How to Train Your Brain to Want to Work Out
6 Psych Hacks to Help You Build an Unbreakable Fitness Habit
Have you ever mentally battled with yourself, debating whether to grab your bag and head to the gym or just stay home and try again the following day? And wouldn’t it be nice if, instead of dragging yourself out the door or skipping your workout, you actually felt like exercising most of the time? It’s possible — but not if you rely on motivation alone.
Research shows that people who successfully stick to New Year’s resolutions focus more on cognitive-behavioral strategies than emotion-enhancing ones, which means they work on changing their thought patterns so they can take action towards their goals instead of just trying to elicit motivation.
RELATED: How to Master the Power of Self-Discipline
You can do the same when it comes to your fitness goals. Here are expert-approved tips to train your brain to want to work out even when motivation is nowhere to be found.
Stop Relying on Willpower
First, say goodbye to the idea of relying on willpower. Forcing yourself to work out doesn’t really work. “Willpower is both unreliable and fleeting,” says Dr. Kyra Bobinet, physician, public health leader and behavior change expert.
In fact, a study by UNSW revealed that our subconscious brain often dictates our choices before we’re even aware of them, which means that unless working out is wired into your brain as a default behavior, your efforts to choose exercise will feel like a struggle.
Make Exercise Part of Your Identity
So, what’s more effective than willpower? Shifting your identity so you naturally become the kind of person who loves working out.
“The holy grail of training your brain to work out is to make it a part of your ‘self’, your identity. The ‘story of me’, the self-narrative, lives in your pre-frontal cortex. Workout habits that are repeated enough will eventually rewire ‘I am an exerciser’ into the brain’s ‘story of me,’” adds Bobinet.
Surround yourself with active people. Be mindful of your self-talk — if you tell yourself that you suck at exercising, you’ll just reinforce the identity that makes working out feel like an uphill battle. Ask yourself what a person who enjoys exercise would do when confronted with small choices, like grabbing a healthy meal versus going out for beers.
The more you practice embracing your desired identity, the more it gets cemented into your brain.
Choose Exercise You Enjoy
It helps to choose activities that you actually like. “Your brain will release more dopamine when you engage in exercise that you genuinely enjoy. So not all exercise is equally beneficial to the brain,” says Friederike Fabritius, neuroscientist, keynote speaker and Wall Street Journal bestselling author.
Forget about that workout program that seems effective and that you “should” follow. Pick workouts that feel satisfying to you, from martial arts to cycling or lifting. That dopamine boost is key to cementing your new identity, since it’ll make you more likely to stick to a workout of some sort.
Set Up Workout Cues
You can also create associations between working out and specific cues. Maybe you exercise at a certain time of the day, during your work lunch hour or before you commute back home.
Perhaps the association is a specific person or a group of people, like joining a team. Or it’s a location like your favorite park. You can have more than one. “The more you associate exercise with cues in your life, the more your brain will want to work out,” says Bobinet.
“Creating habits and routines gives our brains a script to follow. It creates predictability, stability, and comfort — all things our brains (and bodies) like. Over time, we no longer have to read these scripts, as they've become rote and a natural part of our schedule,” says Dr. Cynthia Shaw, licensed clinical psychologist and owner of Authentically Living.
Create a Supportive Environment
Your physical environment matters too, as it can either support your goals or sabotage them. Bobinet recalls working with an executive who trained her brain to go to the gym and loved it so much that she decided to build a home gym.
Once she had access to her home gym, she stopped working out. It turns out, she enjoyed getting out of her home and stepping into the gym. So, find a setup that works for you and use it to build momentum.
Foster an ‘Iterative Mindset’
That said, it’s important not to think of your setup or cues as the be all, end all of your workout routine. It’s OK to be flexible, like going to a new fitness studio if your gym unexpectedly closes because you know that you do better when you get out of the house to exercise. In fact, adaptability can lead to better results.
“In my research, I found that those with an ‘iterative mindset’ consistently built lasting health habits. This mindset was 300% stronger than other mindsets, performance goals and psychological traits, and is natural and easy to adopt,” says Bobinet.
Want to adopt her process? Start by releasing and reframing any past negative experiences surrounding working out. Rather than feel shame about trying and failing in the past, just see every previous attempt to stick to a routine as learning and data.
Then, as mentioned above, pick a type of exercise that you enjoy and aim to practice it. Except that instead of building a rigid plan, you’ll strive to iterate or tweak your routine as needed whenever something happens to throw you off course, like a schedule change or a workout buddy canceling at the last minute.
The idea is to keep adapting and practicing your workout as your life evolves. With the tips above, you can go from feeling discouraged about exercise to becoming the kind of person who works out because they want to.
You Might Also Dig:
-
Fitness Advice