Exercising: Best habit to have

You know exercise is good for you, but how often do you do it? From improving your mood to boosting your longevity, the benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. Regardless of age, sex or physical ability, exercise is advantageous to all.

The trouble, of course, comes with sticking with it. Most of us make promises to exercise daily but if your fitness routine has been less than consistent, you’re likely not alone. It so happens very often that our busy lives conflict with our schedules - work plans with friends, spending weekends with family or going out on vacations during holidays complicate our workout plans. Of course, wanting to make exercise a habit and actually accomplishing it are very different things. It’s not easy to adapt to a new kind of lifestyle in a short period of time.

It stands to reason that the more consistent action is, the more likely it is to be a habit. So here are certain strategies that you can follow to make exercise into a life-long habit.

Mini- workouts

If your plan is to run for an hour daily or go to the gym twice every day. Don’t. Fitness experts suggest that people who are not used to exercising should start with 5-10 mins of workout daily. It is more important if you motivate yourself to focus on daily consistency instead of the amount of time you spend on working out. Once you make exercising a habit, you can then focus on elongating the duration of your sessions. Personally, I use Reverie to maintain my workout schedule. You can track your fitness activities by recording your daily routine through photo-snaps which you can compare every week to witness your own progress. It provides you a daily reminder so that you do not miss even a single day of exercise.

Do physical activities that you enjoy

There’s no rule that physical fitness can only be achieved in a gym. Having a variety of activities like walking, running, dancing, cycling or gymnastics- will ensure that you not only stick to a routine but have fun doing these activities. After a few weeks, you will notice that you feel much better about yourself when you exercise regularly, which in turn boosts your confidence and improve your self-esteem.

Think long term

When you are coming up with your workout plan, the most important thing to remember is to be consistent. Exercising for a couple of days thinking it will make any difference is just wishful thinking. It will make no difference if you don’t stick to it. Scientists believe it takes a minimum of 21 days to make an action into a habit. If you want to lead a happy and long life, curb diseases and life-threatening illnesses then you owe it to yourself to do the best you can for your body.

Reward Yourself

We all know that sticking to a habit is extremely hard. The only way around this problem is to reward yourself for these small victories. So decide yourself on a goal and a reward and work towards it. You might go on a food binge or buy new shoes for running. Whatever it may be, just remember to have fun and exercise. You must remember that although this guide will help you get started, you are the only person who has control over your actions.

So don’t start off trying to work out an hour every day. Instead, set more reasonable, achievable goals, like exercising daily for 5-10 minutes. Eventually you will find doing exercise a more pleasurable activity. You can also write about your daily progress and times spent in Reverie. And even connect your Google Fit account into it for getting all of your past fitness activities and tracking your past step count and calories count.