“You know you should develop a regular exercise routine, but you lack motivation. Promises to yourself are quickly broken, and you never establish enough of the workout habit to experience any rewards.” Does this sound familiar? It did to Stephen Wade, who recently authored an article on motivation across the lifespan.
“If you want to be cognitively active, it is so important to be physically active,” explained Dr. Amy Eyler, a professor of public health at Washington University in St. Louis. “There is a such a strong connection between these two behaviors.”
Just asks Drs. Grover Smith and exercise scientist Dr. Irv Rubenstein (pictured below) who run the STEPS Fitness program in Nashville every Wednesday. These physicians, in their late 70s and 80s, have sustained motivation that has kept them healthy in their advanced age. But how does one sustain such motivation?
Getting into the habit of doing regular physical activity can be difficult for some. The motivation to get moving is different for everyone.
Initially you’ll need external motivation — I want to be able to play with my grandkids or keep driving the car — until you see results and the motivation shifts to internal, Eyler said.
“When you set a goal, you should ask yourself on a scale of 1 to 100, how confident am I that I can do this?” Eyler explained. “It has to be over the 90% level of confidence or you’re not going to do it. Lots of people set these goal too high and then fail.”
Build to your goals.
“Just walk whenever you can,” Eyler said. “You can walk for 10 minutes pretty much anywhere — indoors, at work, at home.”
And, if you’re trying to encourage others, look for positive reasons rather than nagging.
Get more tips, and read more stories of succeffull super-motivators, at https://apnews.com/article/motivation-exercise-training-b4ae0c4902fd527b2a342476d796a356?utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawIm3ZZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHTjG84VWmehjrK_VtXVnmlGUCrhZM_gLyI1EAlZQbjk24mwby9gnLXuzjg_aem_8Rmzq1q8Csj4n_jdbITTpg