Angélica Almeida, personal trainer and columnist for Sport Life, reveals the secret to finding motivation
One of the biggest complaints I get is: I can’t enjoy exercise. And why is it so hard to stick to this habit?
In reality, there is no obvious answer. It could be for a variety of reasons, limiting beliefs, triggers, inadequacy, or feelings of inability. But we must analyze the environment in which we are placed, after all many people have not experienced physical education and this predicts our adult life. Except at school, but with little attendance. A frequency that was not enough to establish this habit.
How much time to practice per week
A healthy habit that brings only benefits, regardless of the sport practiced. Six out of ten Brazilian adults do not follow the WHO (World Health Organization) recommendations of 150 minutes of physical activity per week in their free time. The recommended time is able to avoid metabolic diseases.
Our body was made to move. However, our brains have made a leap forward in learning and communication. And, since nothing is static in nature, everything evolves. It would be no different with humans.
With all this evolution in learning, behavior, communication, and the environment, we are already reaping the benefits of modernization. Hours of virtual interaction can lead to lack of physical activity and weight gain. After all, more than half of the population is obese, resulting in a more fragile skeleton due to lack of movement.
If we notice that we have had a change in lifestyle and we already know where we need to intervene, why is there still so much resistance?
We like rewards and the quick ones are the most exciting. All actions are addictive, stimuli in reasonable doses are necessary for life, the problem is when you want to stop doing something, but you can’t, for example not exercising and rewarding yourself with something easy, creates positive reinforcement. As for healthy habits, it takes our brain some time to understand or wait for the reward, returning to old habits.
Why is a new healthy habit good for your health and mind?
You can make your dopamine pathway more resilient, as this pathway plays a crucial role in communication between nerve cells and in the regulation of various cognitive and motor functions. Exercise is essential in your life.
Building a habit starts by strengthening yourself, for example; I’m anxious, I take the cigarette to smoke, then I feel good, without having to deal with emotions, facilitating the rewarding system. When you try to form a healthy habit, it takes your brain a while to understand the reward, this is immediacy and the person looks forward to the reward later.
Advice for those who don’t like exercise
- Prioritize your commitment.
- Manage your time, your schedule.
- Find a way that promotes satisfaction.
- Location, close to home or work.
- Cost-benefit, suited to your budget.
- Celebrate results, in terms of adherence, frequency of practice, physical changes and improvements in quality of life.
Another topic we should reflect on, not only in our daily training, but on how much movement we put into our daily lives, making us more active.
The first step to join and enjoy physical exercise can be to do a minimum daily amount, determine the movement, time or quantity and gradually increase it to always send new stimuli to your body.
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
