How to make exercise a habit that sticks
📣 ‘Stop changing your workout; if you’re not consistent, you won’t get strong.’
📣 ‘Mix up your exercise, or you’ll get bored and your body will get complacent.’
These two things were said to me by different fitness professionals in the last couple of weeks. I see the logic in both of them but, unfortunately, they’re telling me exactly the opposite thing. So, what to do…?
The old Rosamund would have tried to be consistent with whatever workout I was doing at the time, all the while worrying that it’s probably not working because my body is becoming complacent. Then, having ‘failed’ at consistency because I couldn’t face another day doing the same thing, I’d have mixed it up and tried something else, all the while worrying that I’m not being consistent, so what’s the point really?
Ah, the defeatist mindset, classic downfall of so many good intentions.
What would the new Rosamund do? First, I’d remember there are two universal truths:
Everybody is different, so you have to find what works for you.
The best kind of exercise is the one that you will actually do. (Yes, I know I’ve said this before and - be warned - I’ll definitely say it again.)
How to make sure that you will actually do something? In the book Atomic Habits, James Clear says that there are four laws of making a habit stick:
Make it obvious.
Make it attractive.
Make it easy.
Make it satisfying.
I’d add to that: make it FUN.
For all of the hacks about making exercise easy and obvious (keep a dumbbell in your kitchen, lay out your leggings and trainers the night before your run, etc) the thing that people often forget is fun.
What did you love doing when you were a kid?
Or, if you have kids, what do they love doing? My children gleefully take ‘shortcuts’ that are twice as long as the normal route. They can’t see a hill without running up and down it, they can’t help dancing when they hear music, and they certainly wouldn’t be able to walk past a trampoline without urgently needing to bounce.
Kimberlee Perry is the founder of ((BOUNCE)), a fitness brand that offers a full body workout on mini trampolines in 350 studios across the UK (find your nearest one at bouncefitbody.com). ‘Jumping offers a joyful path to fitness, reminding us of the importance of fun in movement,’ says Kimberlee. ‘It takes us back to our carefree youth. Not taking yourself too seriously is the key.’
I tried out my local ((BOUNCE)) class and can confirm that is it extremely sweaty, very loud and the most fun I’ve ever had in an exercise situation.
And it’s as effective as it is fun. A NASA study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that rebounding exercise (a more scientific-sounding way of saying bouncing on a trampoline) is up to 68% more efficient than jogging and has been used by astronauts to regain bone density and muscle mass after being in space.
Plus, Kimberlee adds: ‘it's impossible to bounce without a smile.’
Something else that most people can’t do without smiling is dance. I spent my late teens and early 20s either taking advantage of the student discount at Pineapple Dance Studios, or hitting G-A-Y to dance unselfconsciously to Kylie. The other day, I mentioned how much I love dancing in front of my nine-year-old son and he replied: ‘I have literally never seen you dance,’ which made me feel a bit sad. Although I did also think, ‘Well, you haven’t seen the solo kitchen discos I have when you’re at school and I’m on a deadline.’
So I’m getting back into it thanks to DanceBox and its force-of-nature founder Illana Gambrill. ‘Dance is the purest form of joy,’ she tells me. ‘It allows you to get out of your head and fully into your body, moving in ways that don’t matter but feel freeing.’
There are pop-up classes, one-off workshops and an app at dance-box.co.uk. ‘Not only does it make your soul beam but it’s the type of workout that lets you sweat buckets,’ she says, touching on one of the reasons I love it. Dancing doesn’t feel like exercise. Certainly not like the repetitious drudgery (to me, anyway) of the gym.
I’m not saying you have to throw yourself around on a trampoline or in a dance class if that’s not what works for you. I’m just saying that you need to find what brings you joy.
That might be running, it might be lifting weights, it might be playing a sport like football or basketball, it might be yoga or swimming or gardening or pushing your kid on the swings and then giving them a piggyback home.
It will almost definitely be different things at different points in your life. What my body needed was different when I was a freewheeling 20something; different when I was having kids in my 30s; and it’s certainly different now I’m in my early 40s and dealing with early menopause caused by breast cancer treatment.
So let’s look again at the two quotes at the top. Could they both be true?
It’s certainly true that consistency is important, particularly in terms of building strength.
But, while some have no problem doing the same thing over and over again (and they struggle to see why anyone would have a problem with it), others find the thought of doing the same thing three times a week until forever makes them want to shrivel up and die because monotony is the worst.
I’m right there in the second camp - hello!
If you’re like me, then I’ve learned it’s better to do something regularly, even if you’re not always consistent with the exact same thing.
For me, this means a membership at my local yoga studio, where I can do reformer pilates or barre if I want to get sweaty, and a nice bit of yin yoga if I just want to stretch and breathe. Sometimes I run. Something I bounce. Sometimes I dance.
My only rule is that I do something every day, and sometimes that is literally ten minutes of dancing to the radio in between deadlines.
This week I’m…
Conflicted about Kim Kardashian’s controversial nipple bra. Kind of wonderful for my nipple-less post-mastectomy breast cancer sisters maybe?? Whether the bra is supportive enough to wear post-mastectomy is another matter…
Inspired by the celebration of clothes as self-expression in Style and Substance: Why What We Wear Matters by Bay Garnett
Can’t get enough of the ‘90s nostalgia in the Robbie Williams Netflix documentary
I think I signed up so long ago I can’t remember doing it! I surprised myself when I hit comment and realised I had a substack! Actually writing one is defo on thr never ending and extremely long to do list!
I loved this read, thank you. I don't know if this could be helpful to anyone, but am personally trying to get both consistency and variety by doing different activities across the week, but doing them every week. I run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, I do resistance training on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and I do two short evening sessions of either Pilates or yoga during the week, too. Hopefully, this way my body and brain get variety, but my following the same pattern every week, I'm also being consistent.