Some habits have the potential to transform our lives for the better. Regularly doing them can improve our physical and mental health, and the benefits can spill over to other unrelated areas of our lives. One of those habits, and maybe the most impactful, is exercising.
In this article, we’ll explore the benefits and 12 things you can do to make exercise a daily habit.
The benefits of working out
Most people think of the physical benefits when thinking about exercising. You’ll get in better shape, and your body becomes healthier. But there’s more. Physical exercise will help you feel more energized, and improve your self-esteem and mental health. Being active can make you happier, more confident, and more disciplined. It can reduce stress, improve your sleep, and reduce anxiety and depression.
Working out is what’s called a keystone habit. It’s a habit that can create other positive habits and bring benefits besides those connected with exercising.
In other words, making exercise a daily habit can complete change your life for the better.
Related: Small wins and why they matter
How to make exercise a daily habit
Daily exercise is one of the best habits you can create, but it can be difficult to stay consistent. To make it easier, I have created a list of 12 tips to help you make exercise a daily habit.
Related: How to get started even when you don’t feel like it
1. Start small
When we start something new, we want results now. This makes us go in with high intensity from day 1, trying to do all the right things. While this might give fast short-term progress, it usually ends up in failure. Doing too much too soon puts you over your limit and you’ll make it difficult to stay consistent. And consistency is all that matters if you’re trying to make exercise a daily habit.
A better approach is to start small. Do light and short workouts and slowly let yourself get into the habit without too much discomfort. As the habit begins to form, you can start to go harder.
2. Do exercise that you enjoy
There are endless possibilities when it comes to exercising. You probably won’t enjoy most of them, but there will be some that you do. Picking a form of exercise you like will make it easier to make it a daily habit and stay consistent. A few examples of different kinds are:
- Resistance training
- Running
- Swimming
- Cycling
- Soccer
- Football
- Walking
- Yoga
- Martial arts
And with each kind of exercise, you’ll have numerous subgenres. Try different things and find one you enjoy.
Related: Identity-based habits
3. Go with a friend
Everything is easier if you have someone to do it with. This includes making exercise a daily habit.
Having a partner can make exercise more fun. You can push each other, and it will be harder to skip a workout, as you’ll disappoint more people than just yourself if you stay at home.
4. Set a time to exercise
Doing something at a specific time every day makes it easier to form a habit. You can use this when trying to get more exercise in.
Pick a specific time of the day that fits with your routines, and dedicate it to exercising. This might be a time in the morning, after work, or in the evening, depending on your preferences and other obligations.
Some days, you’ll have something blocking that time. Schedule ahead and make sure that it doesn’t hinder your progress.
5. Set yourself a reminder
If you’re busy, exercising won’t always stay at the top of your head. This can make you skip a workout unintentionally, even when you have the time.
To avoid this, you can set yourself a reminder. Make an event in your calendar for when you have to get ready and ensure that you receive a notification. This way, you won’t forget to exercise again.
6. Progress slowly
It’s tempting to progress as fast as possible when starting an exercise habit. But doing this usually results in one of two things.
- You get injured
- You burn out
These things can make you miss days and slow down your progress. Give your body time to adapt to the new stress and progress slowly, week by week.
7. Prepare in advance
The more steps there are between where you are now and until you have completed your task, the less likely you’ll be to do it. To make it as easy as possible for yourself to make exercise a daily habit, you can prepare in advance.
Pack your bag, leave your gear at the door, or fill water bottles the night before. Make sure that when it’s time to begin, you won’t have to do anything but the bare minimum to start your exercise.
8. Do active recovery
Rest is crucial if you do strenuous exercise. Your body needs time to recover between workouts to stay injury-free and able to improve. But the issue is that the easiest and fastest way to make something a habit, is to do it every day.
To find a solution that fits both criteria, you can do active recovery on your rest days. Options here are to take a short walk, do some yoga, or find other activities that aren’t too straining. This way, you can keep your streak alive while allowing your body to recover.
If you do physically easy exercises, such as short walks or yoga, you might do without a rest day. Here, you can continue with the same intensity every day.
9. Do it as early as possible
Our willpower is like a muscle. The more we use it, the weaker it becomes. This means that our willpower tends to be lower at the end of the day. To avoid failing due to depleted willpower, you can exercise as early as possible.
10. Don’t skip a day
Again, you have to exercise every day to make it a daily habit. It might be tempting to reward yourself with a day off, but at its best, it results in the habit taking longer to form. The worst-case scenario is that the skipped day destroys your momentum, and the one day will become two and then three.
11. Reward yourself
Placing a small reward for yourself at the end of your workout can make it seem more appealing. When it’s appealing, it will be easier to form the habit.
The reward can be something simple as a tasty protein shake or stretching. Anything you enjoy that doesn’t work against your goal can be used here.
To use this technique most effectively, place the reward immediately after the workout. This will make the reward seem like a part of the workout, and you’ll be more likely to do it again.
Related: Stick with new habits by tracking them
12. Be patient
As with any other habit, you have to be patient with yourself. It takes time to get into the habit. You’ll be sore the first couple of weeks of exercising, and you still can’t see any changes in your body. But when you make it past the first few weeks, you’ll feel the mental benefits, and not long after, the physical changes will come.
Some days will be more fun than others. But when you consistently show up, even on difficult days, you prove something to yourself. You prove to yourself that you are disciplined. That you can stick to your goals and work hard, even when things get tough. This builds self-esteem and a belief in yourself, which you can use to accomplish whatever you want.
Final thoughts
Making exercise a daily habit is one of the best things you can do for your physical and mental health. It’ll decrease the risk or symptoms of mental health disorders, make you happier, improve your self-esteem, improve your physique, and make you healthier. Generally, it’ll give you a better life.
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