Life Kit - How to start an exercise habit

Episode Date: January 4, 2024

You don't have to be a marathoner or a gym rat to get meaningful health benefits from exercise. And that sort of "go big or go home" mentality can actually be a block to getting movement. This episode, we bust common misconceptions about exercise so you can get moving in a way that feels good to you. This episode originally published December 15, 2018.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Life Kit from NPR. Hey, everybody. It's Marielle. Before we jump into the episode, I wanted to share some other exciting things that Life Kit is working on for New Year's. One of the things I love about New Year's is that it's a time to reflect and to think about what matters to you and what your goals are. And we want to know what you're working towards.

Send us an email at lifekit at npr.org with your New Year's resolution, and we might share your response in our newsletter. Happy New Year. It's early January, which means a lot of us are looking to get exercising again. And yeah, moving our bodies is incredibly important for our health, but how do you find the time? You've got to put the clothes on and then do the exercise, which depending on the workout can feel kind of boring.

Then you got to shower. I mean, that's a lot already. Not to mention, you just might not always have the energy. But getting into an exercise habit doesn't have to mean doing the fanciest spin class or the most intense weightlifting workout five times a week. The scientific research on movement tells us there's a much gentler, more inclusive way. On this episode of Life Kit, how to get started with

exercising. And PR science correspondent Maria Godoy is going to teach us to love exercise, or at least like it enough to actually do it. She'll go over tactics to help you bust through the barriers that are keeping you from starting or restarting an exercise habit. The good news is, it's easier than you think. I'm Maria Godoy, and I actually crave exercise. But wait, before you say, ugh, she's a fitness freak, know this. A year and a half ago, I was completely sedentary. So what changed?

Well, I came across this bit of research. The research does now show that basically all movement counts. And anything counts and anything is better than nothing. That's Michelle Seeger. She's a sport and health psychologist at the University of Michigan. She studies how we sustain healthy behaviors, and she's got your first big takeaway. If you want to get exercise, start by reframing what you think of as exercise. I've been astounded that even up until today, very educated people don't know,

don't believe that walking actually quote-unquote counts as valid exercise. And that was a big hang-up for me. I had all these preconceived notions about what kind of believe that walking actually quote-unquote counts as valid exercise. And that was a big hang-up for me. I had all these preconceived notions about what kind of exercise was worth doing. All right, true or false, you have to sweat for it to count for health benefits. False. You have to do it in 30-minute uninterrupted stretches. False.

You need to feel the burn or it really doesn't count. False. All right, so where are we? Did I pass? false false did I pass? yeah you passed ding ding ding you're a big winner you get to keep your PhD but even though these ideas about exercise are wrong they're still really prevalent

we actually heard them from a lot of you here's one person we heard from his name is Tom Ryan I sort of came of age in the 80s We actually heard them from a lot of you. Here's one person we heard from. His name is Tom Ryan. I sort of came of age in the 80s where things like aerobics and Arnold Schwarzenegger were starting to really become big. And the aerobic culture and the weightlifting culture all were promoting this, you've got to go crazy and really just be hardcore. And that's what I thought I had to do. Tom, I also felt victim to leg warmers. But good news.

Psychologist Michelle Seeger says don't let your preconceptions about a gold standard of exercise keep you from actually doing it. And that's what gets in people's way. Because if we don't believe there's a continuum from very little to a lot, and our life only permits us a very little, then we choose not to do anything when very little might be exactly what we need. Because the fact is, you don't have to be a marathoner or a gym rat to get health benefits from exercise. Science tells us so much counts as moderately intense activity, and the expert guideline is we should be getting 150

minutes of it each week. That helps ward off diseases like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, even some cancers. There's actually this very geeky but cool resource called the Compendium of Physical Activities. It's used by researchers to compare apples and oranges when it comes to exercise. And it uses a value called a MET, or metabolic equivalent. Just sitting, doing nothing, is a MET value of one, right? You're working at your resting metabolic rate. By the way, that's Loretta DiPietro. She's an exercise scientist at George Washington University. An activity that, say, is two METs means it makes you work at twice your resting metabolic rate. So getting up and walking across the room is about two METs.

And Loretta says the compendium lists the met values for all kinds of activities. Everything from mopping the floor, that's like three and a half mettes, all the way to line dancing, which can be almost eight mettes. Having sex, that's in there. It is? Oh, yes. Really? Yes. You've not looked thoroughly through the compendium. But the magic number you want an activity to hit is at least three meds. That is correct. Moderate intensity activities are defined as those that require between three and six meds. Lots of regular activities do that.

Climb the stairs slowly, and that's four meds. Climb them quickly, and it's nearly nine meds, which means you're burning nearly nine meds, which means you're burning nearly nine times as many calories as you would be if you were just sitting doing nothing. Even vacuuming or drumming can count if you do them with gusto. And researchers now know that these little movements add up. Think of it like putting pennies in a piggy bank. And, you know, if you just put three pennies in, you may think, oh, this doesn't add up to much. But at the end of the month, it does indeed.

Which is great news because so many of you say the biggest problem for you is time. It takes me about 45 minutes to get home from work. I pick up my kids at 3 30 cooking every dinner. After my 10 hour shift that starts at 4 30 a.m it's difficult to force myself to go to the gym. And that brings us to our second big takeaway. Don't think of exercise as all or nothing. Even short bouts of exercise have value and they can help you build up fitness. So instead, think of exercise like climbing a ladder. Start at the bottom and work your way up. I think a ladder is a wonderful metaphor for initiating an exercise program when you've been sedentary.

In climbing a ladder, you start from the first rung. So start small, like standing up from your chair and sitting back down repeatedly. Stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down, kind of like you're doing squats. Or just take a five-minute walk. It helps to clear fat and sugar out of blood just by moving. And that can help ward off diseases like type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Second rung would be three 10-minute bouts of physical activity, climbing the stairs, maybe one of those three sessions you walk for 10 minutes outside. Studies show these shorter bursts of exercise can give you similar heart health

benefits as one longer bout, and they can also help keep you from gaining weight. In other words, you're getting fitter even in these short bouts. And eventually, you can build up to working out in much longer stretches. It is hard, but it's doable. It is absolutely doable. I actually did it over the last year, Loretta. And how did you do that? By going up the ladder, literally.

Came across this research, started doing little five, 10 minute walks, then started taking the stairs, then decided I liked that, then doing it longer and then starting to use the elliptical that was gathering dust in my basement. And then, uh, right. Then I got a trainer and then I started taking classes and yeah, now I work out every day. Right. So, I mean, and is it true that the more you accomplished, even if it was walking upstairs, you felt like you could take on the world? Yes, absolutely. Actually, I do. So, right. And so we call that self-efficacy, right? When you complete your goals, no matter how modest those goals are, it creates this feeling like, oh, I can do more.

After I started exercising, I did lose weight, which was nice. And I'm now at a healthy weight. But that's not what's kept me going. For me, exercise has become the only time in my day that's all about me, away from my busy job, away from my two small and adorable but demanding children. And honestly, with my hectic schedule, exercise gives me the energy to keep going. Which brings us to your third big lesson, and it has to do with motivation. Don't exercise because you want to look better or be healthier. Instead, focus on how it makes you feel.

I know, it sounds counterintuitive, but Michelle Seeger says there's science behind this. I would say for the majority of people from the work I've done with people over the last couple decades, that exercising to improve health, avoid a disease, or to lose weight are not very good motivators. She says what really works is focusing on the short-term benefits of exercise. When people actually get an immediate positive experience when they move, that that is just about the most potent motivator for continuing to do it. And there's a lot of science on those immediate benefits. We know that it helps people generate energy. We know that it boosts mood.

We know that it improves executive functioning and all the tasks associated with that focus, you know, creativity. There are so many positives that happen when you move. Michelle has spent a lot of time studying this, and she says the reason why wanting to lose weight is a bad motivator is it just takes way too long to see any payoff. The bottom line is it's much easier to ingest 600 calories by eating a quick muffin on the way to work than it is to burn off 600 calories with exercise. It could take you up to two hours of walking to burn off that muffin. And if your goal is significant weight loss, you need to be getting closer to 300 minutes of moderate activity each week. If you're just starting out, that can be incredibly daunting.

And so given the ease of calorie intake versus expenditure, what we eat really plays a greater role in how much we weigh than how much we exercise. So instead of dreaming of that future beach bod, focus on all the immediate rewards you get from exercise. When you have more energy and you're a happier person, you bring that much more enthusiasm and energy and performance to your role in your work and your patience as a parent and patience as a partner to someone if that's a part of your life. So feeling better isn't just this selfish, hedonic thing. It actually is fuel for the things that matter most in our lives. So next time you're doing some kind of exercise and you think, oh, I don't actually mind this, stop and ask yourself, why do I like this? Is it clearing my head? Is it easing my anxiety a bit? Did I just need a shot of sunshine? And this can be a really empowering way to think

of exercise. But a lot of you told us that part of the reason you don't exercise is because you find it boring or you're embarrassed to do it in public or going to the gym makes you anxious or uncomfortable. Like Jess Angle, who left us this voicemail. I get on the treadmill and I just have this overwhelming feeling of just needing to leave, needing to run away, feeling like I can't breathe. It's really uncomfortable. Michelle says there's another way we can be thinking about this and it's your final takeaway. Instead of forcing yourself to do something that makes you feel bad, figure out what kind of exercise and exercise location makes you feel good. The big goal

is to have people think of physical movement as their ally in life, as a strategy. I dare say even as a friend that can help them feel their best on the days they feel good and feel better on the days they feel bad. So if you hate working out next to gym rats, try getting a set of weights for home. Or follow a workout video on YouTube or ride a bike in the park. The point is, keep trying things until you find your happy place. And it doesn't have to be the same thing every day. So how can we craft our physical movement so that we want to do it, so that we're able to do it today or tomorrow? And then if you can't do it the day after tomorrow, instead of feeling guilty or like a failure,

you go, oh, there's one day it didn't work. But guess what? I have the rest of the week and the rest of my life to keep fitting it in. You're ready to start exercising? Here are the four things to remember. Number one, everything counts when it comes to movement. So choose to move at every opportunity you can. And know that even short bouts of exercise have real, measurable health benefits. Number two, think of exercise as a ladder. The more you do, the more you can do. But you've got to start somewhere. Number three, motivate your exercise by feeling the immediate benefits.

And finally, keep trying different things until you find a form of exercise you actually like. And soon, those roadblocks will start to disappear. That was NPR science correspondent Maria Godoy. For more Life Kit, check out our other episodes. There's one about combating diet culture and another on how to get into weightlifting. You can find those at npr.org

slash life kit. And if you love life kit and you want even more, subscribe to our newsletter at npr.org slash life kit newsletter. Also, we love hearing from you. So if you have episode ideas or feedback you want to share, email us at life kit at npr.org. This episode of life kit was produced by Sylvie Douglas. Our visuals editor is Beck Harlan and our digital editor is Malika Gareeb. Megan Cain is our supervising editor and Beth Donovan is our executive producer. Our production team also includes Andy Tegel, Audrey Nguyen, Claire Marie Schneider and Margaret Serino. Engineering support comes from Gilly Moon. Special thanks to Carmel Roth, Alison Aubrey, and Rachel Cohen.

I'm Mariel Seguera. Thanks for listening.