How To Never Quit Your Fitness Program
The five most common reasons why people quit their fitness programs (and subsequently lose self-discipline) are:
- The wrong kind of motivation:
There are two kinds of motivation: internal and external. Denis Coon, a best-selling author in the field of psychology, defines internal motivation (also known as intrinsic motivation) as something that occurs “when we act without any obvious external rewards.
We simply enjoy an activity or see it as an opportunity to explore, learn, and actualize our potentials”.
External motivation, also known as extrinsic motivation, is defined by sports psychologists Peter Terry and Costas Karageorghis as motivation that can come “from the outside, such as the motivation to win medals, receive financial rewards, and attract attention from the media.
This is known as external, or extrinsic, motivation because it involves participation in sport for some kind of reward external to the participation process.” The type of motivation you need to stick to your fitness program and build your self-discipline is intrinsic motivation.
Just like you shouldn’t develop your self-discipline solely because you want to impress somebody, you shouldn’t go to the gym only because you think someone will praise or admire you.
If you work out primarily because you expect a certain reward and draw little to no personal enjoyment or fulfilment by doing it, reconsider your motivation.
You build your self-discipline when you keep doing something simply because it helps you realize your full potential and not because it will make you look good in the eyes of other people or provide you with rewards.
If you can’t seem to find intrinsic motivation, try a different, more enjoyable sport that will encourage you to explore, learn, or actualize your potential. If you hate it, you won’t do it in the long term, anyway. Speaking of which, the second reason is…
2. Lack of enjoyment:
Having a lot of discipline is great, but it doesn’t mean you have to always choose things you don’t like (don’t confuse it with doing things that are uncomfortable for growth).
In 1997, researchers at the University of Rochester and the University of Southern Utah conducted a study on intrinsic motivation and exercise adherence.
One group of participants participated in Tae Kwon Do classes while the other group attended aerobics classes.
The first group had better adherence than the second one because they focused on enjoyment, competence, and social interaction.
In other words, they chose to participate in a type of fitness class they enjoyed and not a class that was focused specifically on helping them achieve their fitness goals.
Both choices could have been equally uncomfortable for them (if they weren’t used to regular physical exercise), but it was Tae Kwon Do that they enjoyed more – and that’s the same approach you should follow whenever making changes that are uncomfortable in themselves (like exercising more or changing your diet).
If you don’t enjoy your fitness plan, change it. Try to pick at least one of each type of exercise – anaerobic and aerobic.
If you go to the gym, nobody says you have to use this or that machine – there are various ways of achieving the same goals (although a simple approach with free weights is usually the most optimal).
If I recommend aerobic exercises, it doesn’t mean you have to go to a class at your local gym. I’m against it because I can’t imagine a more boring way to exercise than spending an hour in a room doing jumping jacks and other nightmarish exercises.
I remember from my PE classes. Have fun when moving. Play tennis with a friend. Jog with your dog. Go on a bike ride and explore your surroundings.
Have a kayaking trip with a group of friends. The less it feels like exercise, the easier it will be to make it a permanent part of your life.
3. Lack of support:
It’s great to have enough self-discipline to achieve your goals without the help of others. However, it doesn’t mean it’s the best way of doing things.
Support from other people can often make or break your resolutions. A study conducted by Brandon C.
Irwin at Michigan State University and his colleagues shows that exercising with a partner improves performance on aerobic exercises.
A different study conducted by the same researchers suggests that working out with a slightly better partner makes individuals more persistent.
It’s due to Kohler’s effect, a phenomenon wherein a person works harder as a member of a group than when working alone. If you can work harder and develop better discipline when working with a group, why not benefit from it and get support?
4. Wrong expectations:
Regular physical activity improves your self-discipline by teaching you two things: how to adhere to a specific plan and how to be patient when waiting for the results.
If you start your workout plan with the wrong expectations, though, it’s likely you’ll quit before you improve your mental toughness.
Due to the phenomenon of the false hope syndrome (making frequent attempts at self-change while holding unrealistic expectations about the likely speed, amount, ease, and consequences), you’re likely to set unrealistic goals and expect things that can’t happen in a specified time frame.
To avoid discouragement, research what kind of results you can expect realistically and set them as your goals. When building self-discipline, small wins are more important than aiming for the stars and not even landing on the Moon.
5. A lack of time:
A lack of time is usually the least legitimate reason to quit a fitness program because it masks a different kind of problem.
If you can’t find time to take care of your body, then the problem isn’t your lack of time but your lack of priorities. Few would disagree that health is the most important thing in life, yet many people’s lives don’t reflect it.
In this case, you need discipline to identify your values, and most importantly, design your life in such a way that it will reflect them.
If health is one of your primary values in life (and it should be, because everything else matters little if you don’t feel well), sacrifice one of your lesser values (say, climbing the corporate ladder) for it.
If you avoid these five most common reasons, you’ll have a much easier time sticking to your workout routine and, consequently, building lasting self-discipline.
Don’t forget, though, that all of these problems are there to help you become tougher. It’s your job to figure them out, not use them as excuses why you should give up.
