By Dean Hodgkin, B.Sc, University of Portsmouth
Despite libraries full of research material confirming that regular exercise brings a whole smorgasbord of benefits, statistics from the US Department of Health and Human Sciences reveal that around 25 percent of adults admit to doing no exercise at all. What prevents people with low exercise motivation from taking a dose of medicine that is clearly good for them?
Negative Perceptions
A UK study revealed that sedentary people hold very negative perceptions of exercise, feeling it is difficult, unpleasant, and maybe even pointless. It was suggested that their experiences of physical education and sports participation at school led to a poor level of exercise motivation in their adult life. Sadly, when these people were asked to discuss exercise, they were happy to declare their goals but they also offered the difficulties they anticipated, immediately putting up effective barriers to change.
This is a transcript from the video series Physiology and Fitness. Watch it now, on Wondrium.
To get some insights into why this is, Jason Satterfield, Professor of Clinical Medicine and Director of Behavioral Medicine at the University of California in San Francisco, offered some insight into this dilemma. Professor Satterfield shared some of the psychological barriers that prevent people from embracing a healthier lifestyle and some insights into how to overcome them.
Delayed Rewards
“In general, we’re sort of wired to appreciate things that happen relatively soon rather than relatively late. For something like exercise, that punishment comes upfront and the reward isn’t until many months—maybe even many years—down the road,” he said. “It’s almost as if the reward structure needs to be reversed so that you get that reward upfront so that it reinforces that behavior and you want to do it again.”
Satterfield noted that when working with people is that oftentimes, medical providers forget about the complexities of life.
“We’ll give a patient what we think is an attainable goal without realizing the amount of work stress, the amount of family stress, that there are actually three or four other behavioral changes that they’re trying to do at exactly the same time. We want to know not just is it the patient’s goals, but are they attainable goals? Are there immediate rewards? Does it fit into their life right now? Is this exercise motivation high enough priority that they’ll be able to engage and be able to succeed?”
Out in the world, there are a lot of stories and suggestions on what to do. The controlled studies that have been conducted using incentives typically use a monetary incentive. Each time a person goes to the gym or puts in a certain number of minutes on a treadmill, they receive a monetary reward, either immediately, or it’s put in a bank so they can see that amount that continues to grow. This tactic has been used for many preventive health behaviors; do you get your vaccinations, your mammograms, your colonoscopies?
Learn more about how to overcome the barriers to exercise
Fact: Gyms are Intimidating for Newbies!
The idea of joining a gym presents specific concerns and worries for some people, but these can be listed and countered:
- Complicated exercises. You could easily request an instructor to design a workout using the most basic movements to start with. Ensure you work slowly. This allows you to master the technique and reduce the risk of injury to the muscles, joints, and connective tissues.
- Unusual activities. A common-sense approach is to stick with what you know. At the start, it makes sense to do what you’re comfortable with, as there will be plenty of time to get a little more adventurous later.
- Doing too much too soon. A good instructor should guide you on this point but you can help by taking responsibility for yourself, ensuring you begin at a comfortable speed, a comfortable resistance, and also allow for gradual progression. This progression could be in the number of visits, the duration of your workout, or the intensity of the exercise you’re physically doing.
- Learning new equipment. Most cardio stations include a quick-start option. The instructors are there to help you, so if you forget what you were shown in your first introduction, don’t be afraid to ask them. Being unable to monitor pulse can sometimes be tricky, as this is required often for some workouts at the right intensity. This isn’t easy when you’re moving on the cardio machines, so find an alternative method of judging your workout.
Studies have shown us that not just regular exercise, but even a single session can lead to improved feelings of wellbeing, specifically improved self-esteem, increased productivity at work, enhanced self-image, and better confidence.
Learn more about protecting yourself from injury
The Body’s Natural Chemical Rewards
If a person engages in regular aerobic activity, two chemicals are released into the body. They help us to understand why someone’s cognitive function and mood improve, particularly in the case of depression. Of the two chemicals, the first is BDNF, or brain-derived neurotrophic factors. They function as fertilizers for our neurons that help them to grow. They grow new branches and new interconnections, improving cognitive functioning.
The second is on a more practical and obvious level. As we become more physically fit, as we have more cardiorespiratory fitness, our circulation improves. When your circulation improves, more energy and oxygen can move to the brain. The second chemical that’s released is called VEGF, which is vasoendothelial growth factor—fertilizer for arteries and veins. It helps us to grow new vessels that are going to carry the blood supply to our brain. If you’re taking better care of your brain, you’re growing new neurons by feeding it better with oxygen and nutrients, meaning you’re going to have better cognitive function, and overall, a better mood.
Learn more about the primary cardiovascular workouts
A Bed-Time Myth
One common refrain we hear is because people work late, they don’t want to exercise because they’ve been told that it’s bad to exercise before bed. However, this might be their only time, leaving them stuck in the rut of not exercising. But is this even true?
One of America’s experts in sleep, Craig Heller, Professor of Biology and Human Biology at Stanford University, separates the myth from the fact that you shouldn’t exercise before sleeping.
“You can definitely exercise before going to bed and still have good sleep. There is a myth that’s associated with exercise before sleep. It’s not only a myth, it’s actually a bullet point in a brochure put out by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, that one of the pieces of advice for improving your sleep is [to] avoid exercise within three hours of bedtime,” explained Heller. “It’s wrong because we know that mild exercise promotes a rise in temperature; the rise in temperature promotes good sleep.”
Heller stated that the myth comes from correlating emotionality with intense exercise, such as competitive sports.
“If you are on an ice hockey team and you have your rink time at 11 p.m. and you have a terribly aggressive game, you’re not going to have good sleep following that. But it’s not because of the exercise, per se: It’s because it involved activation of your sympathetic nervous system, all of the emotionality and the fight-or-flight responses that are the result of a competitive sport.”
Exercise in Your Golden Years
What about your retirement years? Is this the time to slow down? No! Look upon retirement as an opportunity to become more active instead of less. This is a great time of life to garden, take the dog on longer walks, and to play with the grandchildren. Learn a new skill that fans the flame of your exercise motivation — like dancing or swimming. You’re never too old to learn to swim! Now that you have the time, you could make regular physical activity a part of every day. Go for a walk every morning or every evening before dinner. Treat yourself to an exercise bike and every day while you’re reading your favorite book or magazine.
They say there’s no time like the present. Get out there and exercise!
Common Questions About Exercise Motivation
Some tips for motivating yourself to exercise include changing into workout clothes before you actually feel ready, exercising at a set time every day so that you establish a routine, finding a workout you enjoy, and starting slow and then gradually increasing the intensity of your workout.
Exercise motivation refers to the psychological factors that lead us to take action when it comes to establishing an exercise routine.
To motivate yourself to exercise after work, you should find a gym that’s on your route home from work, come to work prepared with a change of clothes for your workout, and remind yourself how invigorated you will feel after your workout.
To ensure that you continue going to the gym consistently, even when you don’t feel like it, you should go with a friend (increases accountability), sign up for a group class, and keep your “why” (the reason you are exercising) written down in a spot where you will see it each day. Also, not all gyms are alike. Pick a gym with a fun ambiance, good music, and a friendly staff so that you look forward to going.
