The majority of Americans find it hard to exercise,77.1% to be exact, not reaching the CDC’s guidelines for exercise (1). In this article, you will learn 5 ways to boost your long-term exercise adherence to experience the many benefits of regular exercise.

Life is busy for most adults, really, really busy. How busy, you ask? On average most adults spend an average of 5.3 hours on leisure and sports activities per day (2) – hint, we’re not as busy as we think.

Most people are not too busy for some small amount of daily exercise. A small amount can include anything from an ab workout, a deadlift-only workout, an arm workout or a rowing machine, calisthenics, or training bike-only sessions.

For context, concerning the time adults spend in a day, it is, on average, 5.2 hours working, 8.9 hours sleeping/in bed, 1.1 hours eating, and 1.9 hours doing chores (2).

Exercise is challenging, especially with older age and kids – your favorite workout music and personal TV can make it easier (3). The critical point with exercise is adherence, with higher adherence rates predicting better health outcomes (4).

You need some help as our modern lifestyles make exercise a challenge to do this long-term but here’s how.

Do exercise you find naturally rewarding, the activity you enjoy from simply doing the activity itself. As a child, you engaged in some modes of exercise, some you enjoyed, others you hated – what were these modes of training you enjoyed? Start here as an adult.

External motivators (based on appearance or improved fitness) actually predicted dropout rates, while internal motivation was what kept people going (5). By enjoying the activity itself, and skill or mastery of the  activity, we will experience more benefits of long-term exercise. Find the exercise that is easy for you to do and remove barriers to access to exercise.

The distance to your exercise facility can predict how much we exercise, as found among college students (6). More travel time? More of a barrier to long-term exercise. If home workouts are not for you, no problem. Find the closest – ideally walkable – facility you can, and this will make it easier for you to work out Progression Health coaching has 2 locations for you to choose from.

Exercise at an intensity and setting that suits you – not anyone else. Even in higher-intensity exercise, once people decide how hard they exercise, they feel better than having no choice(7). We tend to enjoy different exercise settings (8). You can choose what mode, location, intensity, and type of exercise you like with your personal trainer, like how you get an individually customized workout at Progression Health coaching.

Exercise to improve through greater efficiency at the form of exercise you do – long-term exercise relies upon if we improve our competency and get better! (9) We like to feel competent, see efficiency, notice improvements, and be successful. Competency is enjoyable; running with less effort, seeing progress towards our first pull-up, and swimming with more ease.

Exercise with a friend – if you want to go fast, go alone – if you want to go far, go together – A 2010 by Casey et al. (5) found that motivation was increased with support through monitoring, encouragement, and accountability which can all be provided by a friend, buddy or a Progression Health Coaching certified personal trainer.

 

# 1 – Do exercise you find naturally rewarding

#2 – The distance to your facility of exercise can predict how much we exercise

#3 – Exercise at an intensity and setting of your own personal choice that suits you

#4 – Exercise with the goal of getting better through greater efficiency

#5 – Exercise with a friend – to go fast, go alone – to go far, go together

 

References;
State Variation in Meeting the 2008 Federal Guidelines for Both Aerobic and Muscle-strengthening Activities Through Leisure-time Physical Activity Among Adults Aged 18–64: United States, 2010–2015 Debra L. Blackwell, Ph.D., and Tainya C. Clarke, Ph.D., M.P.H. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr112.pdf

U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS 2021 Average hours per day https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/atus.pdf

Annesi, J. J. (2001). Effects of music, television, and a combination entertainment system on distraction, exercise adherence, and physical output in adults. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 33(3), 193–202. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0087141

Exercise Adherence and 10-Year Mortality in Chronically Ill Older Adults Miriam C. Morey 2008 https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fh0087141

Intrinsic motivation and exercise adherence Richard Ryan (1997) https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/1997_RyanFrederickLepesRubioSheldon.pdf

Relationships Between Physical Activity and the Proximity of Exercise Facilities and Home Exercise Equipment Used by Undergraduate University Julian Reed 2005 DOI: 10.3200/JACH.53.6.285-290 ·

The psychological and physiological responses of sedentary individuals to prescribed and preferred intensity exercise Gaynor Parfitt 2010 https://doi.org/10.1348/135910705X43606

How, where and with whom? Physical activity context preferences of three adult groups at risk of inactivity Nicola W Burton,2012 https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.978.5197&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Exercise, physical activity, and self-determination theory: A systematic review Pedro J Teixeira https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/1479-5868-9-78.pdf

Original Article: Education and Psychological Aspects Understanding physical activity facilitators and barriers during and following a supervised exercise program in Type 2 diabetes: a qualitative study D. Casey 2009 http://www.chiprehab.com/articles/diabetes_activity.pdf