How to Make Fitness a Habit

Well, we did it. We survived Blue Monday - popular culture defines it as January 20th, in case you’re wondering. Many people consider January the worst month of the year: money and clothing are tight after the December holidays; it’s cold and snowy - at least here in Ottawa it is; days are short and nights are long; people have abandoned any new year’s resolutions already. Phew! That list is a bit of a bummer, wouldn’t you agree? 

If you did choose to make a new year’s resolution this year, don’t feel too badly if it’s already slipped off your radar. Often, people try to pile on multiple resolutions, not even realizing that behaviour change is a challenging endeavour. Even trying to change one bad habit - i.e., do more of x, do less of y - is tough. And let’s be realistic - what’s so special about January 1st that you need to change your entire way of life, so to speak, on that date? It’s a rhetorical question; but the answer is nothing. There’s nothing special about that date. You can choose any moment of any given day to change your behaviour - you’re in control of your behaviour, thoughts, feelings. Please excuse me if that sounds trite, but it’s true. 
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As a fitness instructor, I often hear people’s fitness-related resolutions. Perhaps they’re sharing this with me in the hopes that I’ll validate their behaviour. I love that people want to be physically fit and exercise more, but I hope my approval is not the only thing driving this behaviour. Because it won’t last if it is. Another trite comment coming, so brace yourself. The motivation to keep exercising needs to come from within; it’s called self-motivation, and it’s a key component of sustained behaviour change. 

Take, for instance, elite athletes.(1) They think, act, and eat differently than the rest of us. They’re in it for the long haul: no quick fixes, no obsessing over carbs or abs or missed workouts. They’ve embraced their ‘inner tortoise’: slow and steady wins the race. Here’s how it’s summarized in EattoPerform.com’s article: “Being the best version of yourself is largely mental; it’s about starting on the path that is the opposite of the one you were on and just never looking back. When you spend enough time living your life, striving for constant improvement, nourishing your body, and being in control of yourself, you realize how it sucks to live any other way.”

"Being the best version of yourself is largely mental."

"All clichés are true."

​David Bowie

Or, as Aristotle said, “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation…We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”(2) So stop looking for quick fixes. And don’t throw in the towel if you slip one day. Practice makes perfect. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. As David Bowie said, “All clichés are true.”(2)

Let’s back up for a moment and talk about behaviour change. It’s a favourite topic of mine. I have 2 degrees in social psychology, so I’ve studied it. A lot. And behaviour change is also a popular topic in the fitness industry: personal trainers need to understand how to motivate people to change. That’s kind of their job. Did I mention I’m studying to be a personal trainer as well? The textbook is fantastic - published by the American College of Sports Medicine. (3) But I digress. 

I don’t want to bore you with a treatise on the theories of behaviour change. Suffice it to say that my favourite one at the moment is The Small Changes Model. Small is an acronym: Self-selected, Measurable, Action-Oriented, Linked to your life, Long-term. Pretty self-explanatory - you pick goals that you can track and measure, and that make sense in your life over the long term. ​

But don’t think about the long-term; think baby steps. Remember, you need to keep at something to make it a habit. That’s why Classical Stretch/Essentrics always runs a 30-day health challenge at this time of year. Have you seen Classical Stretch, the TV version of an Essentrics workout? It’s 23-minutes long; surely you can commit to 23 minutes once a day. And remember, if you slip and miss a workout, there’s no need to pack it in. Just pick yourself up and get to it the next day. After a month, it’ll probably feel like a habit and you’ll just do it. 
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And, if you are the type of person that needs a date to set your behaviour change plan in motion, next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. That means Lent - giving something up for 40 days until Easter. Perhaps your “give up” could be your sedentary ways, in favour of an active lifestyle.

Or just start now. What are you waiting for?

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References

1. http://www.eattoperform.com/2015/01/04/10-things-the-best-athletes-do-that-you-dont/
2. www.brainyquotes.com 
​3. American College of Sports Medicine: ACSM’s Resources for the Personal Trainer, 4th ed. (2014) Publishers: Wolters Kluwer; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; pp. 194-222.