How to successfully shape exercise habits

When forming new habits and breaking old ones, there are pros and cons involved. If you want to start changing your exercise habits, you probably already recognize the positive aspects – it can give you more energy or a better mood. However, you also perceive that it requires finding/taking time, which is why taking the first step is difficult. Therefore, it’s advisable to conduct a “cost-benefit” analysis for both new and old habits to understand the changes. It’s also worth considering how the new habit could change you and your loved ones.

Exercise habits are slightly different from many other habits (such as fastening a seatbelt) because:

• Exercise takes time.
• We have to move out of our comfortable resting state, which can lead to unpleasant feelings.
• Exercise is complex and therefore requires a bit more thought

What are the three tips that can help you successfully shape your exercise habit?

CHOOSE A SUITABLE TIME

The first stumbling point in planning an exercise is often time management. We need to allocate separate time for exercise (e.g., biking to work). The best way to form a habit is to do something as often as possible and under as similar conditions as possible. It’s relatively easy to form exercise habits that we can do every day and at approximately the same time. For good planning, it’s necessary to know what your day currently looks like. Write down all the activities you do throughout the day with their respective times. Now it’s easier to see where you can fit in, for example, a 20-minute break for exercise. This could mean morning exercises or a short walk. A frequent problem is not planning for transition times (changing clothes, finding equipment, etc.).

FIND AN ACTIVITY THAT SUITS YOU

It’s also important that the activity is enjoyable and pleasant. If exercise is associated with discomfort and pain, it may be done for a while, but it’s unlikely to become a habit. Therefore, it’s necessary to experiment and find activities that bring joy and encourage action naturally. Take your time and try different physical activities to find what you truly enjoy. The activity should be challenging enough but still easy enough not to discourage you.

REWARD YOURSELF

Habits are formed from activities that result in some positive consequences for us. Is feeling good after a workout a reward? Probably not. Many people actually feel uncomfortable during exercise. Therefore, we need to be clever and find ways to make exercise enjoyable and reward ourselves. The simplest way is to praise ourselves, as our brains don’t care who does it (e.g., for parking farther away and walking part of the way). Praise yourself for small achievements (e.g., getting up from the couch and going to the door). It may seem strange at first, but gradually it becomes normal and natural.

Half of the adults who start exercising drop out within six months. However, by following these three tips for habit formation and integrating exercise into your daily routine, the semi-automatic formation of such a habit takes between 18 days and 9 months. It’s also a fact that after 3 months, half of the people still don’t feel that exercise has become habitual. It all takes time. Forming an exercise habit takes about 1.5 times longer than forming habits such as eating fruit or drinking water. The good news is that if you miss a day, it won’t have a big impact on habit formation. It’s important to just keep going. However, if you miss more days, the likelihood of forming the habit decreases. On average, an activity needs to be repeated about 66 times before it becomes a habit. Be patient and don’t give up! Habits spread from friend to friend, so it’s also good to involve someone on the journey.

Seiklushunt’s orienteering events are a good place to cultivate habits because the 10-week consecutive event serves as a good basis for continuing independently from there. Why not challenge yourself to consistently engage in physical activity every Wednesday until the next event season starts? Learn more here: Seiklushunt’s Day Events

This text is excerpted from the website liigume.ee from Aave Hannus’ video lecture series. There are also short and motivational videos with vivid examples available, so we recommend watching all the videos yourself!