Increasing Exercise is Hard - Here's a trick!

Most of us know that physical activity is a critical factor in our health. It improves mood and anxiety and decreases perceived stress levels; it lowers blood pressure and improves cardiovascular health. It increases muscle mass (key for healthy aging) and strengthens bone health. But, it's really hard to create and stick to an exercise routine! Thanks to evolution, humans are programed to try to conserve energy which means that most of us are not motivated to exercise! If you are trying to be more active, you need a strategy!

Here's one that I LOVE - tracking! The image for this post is a calendar from my home. My family set out to be more active this year and to help, we started tracking our activity on this calendar. The symbols mean different kinds of activity for different people in our family. There is something very satisfying about adding a check to the calendar after a workout. And something inspiring about walking past it and knowing that you could add one. It's turned into a bit of friendly competition.

This isn't a new idea. The calendar below it is the Halton Hills Public Library Summer reading challenge - kids track their reading over the summer which encourages them to read more.

Tracking a behaviour can change the behaviour. This is challenging for me as a researcher - I often want to measure what people are eating or doing in their normal lives - but as soon as people know their behaviour is being measured, they change it! This makes research more difficult but it can be used to your advantage if you're looking to increase your physical activity.

Consider buying or printing a calendar to track your exercise this month! Or learn more by reading Atomic Habits by James Clear.