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Creating a lasting exercise habit takes time; see six steps to get started right away


Experts make suggestions for establishing sustainable change and improving quality of life

The new year has arrived and with it come good resolutions exercise moreover. Google searches for gyms generally go up in January, as do memberships.

While many people start an exercise routine this week, the hard part will be sticking with it. Creating a lasting exercise habit takes time, experts say.

“We were made to crave immediate gratification rather than delayed reward,” said Katy Milkman, a Wharton School professor and author of the book How to Change: The Science of Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be (How to Change: The Science of Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be) “And most good habits involve delaying gratification in order to do something that’s good for you.”

Motivation to exercise can come in many different forms. Here are some expert advice on how to build sustainable change.

set specific goals

Having a resolution to exercise is just the starting point. Ideally, have specific goals and then make an actionable plan.

“Be specific about when you’re going to do it, where you’re going to do it, how you’re going to get there?” Katy Milkman said. “Research shows that when we make our goals really concrete and small, it’s more effective.”

New Year’s resolutions are often ambitious but not specific enough to convince someone to change their behavior, said Charles Duhigg, author of the book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business (The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business).

“What’s really effective is having a plan,” she said. “And a plan has to be specific. It has to have a specific goal, like, ‘I’m going to run a marathon in November.’ And that means I’m starting a training calendar I’ve already downloaded that starts in February.”

Find your ‘why’

University of Michigan researcher and health coach Michelle Segar believes the first thing people need to do is think about their exercise history and identify if their approach is working.

He tells his clients to “find your why”. Although people often start exercising to lose weight or get healthier, that approach is usually not enough to “motivate continued exercise,” says the researcher.

Instead, try to find a more meaningful “why,” like focusing on the positive feelings you have in an activity, explains the book’s author. Choosing Joy: How to Finally Achieve Lasting Changes in Nutrition and Exercise (Choosing Joy: How to Finally Achieve Lasting Changes in Diet and Exercise).

Michelle suggests that those who intend to practice try to reframe the practice as something that can “instantly help you feel better and take better care of the people and projects you care about most.”

Avoid thinking: “All or nothing”

Rigidity and perfectionism are often the enemies of building an exercise habit.

In Katy Milkman’s research on flexible versus more rigid habits and routines, she found that people who were more flexible in their exercise schedule were more likely to continue going to the gym than the rigid group.

“Basically, we’ve found that strict habits are a problem,” she said. The reason is that these people often have no backup plans. Those who allow “more variability in their routine,” on the other hand, are more likely to develop a habit of exercising, she said. “When they hit a bump in the road, they still hit the gym.”

Michelle Segar notes that “all or nothing thinking” prevents people from achieving their goals.

“Some might say, ‘Holy shit, I can’t go to the gym, but I can take a walk around the block,'” she said. “The formula for helping more people maintain physically active lives is to give them permission to be flexible with what they do and choose to have a menu of different activities they can do.”

Combine your workout with something fun

Exercise can and should be fun and people tend to repeat the things they love. You can make the practice more enjoyable through a technique Katy Milkman calls “temptation packing.” Connect exercise to activities you enjoy. For example, watch a TV show while using the treadmill at the gym.

The researcher also recommends exercising with a friend. Studies have shown that people enjoy working out when they work out with friends and feel responsible for someone else.

“What motivates us is that we enjoy the experience,” said Katy Milkman. “So, thinking about habits, we repeat the things we enjoy the most. Persistence is how you build a habit. The more you do it, the more automatic it becomes, the longer you stick with it. So it’s a good cycle of reinforcement.”

Be patient. habits take time

It often takes months for gym habits to form, so remember that you are looking to build a lifelong fitness practice.

“There’s a lot of variation between people, but on average it’s not something that happens overnight or in a few weeks,” explains Katy Milkman.

People should also take comfort in the fact that habits are becoming more ingrained over time, even if it doesn’t seem like things are getting any easier, Duhigg said.

“Eventually it will feel automatic,” he said. “And, in fact, once it becomes a habit, you probably won’t even notice it’s a habit.”

Motivate yourself with kindness

If you’re having trouble sticking to an exercise habit or routine, relax. Your struggle may be because exercise feels like a punishment rather than something motivating.

Practicing self-compassion, which means being kind to yourself, can really help you achieve your goals.

“We know from research that the main reason people aren’t self-compassionate is because they fear it will undermine their motivation,” said Kristin Neff, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

But that thinking is wrong, she says. A review study found that when college athletes were taught to be more compassionate, their athletic performance improved, said the professor, author of the book Fierce self-compassion (Fierce compassion for self).

“Making change with encouragement and kindness is so much more effective than making change through criticism,” she says.

To practice self-compassion, think about how you would motivate a friend to help you achieve a goal. “What kinds of things would you say to let them know you believed in them and were there for them?” she said. “Then say something similar to yourself.”

And if you miss a few days or even a week or month of exercise, don’t beat yourself up.

“If you fall off the wagon, which a lot of people do, that’s how goals work, a lot of times we fall short of them,” said Katy Milkman. “It’s part of setting goals. There are more new beginnings around the corner. So don’t give up on yourself completely.”/Contributed by Tara Parker-Pope

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Source: Terra

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