We all know the science: working out makes us healthier, happier, and more energized. Despite this, the majority of Americans don’t exercise as much as they should.
Everyone wants to want to work out—the main roadblock is turning desire into doing. Only 8% of people successfully turn their New Year’s resolutions into habits. What do those people have that the other 92% don’t? Consistency.
The more consistently you do something, the more likely it is to become a habit. If exercising is a chore you struggle to look forward to, you need a new program that makes you want to show up every day.
Daily Habits Are Lasting Habits
A lack of willpower isn’t usually to blame when people try to form a habit and fail. Humans are wired to have enough willpower to make it through the first week or two of any task when we need to. The real culprit behind our tendency to start a new routine and stop is that we don’t condition the behavior deeply enough to take it from a daunting task to an automatic habit.
To understand why, let’s compare the exercise habits of two archetypes: we’ll call them Jack and Diane.
Jack: The Occasional Gym-Goer
Jack starts the new year with big ambitions to rediscover his lost love of exercise. He plans to hit the gym on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. He plans for 90-minute workouts focusing on a different muscle group each day. On Tuesday, Jack wakes up to the sound of his alarm and drives to the gym. Without him realizing it, his brain links waking up (his daily routine) to going to the gym.
But on Wednesday, Jack starts his day without exercising at all. His brain’s association with routine exercise is weaker now. This continues for several weeks and Jack still needs to force himself to get to the gym until he hits a wall and stops going altogether.
Diane: The Daily Gym Rat
Diane, on the other hand, schedules a workout class every day. She only goes for forty-five minutes, but she shows up without fail. When Diane’s alarm clock sounds, reaching for her gym bag is as natural as pouring her first cup of coffee. Her pattern is conditioned repeatedly until it is entirely automatic.
BMF Makes Developing Healthy Habits as Simple as Showing Up
You may have heard this maxim: Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. Body Machine Fitness has our own rendition of this: Curiosity is what gets you started. Excitement is what keeps you going.
Our HIIT classes leverage the latest neuroscience to light up the motivation centers of your brain. Every rep encourages the dopamine production you need to take working out from a chore to the best part of your daily routine. We make sure you want to return again and again until showing up is automatic. After just a few group fitness classes in Ft. Worth or Plano, you too can become a Diane!
Ready For Your New Addiction?
Habits are easier to form when they’re gratifying. Experience the first workout capable of rewiring the brain to associate working out with pure excitement. A Body Machine Fitness membership means developing a lasting workout habit isn’t just possible–it’s unavoidable.
We offer group fitness classes in Plano and Ft. Worth. Sign up for a FREE science-backed fitness class today.