by Jared Packer, DPT, CSCS

I was recently in a bit of a workout funk. I was not enjoying what I was doing, and had difficulty with consistency. My typical pattern looks something like this: 

Initial motivation → Overestimate what I can do → Push until burnout → Quit → Repeat.

As required for my work as a Physical Therapist, I have done some exploration into the science of creating and developing new habits. After repeating my aforementioned cycle more times than I can count, I decided to try out some of the principles I’ve learned for myself. Everything I am about to say has already been said by numerous experts. (I am a fan of James Clear’s work in particular)

Big Changes Are Not Sustainable

Too much change at once is usually not sustainable. This isn’t rocket science, but in practice, it is difficult to align expectations with reality. Some research suggests that people cannot successfully adopt more than 1-3 new habit(s) at a time. In addition, researchers have found it takes on average 66 days for a habit to become automatic, with a range of 18 - 254 days (not exactly the 3 weeks we’ve all heard about).

Both of these statistics depend on the difficulty of the change. Quitting smoking is probably more challenging than making the bed.

For any habit that you would like to adopt, following these principles will help you to succeed:

• Choose 1 thing to change

• Set a realistic action plan

• Make it non-negotiable

Anything else you are trying to change can fall to the wayside, except for this 1 thing.

In January I set a goal of strength training for 15 minutes, 3 days a week. I wrote down the days and times that I would be working out.

This might not seem like much, but my goal here was to build a habit. It is 10 weeks later and I’m happy to say I have only missed 2 days. While my inner adolescent still wants to skip workouts, the internal resistance is now easier to overcome. I’ve even had multiple days where I felt like I could do more than 15 minutes without really stretching myself.

What I really needed was to give myself permission to do less, but be consistent.

Motivation is Not Reliable

What I’ve learned from this experience and from research is that motivation is not reliable enough for long-term habit formation.

A plan and system will carry you through the inevitable dips in desire.

In Clear’s blog, he describes a study examining compliance with a workout routine. Participants were divided into 3 groups:

• Group 1 - no help

• Group 2 - motivational presentation and information

• Group 3 - motivational presentation and information, and they wrote down a time and place that they would exercise.

The results:

• Groups 1 and 2 ~35% exercised 1x/week or more.

• Group 3 ~90% exercised 1x/week or more

This study suggests that establishing a clear plan and writing it down will help you to stick with a new habit, more so than trying to pump yourself up about it.

In Closing

Whatever change you want to make, think of it as an exercise in habit building. Make it something that will last you a lifetime, rather than trying to push yourself on any given day. Ultimately this will give you the best chance of lasting success.

Have additional questions about creating good habits? Move Strong Physical Therapy is happy to answer them.