We all know that exercise is good for you, but the benefits don’t always motivate you to set your alarm or lace up your running shoes. according to According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 75% of Americans don’t meet recommended guidelines for aerobic or strength-training exercises.
Many experts say the key to more effective and more regular training is in the mind, not the body. As anyone debating between a binge on Netflix and an evening run understands, your body may be delighted, but your mind may need a kickstart.
But there are some tools that can trick our reluctant brains into finding motivation to get back to the gym or hit the bike trail.
let’s fight
According to Daya Grant, a neuroscientist and mental performance coach in Los Angeles, the brain loves games, especially those that are hard to predict or offer intermittent rewards. Use it to your advantage.
For example, San Diego performance coach Milo Bryant uses an exercise grab bag in his group class. “They pull the exercises out of one bag and the reps out of the other bag and whatever they come up with, that’s what they do,” he said.
Apps like Zombie Run! — a fitness tracker combined with an episode of “The Last of Us” — take this to a new level. Like most running apps, you can track your route and pace.Here’s the twist Pipe “Mission” Through your headphones as you run, tell it to sprint to avoid zombies or pick up supplies to build a virtual shelter.
The Rouvy app connects to smart trainers, transforms your regular bike into a stationary bike, and virtually drives you through the streets of different cities around the world. You can also fine-tune the bike’s resistance when encountering hills and slopes. Pam Moore, a bike instructor from Boulder, Colorado, once cycled through Beverly Hills with a friend from Portland, Oregon, without leaving his home.
“She was ahead of me, but we were still able to run together,” Moore said.
Adjust to fit.
Our brains also love things that seem tailor-made for us.and Recent researchAthletes who believed they received a customized workout plan performed better than those who believed they followed a generic workout plan.
A personal trainer is a natural way to tap into this perception. Alternatively, you can use an app like “Stronger by the Day”. With this app, a trainer measures your fitness stats (for example, the heaviest load you can lift) and creates a personalized strength training program for you.
“I’m obsessed with it,” Moore said. “Just showing up and doing what I was told made me so strong.”
According to Panteleimon Eckekakis, an exercise psychologist at Michigan State University, we tend to remember experiences by how they felt at the end of them. That’s why he suggests this.change the order of exercises — After a good warm-up, do the hardest parts early and gradually reduce the intensity to leave the session with the best possible memory. ” this reverse slope approach Not only will you have more fun right after your workout, but your perception of your workout will improve over the week.
Work like a (Pavlov’s) dog.
habit It can be embedded in your brain. So bolster your fitness to match the “anchor habits” you already have on a daily basis, says Atlanta personal trainer Ben Real. For example, if you drop off your child at school at 8:00 am, Wait must be in his room by 8:15 am.
“Like the Pavlovian response, stacking these habits consistently over several weeks takes the decision-making point of willpower out of the equation,” Reale said.
Those who are reluctant to exercise may need something a little extra. Combine your favorite activity with a workout, like watching the latest season of The Bachelor.this “The bondage of temptation” is amplified Katie Milkman, a behavioral scientist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, points out that as long as you only do what you need to do during exercise.
“So you either indulge in sleazy TV at the gym or listen to vampire novels,” Dr. Milkman says.
Make an emotional commitment.
The most effective psychological tricks for building exercise habits may be the simplest. That is to sign up for something like her $5,000 within three months, a tennis tournament a year from now, or a father-daughter dance next spring.
“When you’re training for something, it gives every workout a purpose,” Bryant said. Set small goals along the way and make sure they are challenging but achievable.
Above all, think about what works best for you. Bear in mind that what that means can change. Exercise is more sustainable if there is an emotional connection to it.
“That’s why some people run marathons or dedicate a mile for a cause,” Dr. Grant said.
Connie Chan is a freelance science and parenting writer living in Silicon Valley.
