How do you make physical activity a part of your daily life—better yet, a part of your routine?
Habits do require time, effort, purposefulness, and persistence in order to become an automatic action or behaviour. Focusing on one action and repeating that action in the same context (same time, same place) for a at least three weeks can help you create the foundation for long-lasting change. To create a habit, it takes 21 consecutive days of practicing to develop the habit and 90 days to maintain the habit and for it to become natural.
These repetitive or “automatic actions” will free our mental resources for other tasks. If you use brushing your teeth as an example, ask yourself if you really use that time to think about cleaning your teeth. You are probably thinking about what the rest of your day looks like. By making it a habit, you have freed up some mental space, and have one less decision to make that day.
Most people struggle with developing physical activity or exercise habits because they never enter a self-sustaining positive feedback loop.
A positive feedback loop looks like this:
Step 1: You exercise or engage in physical activity
Step 2: You see benefits! You might see improved cardio, experience more energy, or sleep better. You might even receive some encouraging words of reinforcement from a friend.
Step 3: You feel good.
Step 4: By feeling good, you are more likely to approach step one and start the cycle again.
Three Tips to Develop Healthy Habits
- Set Realistic Goals. By setting a goal that is too high, or too unrealistic for your current level of activity you make it more difficult to attain that goal. Instead, try setting smaller, more specific goals or actions.
- Plan your activities/workouts ahead of time. It’s a rookie mistake to make your active time a “maybe.” Schedule your physical activity into your day/week.
- Buddy up. Getting active (virtually) or sharing your goals with a friend can help you make a stronger commitment.
You want the behaviour to become second-nature to you. You want it to feel weird that you’re not doing it. That’s when you know it’s truly become a part of your life.
Here’s an example:
“My classmate and I will both attend the Bruins B-Fit Bootcamp every Wednesday and Friday for the next month to begin exercising regularly”
Reference: How long does it take to form a habit? ParticipACTION https://www.participaction.com/en-ca/blog/how-much-screen-time-is-too-much-for-teens