Building Atomic (Exercise) Habits

So, it’s the 31st of January, 2024 and we all know what that means: We’ve either abandoned or are a few steps closer to abandoning our new year resolutions. Often these consist of diet or exercise changes. I’ve had success with NY resolutions in the past, but I’ve also had my own failures. These last few months I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes myself and other people stick with their plans until they achieve their goal/resolution. In particular, how to motivate my physiotherapy patients to take action on the rehab or exercise that I prescribe.

A typical equation I give to my injured or pain-plagued clients is this:

Consistency + Patience + Time = Change

The changes we wish to make tend to come down to the little things that we do consistently, patiently and for enough time. Put this into the perspective of trying to lose weight, trying to get stronger, trying to learn a new skill, or trying to save money. Our success in achieving these goals will be more likely when we do small things regularly and stick with it for a significant amount of time without losing interest or getting frustrated.

How many of you have gone to a bootcamp for 8 weeks, smashed your fitness or weightloss goal, only to fall off the horse and end up back at square one as soon as it finishes? How many of you have started meal prepping, cutting out junk food and alcohol, been super-strict for weeks only to have one blow-out and then fall back into your old ways?

I recently listened to an audiobook on Spotify called “Atomic Habits” – by James Clear. I’d highly recommend it. My preference is to read but I recently realised that a lot of great books were available on Spotify and included in the subscription I was already paying. The author looks into the psychology and some practical processes of habit formation. My thought’s are, these habits underpin the 3 criteria of my rehab mantra – consistency, patience and time. Habit formation keeps you coming back, keeps you focused, and makes it hard to stop motoring toward your goals. I thought I’d break down some of these ideas from the book and put some practical examples together with respect to exercise.

Firstly, James Clear discusses the habit loop – the components that help us build a habit.

1.       Cue

2.       Craving

3.       Response

4.       Reward

I always bring this back to one of my most ingrained habits – brushing my teeth.

1.       Cue – I’m about to go to bed, I’ve had dinner, and my teeth feel dirty/breath smells

2.       Craving – I want to have clean teeth and nicer breath before going to sleep

3.       Response – I brush my teeth (and occasionally floss)

4.       Reward – My breath smells better, my teeth feel clean and I can sleep soundly

The point of a habit is to create a process that becomes automatic, like brushing my teeth. So, if I wanted to create an exercise habit, which aligns with my goal e.g. running 5km, this is the framework I would use below:

1.       Cue (Make it Obvious) – I’ll place my running shoes and exercise clothes next to my bed and set my alarm early in the morning.

2.       Craving (Make it Attractive) – I’ll Run with a friend, run with my wife, write down my goal and read it before running in the morning.

3.       Response (Make it Easy) – I might start by only running for 10mins, meaning it doesn’t seem like a difficult amount, if the weather is hot, I’ll run on a treadmill at the gym, or run at the beach or along the river.

4.       Reward (Make it Satisfying) – “treat yo’self”. After I run in the morning I’ll make a nice coffee, or you could buy a coffee with your friend or running buddy.

I hope this example helps. You should also plan for the good days and bad days. A bad day might mean that you feel tired or unmotivated in the morning. In this instance I might just run for 5 minutes or go for a walk. Even if I’m not achieving what I set out to do that day, I’m still doing something, which I think is much better than the alternative.

Once you’ve stuck with this for a few weeks or months, this habit will start to become sticky, and you can increase the exercise or ramp up towards whatever the goal is that you set. The longer you stick with the habit, the harder it is to break. When you stick with and slowly build these habits, you’ll get the following:

Consistency + Patience + Time = Change