In the early phases of lockdown, the streets were teeming with runners and living rooms were a blur of uncoordinated star jumps and lunges as physical activity levels peaked. Now, after months of fluctuating social restrictions, people are reporting on social media that they’ve lost the motivation to exercise
In normal circumstances, exercise fights against many other appealing leisure pursuits, such as going to the pub, the cinema, or spending time with friends. But during the most severe part of the national lockdown, the choice was either to go outside for exercise, or stay home all day. The motivational odds shifted in favour of exercise.
But, like new year’s resolutions, our motivation steadily faded over time.
The type of motivation needed to start a new behaviour is often very different to the motivation needed to sustain one. Most people start exercising because they know it’s good for them, and outside pressures (such as from TV adverts, or friends) tell them they should.
But as lockdown eased, barriers to exercise appeared again – such as being able to steo out or go to work.
Relying on “should-do” motives in these scenarios requires considerable mental effort and willpower. Unfortunately, one of the most interesting aspects of human motivation is that we dislike the feeling of effort and willpower and tend to avoid it.
Even some people who exercised religiously are reporting loss of motivation.
FIND YOUR MOTIVATION
To stop these motivational declines, a dual approach is needed that makes exercise easy in the short-term while developing strong long-term motivation.
When it comes to long-term motivation, many psychologists believe your identity is one of the most resilient motivational systems. Identity can often be a vague term and difficult to describe, but put simply, “be” goals are more motivating than “do” goals. So instead of “doing” exercise, focus on “being” someone who exercises.
These “be” motives require much less mental effort to act on and you will naturally seek opportunities to demonstrate your “exerciser” identity. It’s less mentally exhausting “being” an exerciser, compared to continuously trying to “do” exercise, because attention is naturally drawn to opportunities to exercise and away from other temptations. In some ways this isn’t fair. Those people who have exercised for years and see themselves as an exerciser find it very easy to be motivated to exercise. Those of us who don’t view ourselves as exercisers, but want to exercise, require a lot of mental effort and willpower to leave the house.
While many of us aren’t looking forward to further social restrictions, this might give us another opportunity to develop a healthier lifestyle. A focus on “being” an exerciser and minimising mental effort will lead to fewer sudden declines in exercise motivation over the long term.
Quick motivational fixes
Plan your exercise for when it’s easiest to do
For many this may mean exercising as soon as possible in the day before temptations and obstacles that require effort to overcome begin to appear.
Make it easy to exercise
Get your sportswear out of the drawer and ready the evening before. Plan exercise that does not require travel to a specific venue. Do as many things as you can beforehand so that, when the time comes, starting your workout is easy.
Break the process of exercising into chunks
For example, getting changed into sportswear only require a little effort. Stepping out the door only requires a little effort. Before you know it, it’s harder to not exercise than to exercise.
Do what you enjoy
It’s simple and requires minimal motivation to repeat exercise that felt good. If you find yourself wanting to jump rope or dance instead of lifting weights or jogging, it’s better to do what you want to do, and requires a lot less mental effort than trying to force yourself to do something you think you should do.
