Eight Motivation Strategies for Getting Exercise

The first three strategies are rationalizations to provide reasoning as to why you should exercise. But as we all know, sometimes reason is not enough. So the next four strategies are somewhat psychological to get your heart into the spirit of exercise. And if convincing your heart and mind doesn't work, then you have to find creative ways to integrate exercise in your everyday routine, which is what the last strategies is all about.

Remind yourself that exercise is the closest thing we have to the "fountain of youth". There are numerous studies that shows regular exercise will help you feel and look younger.

• Study at Washington University School of Medicine showed that older people who did endurance exercise had younger hearts. [reference]
• In a USA Today news article titled "Exercise: The Real Fountain of Youth", Colin Milner of the International Council of Active Aging says "Many of the chronic health conditions we experience as we age come from disuse rather than aging, and exercise can retard the onset of many of those conditions"
• Dr. Cathy Feiseler says in rrca.org article that "exercise is as close as most of us will ever come to a fountain of youth".
• Quoted from article "Vigorous Exercise Can Really Roll Back the Years": "When you exercise, you change the chemical makeup of your blood for eight to 12 hours," says Lodge. "So for a large majority of that day, you're regenerating cells and building a better body and brain."

Remind yourself that exercise is good for the heart and the brain. We all know that aerobic exercise is good for the cardiovascular system (for example, your heart). But did you know that it is good for the brain as well. And may even help delay the onset of dementia.

Just as aerobic exercise keeps your arteries fit, it also keeps the blood vessels of your brain in shape and reduce the effects of micro-strokes. It increases the production of growth factors which promotes growth of brain cells and synapses.[reference]

Here are some supporting evidences...

• As reported in SharperBrains.com... "According to Harvard Psychiatry Professor John Ratey nothing beats exercise for promoting brain heath."
• Mouse studies indicate that mice that exercised showed increase in new brain cells in the hippocampus of the brain involved in learning and memory.[reference]
• U.S. News reports of a study where aerobic exercise increased brain size by 3 percent.
• A paper in The Journal of Neuroscience titled "Voluntary Exercise Decreases Amyloid Load in Transgenic Model of Alzheimer's Disease" makes the following conclusion: "this investigation demonstrates that exercise is a simple behavioral intervention sufficient to inhibit the normal progression of AD-like neuropathology in the TgCRND8 mouse model". Transgenic Model are mice with Alzheimer's. Exercise in these mice showed a decrease in Amyloid plaques in the brain. Amyloid plaques are one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's.
  
• Page 53 of "The Ultramind Solution" by Mark Hyman says "physical exercise can promote new brain cell formation."

Many people says they want to exercise, but just don't have the time.  Think about what you are doing that is taking up the time that you would be spent exercising.  If you are busying watching television or playing video games, then you have no excuse.  If you are busy doing extra work to make money, then ask yourself do you really need the extra money or whether it is more important to invest some time into your health.  If you are busy studying, then ask yourself and see if you are putting both studying and health at the right priority levels.   Depending on your situation, sometimes you will have to work and study and not be able to exercise as much as you want; and that is fine.   However, by asking those questions you examine whether your priorities are in balance.  And some may find that indeed, the priorities may need to be adjusted. 

If you don't feel like exercising for today or is running low on time, make yourself deal that you can stop exercising for the day for after just 10 minutes even though your regular workout is an hour.  You might just find  that once you got the momentum to put on your running shoes and exercise outfit and got out there, you would find that the biggest hurdle has been jumped already and you mine as well continue through the rest of your hour long routine.

Joining a gym can provide you with financial incentive to exercise in the sense that you don't want to waste the money that you had already spent for your gym membership.   Having a gym also will eliminate your excuse of "I can't exercise today, it is raining."  If you find it hard to pay for the expensive gym membership, you can try taking low-cost exercise classes at a local community college.  Community colleges are government entities and they are there not to make a profit but to provide a service or benefit to the community.

Better yet, sign up with a personal trainer or have a exercise routine with a friend.  That way if you don't show up, you will get a call on the phone and you will feel guilty about skipping exercise.

You have to make exercising fun, bring with you your favorite music, podcasts, etc.  Or try sports that you find fun.  Or even try the Wii.  You won't believe how the Wii Dance Revolution can make you sweat.

Park your car in spots in the parking lot that is furthest away.  Take the stairs instead of elevator.  Lift weights while watching TV or listening to a radio program.