The struggle is real, agrees fitness trainer Kayla Itsines, co-founder and head trainer of Sweat, the health and fitness app, who hears it often from her millions of Instagram followers and workout devotees. To start working out and really stick with exercise, make it a habit instead of relying on motivation. Motivation changes over time, Itsines says, but a habit will never let you down: “Habits help you push forward even when you have low motivation.” Another big mental barrier for people is that it takes a little patience to get going. Getting to a point where working out is as much a part of your routine as combing your hair can take about two months, says Sandy Joy Weston, M. Ed., an exercise physiologist and the author of My 30-Day Reset Journal. The secret is repetition plus consistent timing and cues, she says. Here’s why: The brain creates neural connections when you do something, and with each repetition, the connections get stronger and the action takes less effort. The trickiest part, of course, is taking that first step. To get you finally up and moving, we asked fitness experts and psychologists for their best-ever advice on how to start (and keep) working out, whether you’re just beginning or getting back into it after a lull. With a little patience and determination, you’ll be working up a healthy sweat in no time. Your body and mind will thank you. The smaller and more realistic the goal, the more likely you are to be successful at it; and the more successful you are, the more like you are to keep doing it, explains clinical psychologist Dayna Lee-Baggley, PhD, assistant professor at Dalhousie University. The first week you intend to exercise, look ahead at your schedule and establish modest changes to it. On Sunday night, commit to getting your exercise clothes out for the next day and then setting your alarm to wake up 30 minutes earlier on Monday. “Set the bar low with new behavior modifications in order to make changes that’ll last,” Josefsberg suggests. She doesn’t even recommend exercising that first Monday: Just prep the night before and wake up earlier. Then on Tuesday morning, slip on those exercise clothes and do something small and achievable, whatever that means to you. “Tell yourself that to change your life, you have to make a change,” Itsines says. “Today is the day to start because there is never going to be the perfect time.” Start on the cardio machines to build up your comfort level, bring some weights to a quiet area, or see if you can work with a personal trainer a few times so they can show you the ropes. And the great news? It’s never been easier to workout from home, thanks to tons of top-notch fitness streaming platforms, videos, and apps. So if going to the gym is your main deterrent, know you have a lot of fantastic options (no more excuses!). RELATED: I Tried Every Type of Workout on Apple Fitness Plus—Here’s My Review “There’s evidence to suggest that if we can be kind and compassionate to ourselves when we fall off the wagon, we’re more likely to get back on the wagon faster,” says Lee-Baggley. Don’t ruminate or self-flagellate; just identify the issue, find a way to prevent it in the future, move on, and get back to work. For a more data-based method of tracking, invest in a smart watch or fitness tracker (if you don’t already have one) to track your heart rate. Heart rate can be an indicator of fitness level, according to the American Heart Association, and knowing yours can be a good way to track the health of your heart. Active people often have a lower resting heart rate because their heart muscle is in better condition, so you may see your resting heart rate go down as you move from a low or moderate amount of physical activity to a high amount. RELATED: 8 Smart Workout Gadgets That Will Keep You Accountable When you don’t feel like exercising, remind yourself of how good you’ll feel during or after exercise, Sukala says. “If you can begin to associate being active with pleasure and how good you feel as a result of it, you’ll be more inclined to stick to your exercise routine.” RELATED: 20 Motivational Exercise Quotes to Get You Through (or to) Your Next Workout
