Written by: Ross Dempsey, MS, NSCA, CSCS
The majority of Americans find it hard to exercise (77.1% to be exact), and are not reaching the CDC’s guidelines for exercise (1). In this article, you will learn 5 ways to boost your long-term exercise adherence to experience the many benefits of regular exercise.
Life is busy for most adults, really, really busy. How busy, you ask? Most adults spend an average of 5.3 hours on leisure and sports activities per day (2) - hint, we’re not as busy as we think.
Most people are actually not too busy for some small amount of daily exercise. A small amount can include anything from an ab workout, to a deadlift-only workout, an arm workout, using a rowing machine, calisthenics, or training bike-only sessions.
For context, on average, adults spend: 5.2 hours working, 8.9 hours sleeping/in bed, 1.1 hours eating, and 1.9 hours doing chores (2).
Exercise is challenging, especially with older age and kids, but your favorite workout music and personal TV can make it easier (3). The critical point with exercise is adherence, with higher adherence rates predicting better health outcomes (4).
You may find that you need some help, as our modern lifestyles make it a challenge to exercise long-term, so we’ve compiled 5 tips for sticking to a weekly exercise routine for life.
5 Tips for Sticking to a Weekly Exercise Routine for Life
Do exercise you find naturally rewarding.
As a child, you engaged in some modes of exercise, some you enjoyed, others you hated. What were these modes of training you enjoyed? Start here as an adult.
External motivators (based on appearance or improved fitness) actually predict higher dropout rates, while internal motivation is what keeps people going (5). By enjoying the activity itself, or the skill and mastery of an activity, we will experience more benefits of long-term exercise. Find the exercise that is easy for you to do and remove barriers to exercise.
Find an Exercise Facility in Close Proximity to You.
Distance to your exercise facility can predict how much you exercise, as found among college students (6). More travel time = more of a barrier to long-term exercise. If home workouts are not for you, no problem. Find the closest - ideally walkable - facility you can, and this will make it easier for you to workout. If you’re in San Francisco, CustomFit has 3 locations for you to choose from.
Exercise at an intensity and setting that suits you - not anyone else.
Even in higher-intensity exercise, when people decide how hard they exercise, they feel better than having no choice(7). We also tend to enjoy different exercise settings (8). You can choose what mode, location, intensity, and type of exercise you like with your personal trainer, like how you get an individually customized workout at CustomFit.
Exercise to improve through greater efficiency at the form of exercise you do.
Long-term exercise relies upon if we improve our competency and get better! (9) We like to feel competent, see efficiency, notice improvements, and be successful. Competency is enjoyable. It feels good to run with less effort, see progress towards our first pull-up, and swim with more ease.
Exercise with a friend.
If you want to go fast, go alone - if you want to go far, go together . A 2010 study by Casey et al. (5) found that motivation was increased with support through monitoring, encouragement, and accountability which can all be provided by a friend, buddy or CustomFit personal trainer.
When it comes down to it, most of us have more spare time during our daily routines than we perceive. So, the challenge with maintaining a consistent exercise routine may not be time, so much as strategy. Get smart about choosing enjoyable exercise, identifying internal motivators, finding a space to exercise that is nearby, controlling the type and intensity of your workouts, always challenging yourself and maybe even inviting a pal to join in. With these strategies on your side, you’ll find it easier to consistently move your body and enjoy the benefits for years to come.