“Three years later, I know that giving up my car was the first step toward solving something I had struggled with my entire life: being physically active consistently. What began as a necessity, without a car I had to ride a bicycle, became a strategy: errands are an opportunity to exercise” the reporter personally acknowledged. Andrew Leonard to The New York Times.
Michelle Fortier, psychologist specialized in physical activity University of Ottawa, explained: “External motivations, such as warnings from doctors and insecurities about weight, do not produce lasting behavioral changes. That may get people started, but it won’t keep them physically active.” In this regard, several experts, who study the psychology of exercise, affirm that a new regimen based on daily errands can have lasting results in physical exercise.
“Motivation generated intrinsically, driven by a feeling of satisfaction, is much more powerful,” said the specialist and added: “You do it because you like it and studies show that this type of motivation is good for maintaining exercise.” “Focusing too much on the word ‘exercise’ leads us to think about going to the gym, lifting weights, and jogging on treadmills. The trick is to change our way of thinking about the act of exercising,” he explained. Benjamin Gardner, researcher in psychology of habitual behavior University of Surrey.
In that sense, the American journalist confessed: “The need for new socks became an opportunity to walk to Target. When I ran out of Shishuan peppercorns, I decided to bike the 14 kilometers round trip to the Chinese supermarket. This year, I found out that the public library had a book about an ancient tomb that I was researching, and my first thought was that it’s just a 4,000-step round trip.”
The final recommendation of this modality is that any daily activity that has been postponed, such as cleaning a room in the house or collecting waste from the garden, becomes a more attractive prospect when you think of it as an exercise. According to specialists, the point is for people to find a way to make their exercise session as enjoyable as possible.
Finally, among the tips, is to pay attention to pleasure, start with easy challenges and get in shape little by little. In this way, the enjoyment of the day is improved by carrying out routine activities such as running the first errand on a sunny afternoon or taking a walk to the post office to send a package. As the months go by, the to-do list will begin to fill with more demanding physical exercises and more notable achievements in daily tasks.
by RN
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