If the benefits of exercise were captured in a pill, everyone would want a prescription.
As exercise professionals, we know that moving your body improves nearly every aspect of health. It enhances sleep, strength and mental wellbeing, while reducing the risk of chronic conditions and premature death. What’s more, studies show that physical activity has a positive impact even when done in short bursts and with no equipment or gym membership required.
Still, most people don’t exercise nearly enough. According to Australia’s National Health
Survey, three quarters of Aussies fail to meet the recommended physical activity guidelines. Regardless of what the health professions preach, it remains widely difficult to get people to do the thing that is so good for and accessible to them.
Physical limitations and health problems are certainly a factor for many people, as almost half of the population have at least one chronic condition, ranging from arthritis to cancer, diabetes to depression. Modern life is responsible too with long, sedentary workdays and infrastructure that prioritises seated travel and convenience over walking or cycling.
But the biggest barrier that affects all of us is that our brains are wired to avoid exercise.
For most of human existence, being physically active was essential for carrying out the basic functions of life, such as finding and growing food.
But to the uninitiated, the brain is very sensitive to wasted energy. It calculates the effort required to perform an action, asking “Is it worth it?”. And, while some people succeed in finding exercise they enjoy, they’re in the minority, as the abandoned New Year’s resolutions of late January would reveal. This group would argue that exercise isn’t that bad.
But for many people, “Is it worth it?” is answered by their autonomic nervous system with a resounding “no”, as they may subconsciously harbour negative feelings toward exercise or see another activity as having more value, such as watching TV. This could stem from unpleasant experiences from childhood, a P.E. class or youth sports team embarrassment can make a person avoid exercising well into adulthood.
Sometimes it’s also a confidence issue. People who already view themselves as fit and mobile are more likely to stick to regular exercise, while people who perceive themselves as the opposite struggle to find consistent motivation. These tendencies to preserve energy and safety evolved to stop us from wasting resources on futile endeavours. That is to say, hunter gatherers weren’t spending their mornings training for a marathon.
What’s more, modern society has been built in such a way that we no longer move much in our day-to-day. In fact, our modern lifestyle allows us to move as little as possible, and we have reached an extreme where that instinct to preserve energy is no longer beneficial to our health.
In fact, physical inactivity has become the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality.
Over the past 20 years, exercise physiology has grown to become an integral part of Australia’s healthcare system to prevent and manage consequential chronic illnesses.
While participation in physical activity by generally healthy individuals can be self-directed, Accredited Exercise Physiologists (AEPs) are experts in prescribing effective exercise interventions for people facing barriers to movement.
They understand the inner voice that says “I don’t want to move” is completely normal and natural. That it takes constant and considerable effort to exercise regularly for health benefits that reveal themselves tentatively over time. They can help the tendency to question “Is it worth it?” become easier to silence.
With their extensive knowledge of human physiology and behaviour, they understand that we have traits that typically prefer maximum reward for minimum effort. We take the path of least resistance, stick to familiar routines and remain well within our comfort zones.
Starting an exercise routine means changing all of that, and for what the brain perceives as uncertain results. To keep ourselves safe and comfortable, we typically place more significance on risks rather than rewards, meaning we are even more reluctant to take up
physically demanding activities.
So, how do we get ourselves out of this rut?
Thankfully, human behaviour is curiously complex, so there are some things we can do to work around this. Our brains can form long-term goals and ambitions. We’ve evolved
beyond just day-to-day survival; we can now imagine a desirable future scenario, figure out how to achieve it and work toward it.
This ability directly impacts how our brain processes motivation and determination. For one, we are capable of delayed gratification; we can recognise that eating a block of chocolate in front of the TV is enjoyable in the moment, but going to the gym will mean we’re stronger, healthier, and more likely to enjoy life in the long term.
And there is also the ‘just world’ phenomenon, in which we assume that the world is fair. This leads us to believe that any suffering, or exercise in this instance, will surely lead to rewards, a longer and healthier life, later. No pain, no gain, as they say.
There are many other variables that play a role, like time constraints, family commitments, body image, ability and mobility. Simultaneously, there are neural processes that discourage exercise, and neural processes that encourage exercise.
The contradictory way to build motivation, is to simply recognise all of these ways that your brain sets you up to fail. When people struggle to exercise, society tells them they’re not good enough, when in fact, people who do exercise regularly are the ones making an effort to go against their natural instincts.
This suggests that simply reframing what constitutes exercise is a better way to get people moving. You don’t need to spend hours lifting weights at the gym to reap health benefits. Just moving for a few minutes a day to dance in your kitchen or weed the garden is still great for your mind and body. It’s not about overexertion or competitiveness, it’s about finding ways to move that feel good and enjoyable to you.
Start with small goals, adopt realistic behaviours that fit in your daily and weekly commitments, and build on that progress over time. And do pay attention to the little things that may trigger your tendency to rest, without judgement, to help you to move
past them. The importance of rest is something that is ingrained in our biology and ignoring your body’s need to rest can result in even worse things than missing a workout, such as injuries and muscle exhaustion.
What’s more, there’s an entire profession dedicated to helping people move and find
exercise they enjoy. Leveraging the expertise of AEPs in human physiology and behavioural science will give you the tools to ignore that part of the brain that tells you to plonk yourself on the couch 24/7. When it comes to the prescription of exercise, accredited exercise physiologists are the most qualified professionals in Australia.
So, while the urge to rest is natural, the risks of doing nothing are too extreme to ignore.
Exercise does not have to be strenuous, difficult or feel like a challenge, and it can instead be simply just moving your body in a way that is enjoyable and that feels good for you. This alone can increase exercise participation Australia-wide and improve the health of everyday Aussies.
Rather than dwell in feelings of guilt and shame for not moving enough, replacing your thoughts with ones of self-compassion and an understanding of human behaviour may just be the secret to building that habit.
“Support your clients’ exercise habits with Exercise Right, ESSA’s public health initiative designed to encourage the right forms of movement for long-term physical and mental health. Access free ebooks, hundreds of research-based articles and a library of resources from other exercise professionals.”
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