The Psychology of (not?) exercising

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Tom Rankin

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NYTs article on how to get people to exercise more has this quote, "Only 3.5 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 59 do the minimum amount of physical activity recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services: 150 minutes a week of moderate activity." Wow! :eek:

What are your 'strategies' for motivating yourself?

Full Article.
 
What are your 'strategies' for motivating yourself?

Riding to work! Although it's usually the other way around, I motivate myself to go to work by biking there and enjoying the time spent doing so.

Jay
 
Finding fun ways to get exercise--fun enough to compel myself to do them regularly. I prefer hiking, biking and kayaking much more than, say, a gym. Did I mention trail running? BIG fun!
 
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I struggle with this, since I am not into going to a gym, or using our rowing machine, that my husband loves. (too boring for me). I always find time a struggle to fit exercise in, but now that I am of the age that everything you put in your mouth goes to my waist, I need to MAKE the time. I enjoy walking the dog, I used to be an avid runner, but haven't in a while. I am more of a weekend warrior, mtn biking, hiking, xc skiing, etc. I need to be outside, for mental stimulation, riding machines inside makes no sense to me. Unfortunately I have a job that requires sitting on my duff all day, so that makes it even harder after reading that our sit down jobs are literally killing us. It feels so good when I do exercise, it is just making the time to get out there. Finding the balance is the key. I at one time was weight lifting, running and doing yoga and found it difficult to manage everything else in my life. Very frustrating....

Drives me crazy that some people can not exercise and have amazing genes and still live to be in their 90's and never gain weight!:mad:
 
It costs roughly $1,000 to delete a pound of weight from my road bike. Titanium upgrade is pricey. It cost nothing to take the weight off me and I get to enjoy the results.

Cycling aside; I have for years viewed staying fit as a tug of war with one end of the rope in my hands and the other in a fat, blubbery, grave. Never let go of the rope because it's a beech to grab onto again.

"It's a disgrace for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and grace his body is capable of." Vince Lombardi
 
What are your 'strategies' for motivating yourself?

Their names are Augie and Bailey, and they get me out to the woods at 6:00 AM 5 days a week :)

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(I'm pretty flabbergasted that so few people manage to do a mere 20/25 minutes of moderate activity per day, though)
 

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"Only 3.5 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 59 do the minimum amount of physical activity recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services: 150 minutes a week of moderate activity."

Sad to see that many of us here are part of such an "elite" group. :(

What are your 'strategies' for motivating yourself?

That's like saying What motivates you to eat every day? Love to, NEED to do both, so no motivation is necessary!
 
This makes me feel a sort of massive, culturally-based, grave sadness. I deeply wish it wasn't such a motivation issue for so many people. That just seems like weird mental gunk that is getting in the way of so much potential goodness. I understand their feeling of being unable, of inertia, but I still will I could reach out to those folks, somehow. Because it's in them, as it's in all of us. They just need some help to change their minds and the bodies will follow.

Me, I'm no athlete but I can hardly wait for my 3+ hour trail runs since it's basically time to hang out with my running-friends while experiencing the wonderful terrain of New England. I would love to see a trend of people realizing that exercise is really just a byproduct of getting out there and DOING cool stuff and exploring the wonderful places in which we live. (And if you don't live somewhere wonderful, what are you waiting for? Move.)
 
Not getting fat is what keeps me motivated. I lost 25 pounds 2 years ago and it's not coming back on. I love to run, especially trail running. I also cycle, kayak, lift weights a few times at the gym and do yoga.
 
The way I motivate myself is by setting goals for myself. 1 1/2 yrs. ago I lost 30 lbs. but struggled to keep it off. This late summer I hurt my shoulder and had to cut short my competitive shooting season so I naturally fell back on my old love-hiking. I set a goal of getting into decent enough conditioning that I would be able to work on my winter 48' list which currently only stands at 5 summits. To meet that goal I set shorter goals like planning summit hikes for every weekend, which were usually to mountains I had only tagged once thus far. To accomplish this I just had to start getting out there during the weekdays and walk or I was going to seriously suffer on weekends. I asked for family support (honey can you feed and walk the dog in the morning and make your own coffee and lunch everyday) and he said YES! I started a chart on an excel sheet to record my daily exercise (which makes me see my accomplishments and also makes me accountable to myself! I started recording body weight and measurements to help gauge my progress as well. I made a separate list of upcoming summits I would like to hike with details such as there distance, elevation gain and how open their summits are so I could more easily select one to do each week based on my available gas money, the weather conditions and how I am feeling physically each week. Another thing I did was reach out and ask family members and friends to hike with me. I've gotten my son out 3 times in the last 4 weeks and my brother in law out twice in 4 weeks. Being with others can be motivating too. I have been thinking of contacting some folks on this forum this winter and see if they might join me or I join them on some winter hikes so I don't need to be out solo too often. I have done a fair amount of winter hiking/camping but just have not gotten to the summits too often, so I do have winter experiences, just not much above treeline. Anyways, as you can see I am motivated by goals and tracking exercise progress. Now that I've been back on an exercise campaign for 8 weeks now the motivation is becoming the great feeling of getting fit again and finding climbing mountains is easier than it used to be and a-lot more fun because of it.
 
I would love to see a trend of people realizing that exercise is really just a byproduct of getting out there and DOING cool stuff and exploring the wonderful places in which we live. (And if you don't live somewhere wonderful, what are you waiting for? Move.)

I agree with you 100% on that comment, but I know of people who go to my gym who are completely content getting their fitness session indoors on equipment or in classes. It may be sunny and 60 degrees outside but they workout indoors. To each their own as long as they just do something.

My personal motivation was originally coming back from a heart attack 12 years ago. Now a regular fitness regimen of aerobics and weights along with good nutrition is engrained in me and I feel great and energetic. I love now being the older guy who's in better shape that the young guys. I have gotten the handle 'mountain goat' from some of the trail runners I know.
 
I don't think gym exercising is as holistically healthful or as sustainable as getting out and doing that which you love to do, but it's better than nothing. And yeah, maybe some people LOVE the gym. Well, they need to get out more. :) But whatever, I semi-kid. It is better than nothing.

Among other things, outdoor activities mean more vitamin D, which is supposedly crazy deficient in our culture. Plus the variety is something you cannot get in a gym. Yes gyms have a million machines and such. But the synthetic nature is a weak substitute for actual connecting with real nature, which, as we all know, has tremendous value not only for physical health but also for mental health. Humans are a social species. There is something very right, maybe even primal, about taking to the woods in small groups.

Also, I think people in general spend too much time in their comfort zones. Going to the gym is pretty easy. You plan your workout, you know how it's going to feel, you know the variables before you even get there. You arrive, you practice a specific pattern that rarely strays into a zone in which you need to engage your mind. (Yes, I know about focus, I'm talking about something a little more abstract than that.) I just think so much more can be gleaned from putting yourself in a place with slightly less predictability, with a little more contact with elements, and more opportunity to expand your brain and think new thoughts.

Gym in addition to outdoor stuff, cool. Gym as substitute, meh.

Yeah, I'm an idealist, but why not always try envision a better way? :)
 
Since this is VFTT ... I am talking about outdoor activities

I can speak for myself by saying that

it is important to understand which physical activity makes you happy because you want to combine the struggle of physical activity with something you enjoy doing.

Realize that there are too many external factors that can and will interrupt our activity with a chance to justify an interruption.

The next thing is to
do this activity away from easy escape routes. Away from the car, away from the house, away from the TV, away from the computer, away from the cellphone, away from needy family members and if possible...away from a comfort of a bed.


Third you have to realize that
Your brain will play tricks on you. Discomfort of effort and environmental struggle will make your body and brain give you reasons why you need to stop the activity or to scale down the amount of time you are doing the activity.
Those will manifest themselves Saturday morning at 6AM when the alarm clock goes off, 3/4 of the way up a mountain when struggling to reach the top, at the end of the day when you need to find a camping spot etc etc...

These 3 factors are what I need to battle with. I am constantly improving the realization on how they affect my psyche.
So I

do what I love to do at the moment
carry equipment in my car to go outdoor after work whenever possible
kick my butt out of the bed in the morning (weekends) even though I want to continue sleeping.
plan as many overnighters as possible because they keep me active longer and because they make it easier to resist distractions of the modern life.
 
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Third you have to realize that
Your brain will play tricks on you. Discomfort of effort and environmental struggle will make your body and brain give you reasons why you need to stop the activity or to scale down the amount of time you are doing the activity. ]

That's the truth.

I find if I just get started and get past the first 15 min and warm up motivation is much better.

Sometimes I sleep in my gym shorts and a t-shirt so when I wake up in the morning I'm dressed for exercise.
 
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Cyclists will understand this :D

Tim
 
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