How do you start an exercise habit?

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  • edwardkim85
    edwardkim85 Posts: 438 Member
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    Do it with a friend or find a workout partner with similar schedule as u
  • daw0518
    daw0518 Posts: 459 Member
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    I haven't quite developed an 'exercise habit' myself - I'm also in the process of trying to find what works & what doesn't for me. So far, I really like YouTube - there are so many great channels & videos out there! Yesterday I tried some Zumba for the first time & had so much fun! I've also tried the XHIT Daily ones & liked some of them because they were simple enough for me to do! Just keep trying new things until you find what works for you!
  • hedgiie
    hedgiie Posts: 1,245 Member
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    just do it, until you notice in few weeks or months that it becomes a habit. such that you'll miss it if you don't exercise
  • s_masters20
    s_masters20 Posts: 8
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    When I first started exercising it was tough. I was extremely overweight and even the simple things were hard. I found an accountability partner and we started the journey together. We went "running" three times a week for 30 at first. I put running in quotes because looking back now it was more of a shuffle than a run. Now we do weights 3-4 times a week and run everyday. It became a part of my life. If I miss my workout I get cranky and do not feel as good.
  • keithober
    keithober Posts: 3
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    I think most replies are on track. Here's a slightly different way to think about forming a positive habit. The new task should not seem like a burden or work in your own mind. Rather, it should be something to eagerly anticipate. Any task that requires motivational resources will be easier to justify skipping. If you are trying to start an exercise habit, construct your mental image of the exercise session with your focus on the great feeling that you have upon completing the workout, and blogging/posting about it on MFP. During my cardio exercise, I often think about the great meal I'll be able to eat after burning all those calories.

    By carefully constructing an image of the habit that focuses on all of the benefits, it should be easier to look forward to that part of your daily routine rather than dreading it or looking for excuses to avoid it. Nobody gets done with an exercise session and says, "I wish I stayed on the couch."
  • rainbow198
    rainbow198 Posts: 2,245 Member
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    At first I started off trying to workout with others. I quickly learned that if I'm going to do this I have to depend only on myself.

    My exercise habit began once I started by prepping the night before. I figured out what my workout is going to be for the next day and laid out my workout clothes and have my socks and indoor shoes nearby.

    When I woke up I washed my face/brushed my teeth and immediately put on my workout clothes and went into my home gym and worked out.

    It was tough at first, but after a couple of weeks it became a habit. Then I was able to add in a second workout a couple of days per week once my stamina improved.

    I'm still doing AM workouts and some PM workouts and I actually look forward to them. It helps get me energized for the day.
  • l_ashley
    l_ashley Posts: 154 Member
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    What got me started was working out with a friend who already had a workout routine set. He makes sure that I show up to workout and motivates me during workouts. :)
  • killerbunneh4
    killerbunneh4 Posts: 6
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    Small and SPECIFIC goals.
    And bodyweight exercises are cheap. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Your-Own-Gym/dp/0345528581/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390945513&sr=8-1&keywords=You+Are+Your+Own+Gym">You Are Your Own Gym</a> is a good resource.

    ETA agh html y u no work?
  • mortuseon
    mortuseon Posts: 579 Member
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    I get friends to set me goals, because then I feel motivated to exercise so as not to disappoint them. :smile:
  • RamonaFr
    RamonaFr Posts: 112
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    Bribery. Put on a pot of coffee and see how much exercise you can do while it brews. Run in place while waiting for water to boil. Go outside and go up and down some stairs for ten minutes while the microwave cooks your potato. I kind of like the idea of "paying" for what I eat by exercising for ten minutes or so before I eat or have a cup of coffee. I know it's not like all of the rest of you with all your drive and will-power, but it does give me some exercise every day.
  • TommyJensen1987
    TommyJensen1987 Posts: 95
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    Gympact (this only works with a smartphone).

    You set yourself some number of times you want to exercise a week (say start out easy with just one) and then how much you will pay if you fail.

    The key point is that you are then locked in for the week and if you don't do the exercise (and the app checks with your smartphone and GPS) they charge you. Fx unless I exercise twice this week it is going to cost me 15 usd each time.

    Also I got a fitbit which partially helps with the precious goal and partially is nice because it updates MFP with the calories I burned just walking. Seeing how many steps I have taken is actually pretty addictive since you figure I only need 1500/2000 steps to reach a nice number, so you go on a little longer walk.

    Anyways those things worked for me.
  • lexbubbles
    lexbubbles Posts: 465 Member
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    Chains.cc

    Make a chain for exercise. The longer you go without breaking the chain, the more motivated you are to, er, not break the chain. Also you can set 'off days' like tell it you want to exercise every day except Sunday.
  • dahlia202049
    dahlia202049 Posts: 3
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    I started small doing the first 30 day Instagram squat challenge. I found that it wasn't really that difficult to find 10 minutes to do squats. After about three weeks I started seeing results (I went from having no *kitten* to having something that resembled muscle). The next thing I knew I had been religiously doing it for 30 days, so I went on to the second phase. Then I started adding pushups against the counter in the bathroom before I took a shower...and I just began adding new muscle groups. The BEST piece of advice is this, if you miss a day, so what? Just do it tomorrow. If you miss a week, it's ok, don't beat yourself up, just start again the next day. But don't ever fully let go of exercise. You're never done, it's a lifestyle change, even if you're not that good at it yet!
  • mamma_nee
    mamma_nee Posts: 809 Member
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    It took me forever to find something I was willing to do every day without excuses! !st I thought bike riding was gonna be fun so I went out and got me a spanking new bike and winter rolled in so it is sitting looking pretty in my garage- used it twice so far ! LOL then I fount the excuse ``ITS TO COLD OUT TO GO BIKE RIDING `` gotta wait for the spring !! and so Then Ithought maybe yoga ? Nope , I chickened out !! wouldn`t be caught dead wearing leotards or shorts and tank top in a hot yoga class with my SisterN lLaw teaching and she doesn`t weigh more than 120 drenched LOL


    SO now I found something to do in the comfort of my own home . Soon as my husband walks out the door in the morning and the kids are out in school I blast my music and dance like a mad woman for 1 hour or more each day , I can`t get enough :) Love love love it :)
  • Followingsea
    Followingsea Posts: 407 Member
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    When I first signed up at my gym, they gave me a punch card with an expiration date one month in the future. Every time I came in, they would initial it. If you managed 8 visits within the first month, you got a free tshirt.

    WOW that really worked on me. I was so determined to get that shirt. Not because I actually wanted the shirt, but to prove... well... something! Motivation? Follow-through? That I wasn't going to flake out on my expensive gym membership in under a month?

    [Side note: despite two-separate!- weeklong trips out of town, getting snowed in for two days, contracting the stomach flu, and misreading the hours and showing up after the gym closed...er, twice... I still got that dang shirt]

    Anyway, once the punch card was filled, the habit was already in place, I'd broken through the UGHHHHHH GYM mentality to the INCOMING ENDORPHINS mentality, and I'm still going regularly.

    My advice: make building the habit the goal, not the gym visits themselves. Can you do something similar? Make yourself a punch card, with an expiration date, with some sort of dumb reward attached to it? (Reward: motive tickets/date night! Reward: a fire-engine red stapler. Reward: pizza night. Reward: fuzzy dice for the car. Whatever floats your boat, etc)
  • SrJoben
    SrJoben Posts: 484 Member
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    Hi all
    I'm hoping you guys can help me, I have tried the "just do it" route, but it hasn't really been useful for me. How do you guys build up from not exercising regularly to making a good habit of it?
    I did bootcamp in the summer for 3 months and saw some great results, but it was too expensive for me. After the classes ended I found it hard to stick with it. I'm sad to say my great muscle tone I was starting to see is quickly fading. I find having scheduled classes each week that you cant really miss is the best road to success for me, but I have yet to find a financially viable option.

    Any suggestions on how to stay accountable and focused in the way weekly classes might do?

    (I'm also finding exercise difficult in the polar vortex temps! I know - worst excuse ever - but I can't help it!)

    Thanks in advance!

    There's two things that helped me.

    One: A website/app called Fitocracy. It's sorta like MFP for working out. You log your excercise every day.

    Except Fito takes it a step further into gamification. You get points and level up when you've done enough exercise. It sounds trivial when you describe it to people, but that kind of thing taps into some pretty basic reward psychology. You keep coming back in part because you like seeing those points climb up and you get a little rush when you level. It's addictive like a slot machine that makes you more fit.

    The second thing was a specific challenge in a group of Fitocracy. It was to do 20,013 Push-Ups in the year 2013.
    That's about 55 a day. Something I COULD NOT DO when i first started. But it gave me this structure and focus of planning to work out every day, or almost every day, even if it was just a token amount for a few minutes.

    Basically it provided stakes. Every day I missed I fell behind in a quantifiable way. There was no way to "get out of" doing today's push-ups because i'd just have to do more tomorrow. (And If I was going to get sweaty I might as well do some squats and stuff too while I was at it. So complete workouts just sorta grew around doing push-ups)

    By the time I got fit enough that doing 55 push-ups a day was fairly trivial the habit had been set, exercise is something I NEED to do several times a week.

    (And btw, I completed the challenge plus a little, doing 20100, push-ups last year. One Day I did 500. This from a guy who needed 3 sets to get through the 19 he did on the first day of the challenge.)


    edit Another thing that worked, is taking pride in breaking my own records. Every time I did more push-ups than the day before it felt great. Now that I've moved on to barbell training every time I sneak another 5 pounds onto that thing it still feels great. Knowing that you are literally making yourself better constantly is intoxicating.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
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    1 ) start small/simple. too many people seem to have this notion that you have to go from zero to balls out over night to get your fitness on...or that you have to be jumping around your living room like a jack *kitten* to some DVD...or you have to be almost puking, etc.

    2) do things you enjoy doing. exercising doesn't have to mean droning away on cardio machines or doing boot camp classes or doing DVD workouts. I do none of the above...I lift weights (and I highly recommend finding some sort of resistance work that you enjoy) and I ride my bike a lot...I do some hiking and I love swimming in the summer. I do some running here and there when I'm getting ready to do a mud run or doing triathlon training but otherwise it's not my favorite thing in the world.

    3) get out and do it...and do it over and over and over again. pretty soon it ceases to become this extra chore and just becomes part of you and what you do...just like brushing your teeth and taking a shower...you just do those things.

    4) realize that you don't have to exercise for hours and hours to have a solid workout and you don't have to "kill it" 7 days per week. I do some form of exercise pretty much 5 days per week...though I do have weeks where **** happens...I get held up at work late or something and maybe I only get in 3-4 days. It happens and that's reality...it's no reason to just stop what you're doing altogether, you just pick up where you left off.

    Most of my workouts are in the 30 - 60 minute range...the only time I'm putting more than 60 minutes in is on Saturdays (90 minute due to I have the time) and when I'm actually training for something...otherwise 30-60 minutes a pop 5 days per week is golden. My workouts are of varying intensity...on lifting days I do no more than that and maybe take a 30 minute walk at lunch just to clear my head...I cycle on non-lifting days and sometimes I'm pushing it to make time and other times I'm just taking a nice ride to move some and get my heart rate up.

    5) mix things up from time to time...doing the same **** over and over and over again gets boring.
  • LifeNewandImproved
    LifeNewandImproved Posts: 125 Member
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    I just wanted to thank everyone for your thoughtful replies - I have a similar problem to OP and it's nice to hear from people who have been there and have been successful. Thanks.
  • _jessicamarie_
    _jessicamarie_ Posts: 35 Member
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    The first thing that helped me was to find something I seriously enjoyed. I *hated* all exercise I tried until I started doing Jazzercise (which I know sounds dorky, but it isn't - promise). Once I started looking forward to going, that was more than half the battle.

    Another thing that helped me was having other people hold me accountable. My friends and instructors notice when I don't go to class and ask me about it. Looking forward to seeing people, and knowing they'll notice if I skip out, helped a lot. Having a workout buddy is the best. My friend and I go to classes together most days and it is lots more fun to dance with a friend than by myself.
  • vienna_h
    vienna_h Posts: 428 Member
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    Like all things, make a schedule and stick to it. No exceptions, no excuses. You schedule the time into your schedule and commit to it, like a job. If you need to do something else, don't plan it during your work out time. That time is for working out only. If you are tired, do something less intensive. Go for a walk. But do something.

    You don't need to go to the gym, there are tons of home options - from DVDs to youtube videos, home gym systems, a few dumbells.... really, no excuses.

    ETA: I put a star in my schedule and a description of what I did next to it. That way, as I go through my day planner, I can count the stars and see what I've accomplished. It's easier than going through old logs on mfp. It sounds silly and juvenile, but I look forward to my little stars, they keep me accountable and motivated. I take pride in accumulating them!

    Hold up.

    You have a paper day planner?

    DYEnewmillenium?:laugh: :drinker:

    Hell ya!

    Paper day planners are the best, I love flipping through the pages, seeing what I've accomplished what I have l coming up, highlighting the important stuff, colour-coding things.... and the satisfaction of crossing out something on your daily to do list.... my god, it's orgasmic. We were just discussing this satisfactory feeling today in my writing group, I'm not the only one with a physical, paper day planner!

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