The Psychology of the Exercise Habit

Good question...

For me the habit of exercise has to be something I enjoy. If I'm not looking forward to the next workout then it probably won't happen. I love to s/b/r so the habit is easy for me to form. Even 4:00 wake-ups for swimming aren't too bad for me. In an earlier life I loved to play baseball and basketball, those workout habits were easy because I looked forward to doing them.

On the opposite side for me is weight lifting. I have tried to form a habit but because I really don't enjoy it it has never stuck.

Glad you are back at it, enjoy it!!

Making the time for exercise was always the biggest problem.  The psychology of it was somebody wanted me to do something for a group I was part of so I stopped doing the exercise that was just for me. It could be to put in more hours on a project at work or to work on a project at home or to work at church.  I could easily break the exercise habit for the good of some "group" that I perceived had some responsibility toward.  There was never enough time to do everything.  I am not good at balancing priorities.

I do remember the "urge to run" feeling was really strong if I was running regularly.  It was more than psychological.  I believe it was a physiological sensation.  My body was on a schedule and it was ready to go.

I've been thinking about this myself the past few weeks.  I started a new rehab program for knee problems (chondromalacia and knee tracking issues) that involves me doing about 30 minutes of specific exercises to retrain my movement patterns, muscle firing patterns and really to retrain the receptors and neurological pathways so my kinetic change is again as effective as possible.  

My therapist prescribed that I do this 30 minute routine 6 days/week for first 6-8 weeks at least before moving into maintenance phase.  I am super excited about correcting my mechanics issues at their root and have felt the difference already as far as the knee pain diminishing.  The thing is, that's another 30 minutes/day on top of the 1.5-2 hours/day that I already train.

But I am committed to this plan so I immediately sat down and worked the extra 30 minutes into 6 days of my week.  Whether it's bringing my workout shoes to work and skipping lunch, tacking on the 30 minutes at the end of my usual workout or getting up 30 minutes early and doing it before work, it will get done.

My alternative is continued knee pain, limitations on certain movements and in the long run probably knee surgery and no running or riding.  It's a no brainer for me, I'm committed.

The highlighted part is quite interesting.  I agree whole heartedly.  You can maintain a habit on 3 days, but it would be hard to establish a habit on 3x per week.  Yet the common recommendation for exercise by doctors for the past x years has been 30 min, at least 3x per week.  Hmmmm

I read an article once that said the reason that smoking is so addictive is that it combines so many senses (taste, touch, smell, etc.).  When you stop smoking you need to replace all these sensory habits, thus gum chewing.

The article may have been all BS, but I have tried to but it into practice.  Make exercise a multi sensory experience: eat your favorite gel flavor, listen to your favorite music, watch your favorite movie on the trianer...

Do this every day for two weeks.  It seems to work, YMMV.

Best of luck!

One of the things that is really powerful is getting past the decision to go.  The exercise habit  is simply your routine.  You get up and go when it is time to run.  You do not go through any active decision making process. The mental effort in planning and motivating yourself is much lower.  You are just going to repeat a familiar activity.  It will be largely the same and you just take some interest in the little variations in the things you see or feel.  You really aren't thinking about the run (or bike or swim) itself very much.

TW

I think a month isn't quite long enough to form a habit.  6 weeks maybe.

I think one of the best things you can do is to become a morning exerciser.  If you carve the time out before work, little to nothing can get in the way of that.  However, if you do it after work or after dinner something will invariably come up.

For me, momentum has become my primary motivator.  I don't exercise to lose weight.  I do sports (swim/bike/run) to get better at each sport.  The weight loss/maintenance is just a happy side effect.  I've gotten pretty good with my running especially that I know that any time I take off will make me slower.  I don't want to get slower so I'm highly motivated to hit every workout.

If my primary motivation to get out of bed when the alarm goes off at 4:30am was because I was trying to lose weight (or keep weight off), I would miss many workouts. 

I have been exercising regularly for years now, you can see my logs

It's definitely not an easy habit.  It's an expectation, which helps. I know I need to do it, and my husband is not surprised when I don't come home after work.  It's not in the way, or hard to schedule, etc.  I can't stop for fear of 1) having to restart, or 2) not ever starting again.

I guess I am in the habit of packing my gym bag.  It feels really weird to leave for work with just my purse, lunch bag and coffee on rest days.   That's probably my only "habit". 

However, it takes daily convincing.  It's all about making deals with myself.  If I do my workout, I won't disappoint the coach.  If I bring a friend, it's more fun.  I need to hit a certain number of miles/yards in a month to feel I have not been slacking.  If I do my run, I can have dessert that night.  Etc.

I have been exercising regularly for so long, over 20 years, my body is on that schedule. Tri training is newish and presents a challenge but I can let that go easily enough because after all of these years I know what makes me feel good is to just keep moving.

The difficulty for me becomes letting go in times of transition. Like when we're on a family vacation walking around Disney for 15 hours but I still need to squeeze in a ride or a run. I can't just relax and let the exercise go for that time. 10 hours in the van and I have to hit the pool for some water jogging before we go out to dinner. It's kind of annoying but thankfully my kids always want to go swimming too. There was a time my Dad was in the hospital from Halloween until Thanksgiving. I would sit with him for a while but eventually you would find me walking the stairs. When we adopted the kids - 2 days off to adjust to the emotion of it all and lack of sleep then I was right back on the treadmill. I don't have to go the longest or be the fastest but I do have a need to keep moving. 

My mother is the same way. She walks and swims. She always tells me  if we ever have to put her in the nursing home we better warn the staff that if she leaves the building every morning don't be alarmed - she's just going for her morning walk.

Good luck forming your habit .

Right now for me, I am reforming the exercise habit, which is easier because it is not new.  I have gone years at a time with exercise.  I know what to expect.  I really think that realizing that exercise is habit-forming psychologically and physiologically and that you can cultivate it and use it to your advantage.  Your example shows just how powerful the habit can be.

I also know the things that can knock me out of the habit because I have also gone years without exercising daily.  Exercise is not as strong an addiction for me as a glass of wine with supper.  I recently retired and my mother whom I took care of has passed away so I am more in control of my schedule than I have been in a long time.  I am taking it as my new job to exercise optimally.  I am enjoying the freedom.

TW

This is something that I do not know much about.  There are definite analogies between exercise as an addiction and drugs.  

I worry that many in the triathlon sport can overdo the training which is bad for their health.  I think that we train to build up to an event.  Our bodies build to a peak and then we believe that level is the new normal.  But in reality, the peak is not sustainable.  We have to back down. Someone with an addictive tendency clings to the excessive levels of training and winds up with chronic injury.  My own personal experience with lapses in training has meant that I have arrived at age 60 with a fairly intact body.  I can still run, bike, and swim without any chronic problems.  I think in part may have been to the unintentional long recovery periods.  Hard to say.  I won't be getting a do-over.

TW

I have never been a morning exerciser.  I have done it a few times but the urge to sleep overwhelms the urge to run at 5 am.  My most regular periods have been when I could use my lunch hour to run.  It helps when your boss runs too.

TW

I've always struggled with early morning workouts. Honestly I struggle with getting to work on time...  As earlier mentioned, routine and habit are key for me here.  I mentally tell myself that wake up time is 40 minutes earlier than it needs to be to get to work on time.   I find that doing this 5x/week is actually easier than only trying to get up early once or twice.  If I have the idea in the back of my head that sleeping in that extra 40 minutes is an option, my sleepy self is going to take it.  The trick is convincing myself that I don't have the choice.