Habit Forming

By Raquel "Rocky" Herron, Fitness Manager

Habit.  What exactly is a habit? According to Merriam-Webster online, a habit (which has several different meanings) can be described as, "a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior; an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary."  Has exercise become a habit for you?  

As we enter the third month of this new year, has fitness become something that is usual for you to do, almost without thinking?  Do you automatically drive to the gym after work or first thing in the morning after dropping off the kids?  Has fitness become a fixture in your life that, without it, you'd feel off?  If you answered yes to these questions, then bravo, you've made exercise a habit, if not, what's holding you back?  This month, let's explore some solutions to help make exercise a lifelong habit.

Step one; change your thinking about exercise.  Exercise is not something you HAVE to do, but rather, something you GET to do.  When you start to change your thinking about exercise, you invite the possibility of actually liking exercise.  If you always look at exercise as a chore or a burden, you'll never see the true value of exercise, and that, in my opinion, is feeling better!  Sometimes you must "fake it until you make it," as the saying goes, so that might apply to your weekly sweat sessions.  After so many weeks of "faking" it, you'll more than likely actually start to like it or, hopefully, love it!  Look forward to each exercise session as a chance to better yourself; to get stronger and healthier than you were the day before!

Step two: schedule your workouts around YOUR life, not what a fitness magazine or professional bodybuilder who works out for living says.  That might mean you're working out at 4:00 a.m. or on your lunch hour.  It might mean you're working out when the kids go to bed, or while your spouse is catching up on their favorite show.  The point is, you have to fit exercise in where you can, according to your unique schedule.  I know there are opinions out there claiming the optimal times to work out, but not everyone has an optimal schedule.  Refer to paragraph two, exercise does not have to be a burden, you just have to make it work for you.

Step three: understand that sometimes life has other ideas about what you need to do. Maybe it's a week full of meetings, sports practices, and awful allergies.  Or maybe it's sick kids, work deadlines, and terrible motivation issues.  Whatever it is, sometimes the best intentions to fit your workouts in fall short.  You have other pressing matters that keep you from your workouts and that's OK!  What's important to realize is that it's not all or nothing.  Don't give up on fitness efforts because one week only yielded one workout.  Sometimes it may feel like you're barely hanging on to the wagon, but keeping your focus on what drives you to exercise will help you through the tough times when life gets messy.

To sum it all up, habits are behaviors we adopt through consistency.  Consistently exercising will hopefully lead to an exercise habit.  Keeping a positive disposition about exercise, scheduling workouts around your life, and realizing that sometimes life gets complicated, will help you keep it all in perspective.  Habits aren't formed overnight, but rather, gradually over a period of time.  It might take a good six months for exercise to become a true habit in your life, but it's six months well spent!  Keep up the good fight and continue to develop that wonderful, healthful, fulfilling habit known as exercise!