If you are trying and failing to build a solid exercise habit, we have something in common. My back hurts when I sneeze. My knees hurt when I walk. Don’t get me started on the shoulder that feels like it’s falling out of the socket. Any of this ring a bell?
I’ve tried and failed to start really solid exercise habits, but they don’t seem to stick. Why don’t they stick? Am I incapable of starting new habits right now? Is my life too busy? Do I not have enough will power?
I’m all about working smarter, not harder. There are some really smart folks out there with the time and resources to figure out how our brains work. I’ve been doing some not-so-light reading, and shocker, I am coming at habit formation entirely wrong. Check it out.
Research
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg
For me, the biggest takeaway from “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business” was that habits are better formed when we stick to the cue-routine-reward pathway. I took a look at my current strategy for developing my exercise habit and took a swing at improving it.
Old Cue: pain and/or pre-set reminder
Old Routine: do exercises when my body hurts or when my watch zaps me
Old Reward: avoiding that feeling of guilt that get when I skip exercises
New Cue: waking up with pre-curated workout clothes sitting nicely by my bed
New Routine: get dressed, drink a glass of water, take a short walk, and complete ALL physical therapy exercises
New Reward: hot shower and morning coffee
If willpower really does get weaker throughout the day, I better start earlier. Plus, when all goes well, waking up is something that I have to do every day.
This might be too many stacked activities. As with all things in life, I have a much higher likelihood of success if I can get all of this done before the kids wake up.
If there is anything that would crush my soul, it would be missing my morning coffee. I can think of no better bait for this high-stakes habit.
Response
To help me keep track of my progress, I created a couple little tracking tools to capture when I did my exercises and how I felt the following day.
I am going to try to document how this cue-routine-reward setup works for the next 30 days. Stay tuned!
