There is only one way to truly master your physical health and that is to make working out a habit as soon as possible. Once your workouts become a habit, you'll be making gains on auto pilot.
Below is the science of building a new habit from the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. I'll take you through it in a simplified geezer science follow along way.
Key Points - 4 Laws of starting a habit
1. Make it OBVIOUS: Stack your workout on top of a habit that you already have so it's clear and obvious: (Current Habit) Wake up & use the bathroom + (New Habit) go to the gym.
2. Make it ATTRACTIVE: The rewards of your good habits are in the future not the present. Focus on the positives, focus on who you are becoming 1 workout at a time. Think about yourself with your dream body, optimal health, more energy, more confidence.
3. Make it EASY: Start with shorter, easy workouts to prioritise consistency above intensity (you have your entire life to build up the intensity, you need to be consistent first). You can use lighter weights or reduce the sets of each exercise to make it easier whilst habit building.
4. Make it SATISFYING: Habit trackers are an easy way to do this. When you tick off habits like your workout, you give yourself a feeling of instant gratification - you can download an app called habit to do this.
Now lets dive deeper into the 4 steps to forming a habit:
Step 1: Make it Obvious
We want working out to be automatic, at the same time every single day. The easiest way to do this is to 'habit stack' by working out immediately after a habit you already have.
For example, you could build the habit of working out by following this morning routine: Wake up, use the bathroom, go to gym. Using the bathroom becomes a trigger or cue to then go and workout.
In this example we are stacking the habit of going to the gym on top of our current habit of using the bathroom in the morning. I've actually been using this exact routine for the last 3 years.
You don't have to workout in the morning if you don't want to or if you can't due to responsibilities like work or school or kids but in general, putting a habit in the morning makes it a priority. You have no excuse not to do something when it's scheduled first thing in the morning.
If you aren't working out in the morning, find an already-formed habit that you can workout after (for example during your lunch break in work as you get up from your chair, or after you leave work, before you have dinner).
2: Make it Attractive
Breaking bad habits is easier said than done, and one of the reasons is because the reward for doing them is usually instant. Take snacks or garbage food high in sugar for example - they give you an instant hit of pleasure by releasing dopamine, a neurotransmitter that sends pleasure signals to your brain.
However, the negative consequences of indulging in these foods only become apparent years or even decades later when your body begins to suffer from the effects of artificial, processed garbage. It's like a slow and silent killer, degrading your cells and causing your body to deteriorate over time.
Good habits on the other hand normally inflict short-term discomfort but long term gains. If you've been sitting around getting fat and weak for years, those first few months of training are not going to be fun.
The benefits you get from training will also happen much later down the line, depending on how out of shape you are. But the reward of good health far outweighs the reward of the seconds of pleasure you get from junk food, in exchange for an increased risk of all causes of mortality and chronic diseases.
It can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that because people are living longer than ever before, it's okay to eat garbage all the time. But the truth is that many people are spending their later years with illness health because of the damage they did to their bodies earlier in life.
Modern medicine doesn't cure people, it just allows them to die longer. What do you want your life to look like in your later years, because it doesn't have to end in chronic illness.
If you want to die on your feet you'll need to make your workout habit attractive.
Most people tell you to build up the anticipation of working out by imagining yourself with your dream body. I think this strategy is pointless.
After years of working out, I know that most days you are not going to want to go. It's kind of boring, and it sucks. But for the better quality of life that comes with being fitter and healthier, it's something we just have to do as men.
So my advice is here is, don't worry about trying to make the workout attractive, instead focus on how you'll feel after the workout. Focus on the pump and the endorphins and dopamine that's released after you get it in.
Do this visualisation or thought exercise just before you are about to go to the gym or workout to get you in the mood.
After years of progress you'll be able to look in the mirror every morning and start being proud of the body you've built with hard work, patience & consistency.
You don't need to enjoy the work, you just need to enjoy the results. The more you workout, the more strength you will build and the easier your workouts will become over time. I've listed my top 3 ways to make workouts more attractive below.
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Create a Beiber playlist: Music can be a great motivator during a workout. My Justin Beiber mix never fails to get me in the mood to pick up heavy things then put them down over and over again.
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Gas yourself up: Don't worry about needing to enjoy the workout. Picture yourself achieving your fitness goals and how good it will feel.
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Look the part: Investing in quality workout clothes, shoes, and equipment can help you adopt your new identity as a gym bro quicker and make it easier to want to workout.
3: Make it Easy
The number of times you have done a habit is more important than how much time or intensity you have put in. We want quantity above quality to form habits at the start.
Whilst our recommended workout routines aren't short workouts, you can use lighter weights or reduce the sets to make them more manageable. In the beginning, we only care about forming a workout habit, not hitting intense workouts.
You have your entire life to increase the intensity of your workouts. At the beginning stages, we need to make the workouts easy so that you feel more than up for them on your workout days.
It may not seem like much, but by consistently showing up for those three sessions every week, you are building a foundation of healthy habits that will compound over time. Consistency is the most important muscle we can strengthen, the only way to do this is with practice. Small, consistent efforts over time will lead to big results.
4: Make it Satisfying
As a beginner, you see the rewards of working out (increased muscle and strength) multiple weeks or months after your workout session. On my bulking project to gain 10kg I didn't think about results for a year, I just focused on the process and habits.
That's too much of a delay for most people. Most people struggle to continue going to the gym, sweating, feeling fatigued, feeling their muscles ache without seeing any major results for weeks. And this is why most people have below-average bodies.
Feeling satisfied after every workout is needed to continue working out in the future but waiting until you get the satisfaction from the increased muscle and strength will take too long for most. You'll be like the beginner who quits because they went to the gym for a few weeks but didn't see a difference in their body.
Without taking steroids, there is no way to drastically speed up your muscle and strength gains, that means you need something else that gives you a feeling of instant gratification immediately after your workout. Something as simple as a habit tracker where you tick a daily box for your workouts will help you feel satisfied with this habit.
I like to reward myself by burning a coconut scented incense and stretching for 10 minutes after a workout. You could reward yourself by having a nice hot shower or a delicious protein shake.
The Strong app (a free app that is used in conjunction with our Workout plan) presents a celebration page after you complete a workout, throwing some confetti on screen whilst showing you your workout stats. This will give you a small feeling of satisfaction after hitting your workout.
Summary
To make better decisions think about the results of your habits on a long term basis. Sure, bad habits might be the path of least resistance now, but how will you feel when you're older and your health starts to deteriorate?
How enjoyable will it be when your bodies always in pain and you have difficulty performing the most basic physical functions?
Now consider the long-term results of exercising and eating natural food. You can't have peace of mind without peace of body first.
These 4 steps are your secret to building a lifelong habit of working out. Really take the time to go through the 4 steps, and see what you can improve. Your future self will be very grateful if you build a consistent habit of working out now.
Always remember, you were born to be the anti-hero of your story.
Free your outlaw.