Change and Forming New Habits
Reading time: 2 mins
When it comes to exercise, our success depends on forming a routine. Even if fitness has been a part of your life for years it is so easy to get out of the habit of training and I know that I have had spells in my life where my schedule has changed and exercise went down my list of priorities. If you are fairly new to exercise it is a big ask to make it ‘a part of your life’. However, we all must ask ourselves what importance we place on fitness and how it affects our physical and mental wellbeing. In a previous blog we discussed the benefits of exercise and it is clear that we should all make time for it. Of course, it’s not that easy but over the next 10 weeks we are going to begin building those habits in an attempt to make a lasting change. At Evolution Health & Fitness our programmes are not about ‘quick fixes’. Our philosophy is about consistency… move more and find activities which you enjoy doing and can make part of your lifestyle.
A study by the University College London found that, on average, it takes 66 days to build a habit. However, it could be anywhere from 18 to 245 days. Fitness doesn’t come naturally to many but we must persevere to ensure it becomes ingrained and part of our lifestyle. Although it should and can be fun, it’s more important than that - it dictates our quality of life. If someone offered you a pill to live a longer and healthier life would you take it? Of course! Exercise, diet and lifestyle choices have been proven to give you a much better chance of being healthier for longer so why don’t all of us do it? Because it’s difficult and most of us do difficult things all day so when it comes to our leisure time, we want to take it easy…but what if you found something you enjoyed, and you got into a habit of doing that thing a few times a week. This is all most of us are striving for.
There are many other aspects of health and wellbeing - diet, sleep, water intake to name a few. We will touch on a few of these subjects, but our main focus over the next 10 weeks is getting into the habit of moving more. If you can get through the programme, completing the workouts and picking up helpful information it will go a long way to forming these new habits and starting to instil positive changes for both mind and body.