Now you are exercising again, and it feels great. Of course, it felt great last year, too, when you went to the gym every morning for almost the entire winter! If it feels so great, why do you keep quitting? You may be able to make your physical activity more consistent by using some of these tricks.
Look at what you are doing. All movement is exercise. People need to give themselves more options. Take the dog for a walk, bike to the store, take five-minute stretch breaks. Walk around the couch or your desk 20 times, stop, and do it 20 more times! If you do not count something as exercise unless it happens in the gym, goes on for 40 minutes or requires a shower afterward, you are missing some of your best opportunities to stay active and to stay healthy.
That is what your brain is for. The active mind needs to be engaged. If you are new to exercise, dissociate tactics, such as listening to music, watching TV or playing computer games may help you stick with it–but stay aware of sensations that could signal injury or overdoing it. As you become more experienced, associative strategies, such as focusing on your breath or concentrating on the movement of your body, can help you enjoy exercise more.
Have a performance goal. It helps to challenge yourself with a learning or performance agenda. Set a goal, such as increasing the speed, frequency or duration of your activity. Maybe it is time to train for a marathon–or take a walk up the hill in the backyard without getting winded. (It is perfectly fine to think small for your performance agenda, too). If you have to, hire a trainer to help you with determining your initial appropriate goals.
Baby steps. This advice can be hardest for people who expect the most from themselves. Why bother walking around the block when you should be running your usual four miles? Because when you do not have time to do all four miles, a brisk hike can keep you from feeling that you have failed.
Know what is keeping you down. Do injuries sideline you? Fear of success? Does vacation throw your exercising schedule out of whack? Do projects at work overtake your activity time? Boredom? Fitness foes can be beaten once they have been identified. You can get guidance for injury-free activity, face your fears with counseling and support, change your vacation style, set work limits, or find new challenges.
Give something new a chance. Have you ever tried Tai Chi Chuan? Snowboarding? Tango Lessons? Body surfing? Rock climbing? Exercising at a different time of day? Physical activity is not boring, but how you participate in it can be.
As the English would say Go Native. Even if you are introverted, the presence of others in your exercise environment can be motivating. We pick up on other people”s energy. By surrounding yourself with people that are around your skill level that are motivated you will find yourself naturally wanting to join in their excitement. Choose places and times to exercise where there will be other people who are actively involved in exercise.
Find someone to challenge you. Find a friend, mentor or coach to keep you honest. You can either exercise with your partner, or simply check in with him or her to report your progress.
Be prepared for your old habit. We tell ourselves things such as, Skipping this one lesson won”t matter all that much, . Next time, be prepared with an answer for this excuse. Use images of past successful experiences to remind yourself of how good exercise makes you feel. Or repeat a simple phrase to yourself, such as, Every little bit makes a big difference. If you use flexibility, planning, and imagination, you will not ever need to feel like a dropout again.
Make a Plan. Do not decide in the moment if you can make the choice beforehand. Plan to park farther from the office and put your walking shoes in the car the night before. Plan to take that new Pilates class next week, and do something now to get it started.
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