Trick Yourself into Finding Motivation to Exercise By Using Psychology – Alexander Heyne

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“I absolutely hate exercise, and there’s no way in hell you’re going to get me to do it” said Marie, one of my clients.

At the time, I was trying out personal training to see if It could be a potential career. I wasn’t crazy about it, and ended up changing careers, but before I did, I got Marie to exercise 30 minutes a day – every day – by herself, and she actually liked it.

How?

By using psychology.

7 Psychological Keys Behind People That Regularly Exercise

So what separates them from us anyway?

Why is it that Cindy-Lou Hoo exercises all the time, and appears to love it, while the thought of exercise makes me want to projectile vomit?

Here are some interesting (science-supported) facts about those who regularly exercise:

Long-term exercisers crave the feeling after exercise. On sluggish days, mentally thinking about the endorphin rush is a strong motivator for people to continue to exercise. I can also tell you this from personal experience – I actually crave exercise. I sit 10-12 hours a day to work, and once I get off work, I’m craving blood flow. The feeling I get after exercising, the blood flow, the feeling of being awake, the circulation pumping, the relaxed but energized feeling, is something I crave. Interestingly enough, people that are emotional eaters (that like exercise) can effectively replace the craving for food by exercising when they get a craving – because it releases endorphins and dopamine just like eating food does.

Over use of extrinsic rewards (like money) may weaken intrinsic motivation (“I actually like this”), and the benefits tend to decrease over time. This is also known as the over-justification effect – where if we’re paid to do something we inherently enjoy, it tends to decrease our intrinsic motivation to do it. (Stipek, 1996). People are a huge fan of recommending websites like Dietbet and Stickk – where you bet money, and if you lose, it’s either given to someone else, or given to an anti-charity; some kind of charity you hate. In reality, external rewards or threats are not as effective in the long run as sticking with intrinsic motivation – exercise you actually like.

Internal locus of control – Do you feel like you’re in control of life, or life is in control of you? People with an internal locus of control (“I feel in control in life”) are more likely to be successful, motivated, and resilient in the face of stress… which makes sense. If you feel in control of your own successes and failures, it’s a lot more motivating than feeling like whatever you do has no effect. If you feel like the universe randomly is controlling your life, why would you be motivated to keep working at something? Exercisers (and highly motivated people) usually have an internal locus of control. (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002)
Intrinsic motivation – Long term exercisers tend to do it for intrinsic reasons – because they enjoy whatever type of exercise they are doing, rather than simply wanting to look good or impress others. People that are intrinsically motivated to do things are more likely to stick with them over the long run.

The main psychological factor shown in people that adhere to exercise is self-efficacy and self-worth. In other words, the more you think you will be able to do it, and follow through, the more likely you are to do it. Emotions are inseparable from health Trost et al, 2002; Huberty et al 2008; Pintrich & DeGroot, 1990)

Social support or support from a S/O highly linked to exercise adherence. Ever heard of the quote, “You’re the product of the 5 people you surround yourself with most often?” Yep! It’s true with exercise, too. In fact, just being able to watch people around you exercise is associated with a greater likelihood of you exercising. (Trost et al, 2002)

People who overestimate their capabilities from exercise are more likely to drop out. The dieter’s curse is rushing in too soon. (Whaley and Schrider, 2005)