MENTAL ASPECTS OF MAINTAINING CONSISTENCY IN PHYSICAL EXERCISE

The physical, psychological, emotional, and social benefits associated with physical activity at all age levels are well known and acknowledged by every section of the society. Exercise adherence plays a vital role in maximizing the benefits associated with physical activity.
A recent study found that only 19 percent of the population regularly engages in "high levels of physical activity." Nonetheless, statistics from several studies on exercise adherence indicate that approximately 50 percent of the individuals who start a self-monitored exercise program will drop out of that program within six months.
Understanding the variables that influence exercise adherence, theoretical models of exercise adherence and strategies for behavior change, and applying this knowledge to individual situations can assist in developing and maintaining the habits associated with a healthy lifestyle.
Studies suggest that exercise habits in adulthood are often established in childhood. Exercise programs in schools can be effective in improving fitness levels and increasing participation in health-related activities in children. However, it appears that a major opportunity to favorably influence patterns of exercise adherence is being missed in school systems. It has been widely seen that students who participate in quality physical education programs of sufficient length can increase levels of fitness and acquire the necessary knowledge and enjoyment levels essential to impact future patterns of adherence to exercise programs. Unfortunately, most schools do not offer students enough contact hours in programs of quality, so the impact on future exercise behavior does not occur. As adults, these individuals often initiate and attempt to continue exercise programs without the benefit of having acquired the necessary skills in childhood.
The basic reason for not initiating a routine activity of doing exercise or maintaining a consistent regular pattern of exercising, is the inability to bring about a permanent change in our habituated way of life, a life with out regular exercise and make workouts for physical fitness as a habit. Not surprisingly, our minds and bodies need to be in sync. Any positive change must begin with the conscious decision and desire to alter previous methods which we have been habituated to, as well as devoting the necessary time and effort to obtain goals which we feel as important to us. Habits are formed unconsciously, but when it comes to forming the exercise habit, we need to bring as much conscious attention to it as possible and the change does not happen in one day. Researches have shown that It takes as long as 18 months to firm up a healthy lifestyle change, since you must confront and eliminate old habits as you create new ones
A key element in the habit-forming process is the willingness to "tough it out," which is nothing but “skill acquisition” and willingness to tolerate short term discomfort till such time that your muscles become accustomed to exercising. Many people are driven by the pleasure principle and don't get past this crucial stage of habit development. So soon after starting the habit of involving in exercise the voice of resistance inside may start may whispering ideas, "It's too early to get out of bed, its too cold outside, I'm tired and I think I'm getting a headache." And these ideas come persistently every day which very soon makes most of the people succumb to the internal pressure created by these ideas. The simplest way of overcoming this pressure which is usually followed by majority of the population is to suggest themselves that “a one day break is not going to make any difference” and this “one day” goes on repeating.
Only successfully motivated people manage to conquer that voice and develop other thought patterns that help them to maintain the consistency of exercising till it becomes a regular part of everyday activity of the person. Individuals who are highly self-motivated are inclined to adhere to self-monitored exercise programs which help them to maintain the process till it becomes a habit compared to those who are not highly self-motivated
In a study among general population it has been found that 63 percent believe that exercising would make them healthier, leaner, and less stressed, but they don't do it. At the root of this problem is the lack of motivation.
This program on motivation sets out an initial process for training yourself to find powerful motivation strategies that will work for you, which includes
 Understanding what is behind your lack of motivation,
 The Psychological, Psycho-Physical, Social, and Situational Factors influencing exercise adherence,
 Theoretical model of exercise adherence,
 Strategies for behavior change
 Suggesting simple motivational techniques
 Trying out the motivation exercise,
 Providing tips to help you build your own motivating expertise.

Understanding What Is Behind Your Lack of Motivation
The primary work in your efforts to develop motivation should be focused on understanding the reasons for Lack of Motivation. Lack of motivation can be caused by a number of things including:
 Boredom with the actions or actions that you want to motivate yourself to do
 Anxiety or lack of belief in your ability to achieve what you want
 Reluctance to give up the benefits for you of not doing the task that you want to motivate yourself for.

Psychological, Psycho-Physical, Social, and Situational Factors
Initial interest in an exercise program is often related to a desire to obtain health/fitness benefits. Initial reasons for being involved in exercise programs are often not the same as reasons for remaining with that exercise program. Continued involvement seems to be dependent on a variety of psychological, physical, social, and situational factors.
Of the psychological factors that combine to affect the individual's tendency to maintain an exercise program, perhaps the most significant is the attitude toward physical activity in general, interest in a specific activity, and self-confidence in the ability to maintain an activity program which is also important to long-term involvement.
There are physical measures that, when combined with motivational assessments, predict exercise adherence levels in most populations better than either psychological or physiological factors when observed alone. Body weight and composition, fitness levels, and injuries all affect the individual's adherence to exercise programs. The person who is slim, fit, and injury-free is more likely to adhere to an exercise program than the unfit, overweight, injury-prone individual. In addition, if the exercise program is begun at a very high intensity level, the program dropout rate is very high.
Finally, there are a number of social and situational factors that influence exercise adherence, including convenience and social support. Convenience of exercise facilities or opportunities facilitates persistence with the activity. Receiving support from the individual with whom the exerciser relates most directly also influences the exerciser's persistence with the activity.

Theoretical Models of Exercise Adherence
Developing an understanding of the factors associated with exercise participation is an important challenge to undertake. This understanding can allow exercise programs to be individualized so that exercise adherence is maximized. There are several psychological models that are applicable to the study of exercise adherence. Three are briefly described below:
 Psychobiologic Screening Model: This model proposes that body weight, percent body fat, and level of self-motivation serve as predictors for an individual's likelihood to adhere to an exercise program.
 Locus of Control: This model suggests that people are either internal controllers who believe that they can control the outcomes in their lives, or external controllers who believe that their destinies are controlled by chance or by others.
 Adherence as a Process: This model focuses on the idea that adherence is an on-going process. It suggests that the behavior of people changes in sequences instead of all at once.

Strategies for Behavior Change
Acquiring the habit of maintaining an exercise program is a process with three stages:
 The decision to start exercising,
 The early stages of behavior change
 Maintaining the new behaviors.
There are a variety of strategies that assist in maintaining the initiated exercise program.
Self-Control Strategies: If the individual attributes success in maintaining an exercise program to external factors (e.g., the instructor, the exercise class), then the program will be difficult to maintain if the external factors are removed. One strategy for dealing with this dilemma is to teach the individual self-control strategies such as self-monitoring, goal setting, and self-reinforcement. Individuals who learn self-control strategies seem to be less dependent on external programs and more capable of arranging for new support mechanisms when old ones no longer exist.
Relapse Prevention: Relapse prevention involves identifying, defining, and predicting the high-risk situations (e.g., having to exercise at a non-preferred time, the period when every minute is precious to complete extremely important tasks) that might influence an individual's decision to discontinue an exercise program. Once these steps are completed, learning how to prevent and cope with urges to discontinue the program can be devised. These strategies typically include anticipating the problem and thought stoppage to interrupt the negative message.
Developing Willpower: willpower can be defined as "The ability to control your behavior and actions through strength of mind". If you are trying to make changes or want to break free from a difficult habit of lethargic life or starting a regular exercising habit or avoiding discontinuance every now and then or overcoming inconsistence in the exercising patterns then you may have to check your will power to understand as to whether you will succeed. To understand the concept of will power the same should be looked in to from various angles.
Will power and Society: We live in a society which puts great emphasis on success and failure and also highlights the belief in the power of the individual to achieve personal change. Willpower is connected to this view in the capacity of individuals to control their own destiny. The belief is that through strength of mind or character we should be able to take control of a situation and of our behavior.
Willpower and the Emotions: One of the problems with this belief in willpower is that if we don't succeed in making changes as quickly or as smoothly as we like then we can feel ashamed or guilty or inadequate. Willpower and emotions are intimately linked. Succeed and you feel good. Fail and you feel bad. So placing total reliance on willpower is risky. The stakes are high in terms of your own emotions. The related problem with this aspect of willpower is that in reality change often isn't a smooth process.
Most people try several times before they manage to initiate the program of exercising. If they believe that they should achieve what they want straightaway, they run the risk of seeing every setback or lapse on the road to success as a shameful loss of willpower. A lapse may just be a mistake (sometimes a small one) which you can learn from. If you are clouded by a belief that you should have instant willpower, then seeing the mistake in practical terms as something to learn from - as a learning step on the road to success - is harder than it might otherwise be. A lapse when you are trying to maintain regular exercise may be just a sign that you need to do something differently - e.g. by avoiding the situation where you might be tempted to break the habit of doing exercise either by postponing or finding an or by preparing yourself differently for it next time. If you believe in a kind of metaphysical willpower you will probably find it harder to assess your mistakes in this practical way and to learn from them in a helpful way.
Willpower and Practicality: The good news is that there is a more realistic, practical model than that based simply on willpower for how we actually make changes in normal life. This model postulates that most people go through the following stages on the way to change:
1. Not considering trying to change at all
2. Wondering whether change might be possible but not being entirely sure whether your can do it or even whether you want to do it.
3. Deciding to try to achieve change.
4. Acting to achieve change
5. Maintaining change.
Example of Making Changes:
A crucial feature of this new realistic model of change is that it recognizes that at any stage it is quite normal for a person to lapse. The person who is trying to give up exercising but one day slips up and fail to do it, say because of illness, excessive work, or emergency demands, is not a terrible failure. They have just had a lapse. If that happens to you, you don’t need to blame yourself or feel guilty and go back to the old form of behavior. Instead, why not just say to yourself something like: “I’ve had a lapse – that’s normal when people are making changes. I’ll try to get back on track now and think about whether there is anything that I can do differently next time this situation arises to avoid lapsing again.” Then take the step to get back on track rather than being too hard on yourself. Instead of fixing yourself on the concept of willpower try to encourage yourself to take practical steps to make the change you want, using practical strategies. This might involve simple strategies which has been discussed in the later part of this schedule.
Increasing Your Willpower
If you still want to increase your ability to carry out your actions then as well as taking a bit of moral pressure off yourself by trying to look at your situation practically, you can try to build your willpower by writing down the reasons why it will be beneficial for you to achieve the change you want and keeping the list at hand to refresh your memory when you are tempted to lapse.
1. The first message to take away, however, is that lapsing is normal on the path to achieving major changes – it is not the end of the world.
2. Treat it practically, recognize any progress you have already made and try to learn how to deal with the situation a little bit better next time.
3. If possible, don't be too hard on yourself. Be realistic

Some General Motivational Techniques That Can Bring Your Success
Recognizing obstacles and learning to remove them can make your vision a reality. The individual who is extremely motivated and successful has been motivated by a vision. This is one of the obvious motivation techniques that many neglect.
The quest for freedom is the basis for motivation. Total freedom is not necessarily desirable or possible, but the pursuit of that ideal is what motivates us to succeed. When you use this outlook as one of your motivation techniques you tap into a reserve of self motivation.
People who develop a vision control their own life and destiny. With no vision, your life and destiny are controlled by outside forces. The application of motivation techniques can change this destiny. You must change your thinking habits in order to change your life, and you change your habits by keeping the desired results in sight.
Develop a major goal, but take a specified path to get there. You'll have many smaller goals to reach before you get to the final result. Although this sounds simplistic it is one of the motivation techniques that super achievers rely on. By learning to accomplish these smaller goals, you'll be motivated to take on the larger challenges and you will see the value in using motivation techniques.
Get into the habit of finishing what you start. An unfinished project is of no value. Leaving things unfinished is a habit that must be changed. This energy drain will make it harder for you to apply all the other motivation techniques you have learned.
Find support through friends, acquaintances, and co-workers. If you surround yourself with motivated, visionary people you will naturally develop the attributes that helped them get that way. Mutual interests and like-minded associates can help you overcome a lack of motivation.
Another motivational technique is failure. Failure teaches us to keep trying until we get it right. No one ever became successful without prior failures. Failure is a by-product of imagination and creativity. It challenges you to take risks and teaches you to keep trying until you get it right.
The fear of failure is a common factor among those who procrastinate. If you want to succeed in reaching your goals, you must be willing to take a risk and lose. Many people trade joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment for a job that is considered conventional and safe. However if you use fear of failure to spur you on it can be one of the most valuable motivation techniques.
The unfulfilling job is not the failure; not pursuing your dreams is the real failure. Developing a vision requires conquering your fears and finding the courage to use the motivation techniques that do work.
The power of your dreams is the primary factor in becoming motivated. Productivity will be the result of developing habits and attitudes that keep you on the right track. And motivation techniques fit right in here
By changing bad habits and focusing on your specific goals, motivation will come to you by turning to motivation techniques even when you wish you could quit and times are tough.
By identifying the behaviors that you need to change, developing a vision of what you would like to achieve, and striving to attain that goal, you will become a naturally motivated, highly efficient, productive person who enjoys using motivation techniques to get ahead.

Finding the Motivation to Exercise
Exercise will give you more energy, not make you tired all the time: You may claim that you’re too tired to exercise. Actually, your lack of exercise may be responsible for making you feel that way. Even normally active individuals who take a few weeks off from exercise begin to feel more sluggish, lethargic, and unmotivated to exercise. Start standing up and moving around more frequently, and you’ll likely feel re-energized instead of drained.
Get started on the right foot, begin slowly with clear, attainable goals: The idea should not be to whip yourself into shape, but to ease into fitness. As each goal is mastered, up the ante when you feel confident you are ready for tougher challenges. The mistake many people make is to start out too rapidly and try to do too much As a result, they get sore, the body becomes fatigued and they get burned out."
Always have an exercise backup plan: You may have great plans to exercise outdoors, but then the weather fails to cooperate. In that case, you may forego your exercise if you don’t already have a backup plan for being active, such as walking in the mall or doing an alternate activity like an exercise video at home that day. Plan ahead for emergencies and unforeseen events.
Enhance your chances of hanging in there: come to terms with the almighty clock--the bane of so many exercise schedules. Anyone who can't squeeze a half hour out of the day is not organizing time well. Dedicated fitness buffs make their workout a non-negotiable priority, scheduling it as they would do with any other important appointment.
Make a slight attitude adjustment: With a slight attitude adjustment, we can regard exercise as a welcome break from other demands, rather than as a chore to tackle. And since energy begets energy, exercisers find they actually accomplish more with their newly discovered vitality.
Have this idea always in your mind “If you don’t use it, you lose it”: Poor health is another major barrier to exercise participation, but not one that can’t be overcome. In fact, becoming more active actually improves your health in so many ways, even if it’s ailing. Age itself may be considered an exercise barrier. What you don’t use, you lose, though, so fight back and prevent some of the decline just by being physically active. Even engaging in physical activities around your home helps.
Make exercising as convenient as a drive-through: Exercising can be inconvenient, especially when no parks, walking trails, fitness centers, or community recreational centers are near where you live or work. In that case, you may have to commit to using exercise equipments. If nothing else, use the time that you’re exercising at home to also watch your favorite TV show or catch up on your reading.
Exercise one step at a time: The most common excuse for not exercising on a regular basis is lack of time, so stop thinking of exercise as only planned activities and instead simply try to move more all day long. For most people, the majority of their calorie use during the day comes from these types of unstructured activities rather than a formal exercise plan. If you need a visual reminder, wear an inexpensive pedometer as a simple way to motivate yourself to take those steps.
Don't impose undue pressure on yourself by trying to maintain the same schedule as others: We each have an inner clock, our circadian rhythm, which determines at what times of the day or evening we are most productive. Exercise early if your resolve tends to slip away as the day wears on. Others prefer an after-work session to melt away the day's tensions. Accept your personal idiosyncrasies and work within that framework.
Schedule your exercise just before you want to do your best work:. After a vigorous workout, people are more alert and can concentrate better because blood circulation and metabolism are stimulated. Trying this often helps you to feel doing exercise as an energy stimulating factor rather than the one which drains your energy.
Check around for fun activities in your community: Find out what exercise programs are located in your workplace or nearby in your community. Often times, groups of individuals walk together during lunch breaks, or you may be able to join a low-impact aerobics or other exercise class offered at your workplace or a nearby recreation center. All activities count, and doing anything is better than doing nothing.
Adopt an exercise buddy: You don’t have to exercise alone! Get yourself a reliable exercise buddy, and bring the whole family along (even the dog). An exercise buddy increases your likelihood of showing up and also makes your activities more fun. Having a good social network to support your exercise habit will help your adherence over the long run.
Reward your progress: Who says that stickers and treats are just for kids? Keep track of your progress, and reward yourself. If you have already started an exercise program and are having trouble keeping it up, set realistic exercise goals or milestones to keep track of your hard work, and set up rewards for yourself when you meet them.
Put your exercise down on your calendar: Actually schedule your exercise by writing it down in your schedule or calendar like you would for other appointments or activities. Break up your larger goals into stepping-stone goals, like smaller goals by the day, week, and month, and if you miss one of your goals, try to make the rest of them happen anyway.
Keep it fun, simple, and varied: Most adults need for exercise to be fun, or they lose their motivation to do it over time. To prevent boredom, try varying your exercise frequently – both what you do and how hard or long you do it. Knowing that you don’t have to do the same workout day after day is very motivating. Occasionally work in activities that you truly enjoy.
Don’t make your workouts too hard: Don’t start out exercising too intensely, or do it to the extent taht it will feel too hard, and you’ll quit doing it. If you can’t comfortably carry on a conversation with someone else while you are exercising, then you are working harder than you need to. Focus instead on exercising a little bit longer at a slower pace instead of burning yourself out.
If you fall off the wagon, get yourself back on, but start up slowly: A short break from your normal routine – such as for vacations, illness or injuries, or other changes in your normal schedule – does not mean that you can’t start scheduling your physical activity back in again. You may need to begin or start back at a lower intensity to avoid burnout, muscle soreness, or even injury.
Engineer Your Environment: Excuse-proof your exercise plan by laying out any clothes and needed equipment before going to bed. You'll be less likely to talk yourself out of exercising if you can jump right into your warm-up outfit and find your headphone set by the front door. Also, keep a set of gym supplies in the trunk of your car at all times. Selecting a gym near your home or work makes the possibility of dropping out less likely. Before signing up, it's a good idea to drop in at the time you normally plan to work out to check the crowd control.
Keep positive energy flowing with daily affirmations: For example, tell yourself "I have a strong, healthy body" or "I'm looking forward to a walk after work." Visualize yourself out in the fresh doing a jubilant workout. There is an old saying that goes, "Whether you think you can or you can't, either way you are right."
MOTIVATION EXERCISE
Draw up a table and list on one side the advantages for you of doing what it is what you want and on the other side the disadvantages. Include emotional or psychological benefits and disadvantages as well as practical benefits and disadvantages. The reasons will vary for each individual so it is important that you are honest about what is significant for you. Thus for example if you are having difficulty motivating yourself, your table might look like the following:
For example
Advantages of having regular exercise
 I become healthy and would be free from illness
 Makes me feel very active through whole day
 I feel I have achieved something
 I will be appreciated for my fitness
 Makes me feel secure
Disadvantages having regular exercise
 I find it boring
 It takes away my time because of which I don’t have enough time to complete all my the tasks
 I don’t see why I should take so much efforts regularly to maintain my health
 People will see me as a person who is over concerned and worried about illness
Creating Motivation Strategies
Once you have completed the Motivation Exercise for yourself, you need to do three things:
Ask yourself which side of the Motivation Table feels more powerful to you - if the Advantages feel more powerful that's good. If the Disadvantages feel more powerful then you are unlikely to achieve much progress until you can find a way of making the Advantages more powerful (or at least persuading yourself that they are more powerful). Either way try the following to create or improve your motivation:
Ask yourself how you can remind yourself of the Advantages and how you can build on them to make them even better. This might involve simple motivation strategies like:
 Writing out the Advantages and looking at them every morning - e.g. in your diary or on your computer or on a chart on your wall.
 Setting yourself achievable goals in relation to the task you want to do and then each time you achieve a goal reminding yourself of the actual benefits that accrued
 Rewarding yourself with a (healthy!) reward each time you achieve a significant goal so that the thought of the reward acts as a motivational incentive for you.
Ask yourself how you can deal with the potential disadvantages and create some simple strategies. In the example above the person might for example:
 Try and think of ways of making the tasks more interesting or at least less boring.
 Devise some self talk to stop worrying about what other people think - e.g. you can tell yourself that: 'I am doing this for me not for the sake of others – what ever others feel or comment about my change, I'm not going to let it bother me.'
 Remind yourselves that if you can exercise regularly you will have better health and fitness that will help you to work in a more brisk and effective manner and you will have more free time out of work to relax without worrying.
Conclusion
Regular successful exercisers in addition to improving fitness, increase confidence, self-esteem and productivity. These are known as "ripple benefits," unexpected gains that occur as part of an overall process. As you improve one area of your life, improvements in other areas usually follow spontaneously. Make exercise a positive experience, and it will continue to reward you the rest of your life.