This article marks the halfway point of our 2023 Habits Series. In case you haven't read our other posts, the concept of this series is to provide some guidance and support to those of you who want to start making lifestyle changes by yourself. We feel that by that openly sharing our knowledge and experience we can empower more people than we could ever hope to see in a lifetime, so to keep things going, here is our next topic: Movement.....
Do you dislike the idea of exercise? Does sport not appeal to you? Have you avoided joining the gym? Did you ever buy a workout program, use it 3 times then quit? Does the idea of doing fitness bring back terrible memories of school P.E. lessons?
In the following article we will look at physical activity in a new light. We aren't talking about exercise/ sport/ the gym/ a workout/ fitness.....we are talking about movement.
Using the word movement might create different images in your head. Think about it for a minute:
When we ask you to think about exercise, what images/words come into your mind?
What about when you think about the word movement?
There is a common misconception with physical activity. If you tell someone you have started jogging, you are likely to hear "but why, you don't need to lose weight". This automatic idea that people have, seeing physical activity as an admission that there is something wrong with your body is putting people off moving. The act of increasing your movement is absolutely not an admission that you are trying to correct any aesthetic "issue" with your body. We need to start seeing movement as a tool to support our mental health. If we feel good, we are more likely to be motivated/able to make other positive health choices, which will ultimately add more healthy years to our lives.
In order to get an expert insight into this topic we interviewed Liz Andrews, a passionate, senior player in the wellness sector, with over 20 years experience in the fitness industry (full bio below).
Liz, can you explain exercise in your own words?
Exercise is any kind of activity that requires some kind of physical effort. Unfortunately for many people, it’s a word associated with negative feelings. Many people are intimidated by exercise and have feelings of discomfort and failure that may come from past experiences of unsuccessful attempts at adopting healthy routines. To exacerbate this, we’re bombarded daily on social media with intimidating and incorrect messages such as “No pain, no gain”, “Go hard or go home”, or “Train insane or remain the same”. Although the slogans may be motivating for some, they’re certainly not the most inviting call-to-action for non-exercisers and new exercisers.
The fitness industry should be focused on building a more wholesome reputation for exercise by making it more accessible and friendly and less intimidating to better help tackle sedentarism, obesity and the increasing prevalence of lifestyle diseases. A simple way to do that is in the language we use: We need to talk more about movement and less about exercise as a key ingredient of a healthy lifestyle. Healthy habits can be built without going to the gym, being a member of a fancy health club or going for impossibly long runs. Great benefits come from active living or incidental activity such as gardening, walking, cooking, climbing stairs, biking, dancing, cleaning, etc.
When it comes to movement, something is always better than nothing, and everyone is always able to do something.
You’re able to achieve the same positive benefits that you would get from a structured exercise session by simply taking the conscious decision to be more active in performing everyday tasks. When you think of longevity, know that the more movement you do and the more mobile you are, the less your world will shrink as you get older.
Think of daily movement as the highest return investment into your future.
As children we spent the majority of our time playing outside with friends. This might have involved building a treehouse, having a water fight, climbing a tree - this was movement. As adults we forget this movement, we don't make time for it and end up sitting at a desk all day then going to bed exhausted only to repeat it again the next day. We also know that the majority of children today don't move as much as they should. Finding the time and motivation to increase movement is a big barrier for a lot of people. So how can we address it?? |
In the second part of our interview, we asked Liz:
In your experience, what is the best way to turn movement/exercise into a habit?
Even with all the evidence confirming the importance of exercise (movement) for physical and mental health in treatment and prevention, research consistently reports disappointingly low adherence to exercise, with 50% drop-out rates in gyms in the first 6 months, 43% giving up on goals after 1 month, and a mere 18% of gym goers using their membership consistently (IHRSA, 2022).
Although a clear set of goals is usually enough to motivate people to get started with a new exercise regime, it may not be enough to keep them coming back for more and make it a regular routine (especially when they don’t see quick results). While regular movement can make you feel better quickly, it may take as long as 3-4 months of performing a well-developed, well-executed programme to see meaningful change in your shape (Khodadadi et.al 2023).
Research shows that enjoyment is the one of the key ingredients to turn exercise into a habit (Weyland et.al, 2020).
Enjoyment drives the habit which drives results, which further drives enjoyment… and so the cycle continues.
In the fitness industry we focus on the following 6 areas to drive enjoyment (these are also applicable when planning your own movement routines):
(1) Community: Social aspects, finding an exercise tribe, sharing experiences, sense of belonging.
(2) Entertainment: Fun, gamification, music, dance, surprise, spontaneity, discovery.
(3) Challenge: Try something new, learn new skills, gain confidence, go outside comfort zone.
(4) Connection: Connect with yourself, with others, with nature and with the world around you.
(5) Disconnection: Disconnect from daily stress, quieten digital distractions, be in the present moment. (6) Self-efficacy: Sense of accomplishment, intrinsic reward, recognition for your self-discipline & commitment.
For regular movement to become a healthy habit you need to start with clear goals and then find enjoyable activities that you’re motivated to do regularly.
Have you decided that you would like to address your eating habits? If you want more specific guidance and support through adopting new habits, you can click this link to book a free call to see how we can help you.
If you have found any of these tips useful, please comment below, we love to hear from you! Sign up for our e-newsletter and be informed when there is a new post in the Habits Series - there will be a new topic every month in 2023.
Bio for Liz Andrews
Currently based in Portugal and responsible for building the Iberian network for strength-based functional fitness brand Body Fit Training (BFT), Liz has worked in the fitness industry for +20 years in different parts of Europe. With a BSc in Sports Science & Recreation Management and an MSc in Physical Activity, Nutrition & Public Health, she started as a personal trainer in Switzerland and has since occupied senior manager and director roles in DACH & Iberia in different industry sectors (premium, sport tech & boutique franchise). Her career ‘why’ is to help people be more active and lead healthier, more wholesome lives
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