10 REASONS TO EXERCISE
1. Identify your “why.” Exercise has long-term health benefits, indirect benefits for your children, and immediate effects on your mood and vitality. Keeping in mind what you want to gain from exercise can stimulate you to do something. Extrinsic motivators can also help you start exercising.
2. Coordinate with another or others. They will be more likely to comply, since you will not want to look bad with others. People exercise more when they do it with family members or friends than when they do it alone.
3. Reward. Buy a new piece of clothing or shoes to exercise. Make sure that reward is conditional on achieving a certain amount of exercise.
4.Activity monitor. They are free apps that can promote motivation, by giving warnings, measuring achievements and setting goals. With them you challenge yourself in terms of distance, time and speed.
5. Exercise at the same time. The idea is that it becomes a habit. Research indicates that exercising in the morning establishes a habit faster than exercising in the evening.
6. Make it an activity you enjoy. They always increase the chances of persevering doing an activity that you like. You’re also likely to exercise more intensely—without realizing it—if you’re enjoying the activity. If you hate running, don’t. Take a long walk in nature.
7. Start slowly. End up wanting to do more, instead of overdoing it. This also reduces the chances of feeling muscle pain or injury.
8. Listen to music. It improves mood and reduces the perception of effort, which promotes better results. These benefits are particularly effective with exercises rhythmic or repetitive, such as walking or running.
9. Add it to your dog. People who walk their dogs walk longer than those who don’t.
10. Make a financial commitment. Many claim that it works. This is a “contractual commitment” in which a deposit is made, which is forfeited if the promise of healthy behavior is not kept.
