Why isn’t every person who would like to be healthy exercising on a consistent basis? If we realize what we should be doing, then why aren’t we doing it consistently? Fitness Motivation Coach Lisa Nordquist phone calls this “The Fitness Gap” and many of us have problems with it. Knowing that we SHOULD be exercising rarely makes any of us do it on a constant basis.
So, how do we encourage ourselves to apply ideal personal care – which include eating and exercising right CONSISTENTLY? For those people who weren’t born loving exercise, it takes more than JUST CARRYING IT OUT (at least at first). We begin to practice optimum, and CONSISTENT, personal care (even if we find areas of it painful at the start) through an activity I call Pain to Pleasure Conversion (PPC).
So, as the Robbins quotation above suggests, we should find pleasure in what we change our behavior to. But I believe he misses a part of getting there. Before we find pleasure in something, we should (even if subconsciously) find MEANING in it. So, the transformation starts with assigning MEANING to the concept of exercising. For some, examples of meaning can be stress release, longevity, optimal wellbeing, strength development, or even the quest for spirituality. Or maybe it’s simply being in a social setting or knowing that you’re doing ‘the right thing’.
- 2010 WBFF World’s Pro Figure Champion
- Put aside money for any occasion: Make it a annual affair
- Eat healthier
- Pearson RD
- Trampoline jumping (rebounding)
- Avoid intake of highly processed foods
But, finding exercise significant alone won’t cause you to do it consistently forever. Now, that’s where Robbins comes home in to the formula. The ‘doing CONSISTENTLY’ conversion is complete once the ACT of exercising itself becomes pleasurable. For a few, types of pleasure can be the ‘pump’ from weight lifting, ‘runners high’ from operating really long distances, or sweating simply.
Well, what about those of us, you ask, who have never experienced that kind of pleasure from exercise? Most people who don’t find the process of exercising to be pleasurable, will exercise occasionally, but not enough to maximize its benefits consistently. If you can’t stand to sweat or get annoyed by your insufficient strength or insufficient endurance, how will you start enjoying every single workout? So, how do we make this entire conversion happen so that we start exercising consistently and make fitness a lifestyle change, even for those folks who don’t find exercising all that pleasurable? First, assign a meaning to exercise that is important to you.
Second, start making some improvement towards what’s meaningful to you through exercising. Once you strat to get the results you want, the Method of getting those results (in this case, exercising) will then start becoming enjoyable to you. A good example of the Pain to Pleasure Conversion at the job can be showed through some “if/then” claims.
I will strength train CONSISTENTLY and begin loving every minute from it! And, if I start caring every minute from it, I will do it the rest of my life consistently! I understand this sounds just a little white and black, but if you believe about it it’s true. For instance, you may say, well, I understand people who CONSISTENTLY complain about everything.