I have made it my job to try and understand human behavior, so that I might be able to help people change unwanted behavior. Over the past couple of years, I have begun to notice a pattern form. This pattern made itself visible in conversations with different people trying to do the same thing (become healthier) which, to me, fortifies the validity of the behavioral pattern.
I have begun to notice that behavior compounds on itself. Another way to say this is: your body adapts as fast as it can to its environment in order to maintain homeostasis. In other words: the less you move, the less you want to move. The more active you are, the more you want to move.
“When I sit at home all day doing work, the last thing I want to do when I finish is go to the gym.” I have had this response from multiple different clients, and it makes perfect sense. When movement is not a necessary part of your day, it becomes something you do not want to do. We are drawn towards behavior that reinforces what we are already doing.
This is where the phrase, “What you do not use, you lose,” comes from. Every form of behavior is a certain form of maintenance to your life. Working out is maintaining your body, reading, listening to a podcast, playing chess, or playing the crossword is maintaining your intellect, hanging out with friends is maintaining your social life, spending a date night out with your spouse is maintaining your marriage, etc. There is nothing in your life that does not require consistent maintenance; and if you do not maintain it, you will lose it.
Why is it particularly hard to maintain our bodies?
To be candid, it hurts. Putting our body through workouts that make us sore, especially if you are new to it, is not enjoyable at all. So how do we continue to maintain our bodies, even if we do not enjoy it at first?
When we choose to do something difficult, but good for us, there is always a cost. When we choose something poor for ourselves, it usually makes us feel good in the moment and pushes the cost into the future.
Example: We choose to sit on the couch which makes us comfortable, but if we do this 1,000x over we end up being in poor physical shape. (Sacrificing long term gain for short term comfort) If we choose to get up and workout 1000x instead of sitting on the couch, we will be in better shape but have to push through psychological resistance each time to do so. (Sacrificing short term comfort for long term gain).
In order to start maintaining your body, especially if you have never done it before, you have to become convinced that the long term consequences far outweigh the benefit of being comfortable in the short term. One of the ways we can convince ourselves is by understanding that whatever we do not maintain will get worse over time; it will not stay the same.
Think about everything in your life, your car, house, clothing, hygiene, relationships, job, etc. Everything that is not kept up with begins to deteriorate over time. We need to look at our physical health with this in mind.
Questions to ask yourself:
1. What am I good at maintaining?
2. What do I struggle to spend time maintaining?
3, What are some areas of my life that would benefit from sacrificing short term pleasure for long term gain?
Lee Ramsey has a passion for fitness as a way to help people grow and change into more adaptable, capable and resilient versions of themselves. He is owner of Sanctify Fitness in Covington and a regular fitness columnist for the NKyTribune.