must take action to remove or at least minimize barriers to your success. Lifestyle changes aren't about fitness routines; they're about forming a fitness habit that makes it easier to regularly follow the exercise plan than not.
Dale Andrew, M.A. is a fitness professional, author, and speaker. He is the fat loss expert busy professionals worldwide turn to for advice on how to build a better body - FAST. To get your copy of his free e-book 64 Must-Have Fitness Tips, visit www.better-body-tips.com.
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