Are Habits That Important?

Habits are often used in everyday life to complete mundane tasks, or even important ones. Habits can be used to keep us happy, and for a multitude of other things. However, they're often overlooked when it comes to our health & fitness.

Fitness is one of those things that everyone has tried to make their habit, and probably failed at more than once. I don't think it's because we hate exercising, or we hate the way it makes us feel afterwards. I personally believe so many of us fail because we have an all or nothing mindset when it comes to training & nutrition. We go so hard, so quickly that the crash feels huge at the end and we find ourselves unmotivated for another 6 months.

What if instead of going hard and then burning out, we created small habits and implemented them slowly? Instead of spending $200 on new activewear, committing to an 18 month gym membership and only eating salad... we started by going for a 10 minute walk around the block at the same time everyday. Something people don't realise about fitness is that you can't just start, and be the best version of yourself in 1 week. It takes time, repetition and the creation of habits to stick to training (it's bloody hard). It's a lot like saving - if you put away 90% of your pay, it might work for 2 weeks and then you'll blow it all because you didn't account for bills, events etc. If you start by putting away 20% of your pay, and build yourself up to saving more, you're less likely to crash and burn.

If you're reading this, there's a good chance that you've struggled to create healthy habits. The only reason I say there's a good chance, is because it happens to everyone at some point in their life. When it comes to exercise, we fall so hard because we go so hard from the outset. We have 2 weeks of crazy commitment to the gym and strict dieting, only to wind up at square 1. We overlook the benefits of creating small habits, and sticking to small rituals in our everyday lives. We overlook taking the stairs for back to back F45 sessions. We overlook eating one healthier meal a day for a full day of salad. We lack the understanding that in order to create a habit or a routine, we need repetition, no matter how small that repetition might be.

For me? It took placing my packed gym bag next to the door. You might think to yourself "how is that going to fix my problems?". If you haven't read 'Atomic Habits' by James Clear then please do yourself a favour and take a page from his book (literally). He helped me understand the concept of friction. If I made it hard for myself to not complete the habit, or made it easy for myself to avoid a certain thing, creating a habit would be a lot easier. Now every time I walk past my gym bag it triggers my thought process around training. If I walk past my gym bag when I'm meant to be training, it almost makes me uncomfortable because a habit I've worked so hard to create is staring me in the face.

He talks about this method in regards to eating too. Rather than having a bag of chips on the bench for example, place them in the back of the cupboard. By moving them further away, you have to do more to get to them. It will take more thinking for you to get closer to the thing you didn't want to be close to.

How about we cut to the chase now? I'm sure you get what I'm trying to say. Habits are vitally important when it comes to training & nutrition. At the end I'm going to list a few examples to help you wrap your head around it a little bit more. Creating a habit means exercising or healthier eating can become a daily ritual, rather than two week whirlwind that ends with disappointment and guilt. We need to sit down and acknowledge that fitness is on an ongoing battle unless you make things easier for yourself. Rather than pretending we are Kayla Itsines for 2 weeks, why don't we just acknowledge we are lazy bastards who really hate going to the gym? Until you don't hate going, that is.

So how do we create a habit? Well it's a lot easier than we think, and as I said earlier, we often go too hard too fast. To create a habit that's going to last we need to really break it down into smaller parts. Don't commit to training for 2 hours everyday, just commit to putting your activewear on and getting in the car to go to the gym. It's the same with nutrition - don't commit to 7 days of clean eating, just go to the shops on a Sunday with the intention to make 3 home cooked meals that week. (These can obviously be built up over time). Take the habit you want to create whether it be reading every night, exercising everyday, eating healthier, studying, and break it down into a tiny little ritual that you do everyday. If we can manage to create small habits, and stick to them, it will help motivate us to do more, and turn them into more significant (life changing) habits.

I'm going to list a few habit ideas that are related to health & fitness. What is the harm in trying one, and seeing where it takes you?

Want to go to exercise more?

• Place your gym bag near the door you leave the house via.

• Tell your friends a specific time you'll be exercising that day.

• Drive to the gym once a day without even getting out of the car.

• Go for a 5 minute walk outside and go back inside after that time is up.

• Lay your activewear out in your room the day before.

Want to make healthier nutritional choices?

• Write a shopping list every Sunday morning for the following week.

• Find a new healthy recipe everyday on your lunch break.

• Start by cooking 1 home cooked meal per week.

• Eat 1 piece of fruit everyday before or after dinner.

• Commit to tracking your calories every single day (no matter the number).

Creating healthier habits doesn't mean buying activewear, losing feeling in your legs from a tough workout or being at the gym for 2 hours a day. Creating a habit is about breaking it down into small parts, and mastering each little element. Once you can do the basics, you can advance to habits that you find more difficult.

Start small, and work your way up.

Your coach & friend,

Maddy