Once you have an exercise
habit, it becomes automatic. You just go to the gym, there is no force
involved. But after a month, two
months or possibly a year off, it can be hard to get started again. Here are
some tips to climb back on that treadmill after you’ve fallen off.
1. Don’t Break the Habit – The easiest way to keep things going is simply not to stop.
Avoid long breaks in exercising or rebuilding the habit will take some effort.
This may be advice a little too late for some people. But if you have an
exercise habit going, don’t drop it at the first sign of trouble.
2. Reward Showing Up – Woody Allen once said that, “Half of life is showing up.” I’d
argue that 90% of making a habit is just making the effort to get there. You
can worry about your weight, amount of laps you run or the amount you can bench
press later.
3. Commit for Thirty Days – Make a commitment to go every day (even just for 20 minutes)
for one month. This will solidify the exercise habit. By making a commitment
you also take pressure off yourself in the first weeks back of deciding whether
to go.
4. Make it Fun – If you don’t enjoy
yourself at the gym, it is going to be hard to keep it a habit. There are
thousands of ways you can move your body and exercise, so don’t give up if
you’ve decided lifting weights or doing crunches isn’t for you. Many large
fitness centers will offer a range of programs that can suit your tastes.
5. Schedule During Quiet Hours – Don’t put exercise time in a place where it will easily be
pushed aside by something more important. Right after work or first thing in
the morning are often good places to put it. Lunch-hour workouts might be too
easy to skip if work demands start mounting.
6. Get a Buddy – Grab a friend to join
you. Having a social aspect to exercising can boost your commitment to the
exercise habit.
7. X Your
Calendar – One person I know has
the habit of drawing a red “X” through any day on the calendar he goes to the
gym. The benefit of this is it quickly shows how long it has been since you’ve
gone to the gym. Keeping a steady amount of X’s on your calendar is an easy way
to motivate yourself.
8. Enjoyment Before Effort - After you finish any work out, ask yourself what parts you
enjoyed and what parts you did not. As a rule, the enjoyable aspects of your
workout will get done and the rest will be avoided. By focusing on how you can
make workouts more enjoyable, you can make sure you want to keep going to the
gym.
9. Create a Ritual - Your workout routine should become so ingrained that it
becomes a ritual. This means that the time of day, place or cue automatically
starts you towards grabbing your bag and heading out. If your workout times are
completely random, it will be harder to benefit from the momentum of a ritual.
10. Stress Relief -
What do you do when your stressed? Chances are it isn’t running. But exercise
can be a great way to relieve stress, releasing endorphin which will improve
your mood. The next time you feel stressed or tired, try doing an exercise you
enjoy. When stress relief is linked to exercise, it is easy to regain the habit
even after a leave of absence.
11. Measure Fitness - Weight isn’t always the best number to track. Increase in
muscle can offset decreases in fat so the scale doesn’t change even if your
body is. But fitness improvements are a great way to stay motivated. Recording
simple numbers such as the number of push-ups, sit-ups or speed you can run can
help you see that the exercise is making you stronger and faster.
12. Habits First, Equipment Later – Fancy equipment doesn’t create a habit for exercise. Despite
this, some people still believe that buying a thousand dollar machine will make
up for their inactivity. It won’t. Start building the exercise habit first,
only afterwards should you worry about having a personal gym.
13. Isolate Your Weakness - If falling off the exercise wagon is a common occurrence for
you, find out why. Do you not enjoy exercising? Is it a lack of time? Is it
feeling self-conscious at the gym? Is it a lack of fitness know-how? As soon as
you can isolate your weakness, you can make steps to improve the situation.
14. Start Small -
Trying to run fifteen miles your first workout isn’t a good way to build a
habit. Work below your capacity for the first few weeks to build the habit.
Otherwise you might scare yourself off after a brutal workout.
15.
Go
for Yourself, Not to Impress – Going to the gym with
the only goal of looking great is like starting a business with only the goal
to make money. The effort can’t justify the results. But if you go to the gym
to push yourself, gain energy and have a good time, then you can keep going
even when results are slow.
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