A Healthier You - Motivation

So, you’re super motivated today to start a new exercise routine soon, but you know you’ve said this before. 

How do you make this time stick?

I recently came across a mention of Dr. Ryan E Rhodes whose area of research is on the psychology of physical activity. It’s hard to sum his research up into one point, because there are so many great ideas in his works, so I’m giving you all the idea that has really stuck with me: 

Every one of us has wonderful intentions when it comes to being physically active. We all at some point in our adult life have thought “Tomorrow I am going to start working out!”. You’re serious and determined in that moment, but according to Dr. Rhodes this is where the breakdown happens. Over 50% of people who set good exercise intentions will fail to follow through. Your alarm buzzes the next morning and your resolve to get to the gym or go run dissolves away; you have failed to turn your intention into action. His research is looking to remove the intention-behavior gap and he has some handy tips to help with this. Here’s 5 of the 10: 

1. Make it Comfortable at First: Positive feelings during exercise predict the continuations of a physical activity program. Keep your own pace when you exercise. It’s more important to feel comfortable then to push yourself.
2. Find the Daily Benefits: Motivation based on stress-relief, mood management, and anxiety reduction achieved after physical activity is more powerful motivation than long term benefits.
3. Make it Social, Challenging or Enjoyable: To stick with and exercise routine, you need to find ways to overcome boredom. Make physical activity part of your social life (walks with a friend), finding activities that challenge you, or linking activities you enjoy with physical activity (reading, watching TV).
4. Do it Where You Live or Work: Make sure you have activities you can do close to home when time is limited or weather is bad.
5. Create a Detailed Plan: Plan what, where, when and how you will do your physical activity. Schedule exercise as an appointment in your calendar. People who make highly detailed plans are more likely to implement those plans.

The other 5 tips can be found in this image below and more about Dr. Rhodes can be found here. 

Above all remember your health is important and you are 100% deserving of the time you need to take care of yourself ❤ 


Written by: Wenona Mertens