New year, new you? Or has the mid-January slump already derailed those newly set New Year’s resolution aspirations? Many people use the new year to make lifestyle changes, like adopting new exercise habits, but some have trouble making them stick.
Laura Baehr, DPT, PhD, assistant professor and director of the PACEE Lab (physical activity, access, community, equity, empowerment) at Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions, shared some tips with the Drexel News Blog for starting fresh exercise habits and strategies for supporting healthly behaviors and helping them stick.
For those interested in new exercise habits, what advice would you give and how should they get started?
First, celebrate! It’s brave to want to start a new health habit. It’s also an investment in yourself and those you love. I would recommend that anyone interested in starting new exercise habits consider three questions:
1) What do you love to do?
2) What are your resources (time, money, access) to do more of that?
3) How do you feel about starting?
Taking time to reflect on your passion, tangibles of making it happen and honestly assessing what you need to see it through will ultimately make your new habits sustainable.
What should people keep in mind when setting new exercise goals?
Often folks assume that exercise and physical activity are the same – they’re not! Knowing this can release some of the newcomer concerns about needing to be in the gym for their time to “count.” Exercise is a type of physical activity, but you have so many options to get your body moving that will boost your confidence, mood, heart, lungs, muscles, bones and brain. Physical activity is any bodily movement that requires energy expenditure. Think walking, gardening, dancing or swimming. Both the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that adults aim for 150 minutes of moderately challenging aerobic activities and two days a week of strength training to maintain health. What if you started with parking further away from your destination to walk a bit longer? Or, planned a weekly walk and talk with friends? These small habits have huge ripple effects over time.
Another big consideration is that you will likely feel better long before you see physical changes in your exercise journey. It’s fine to have aesthetic goals, but try shifting your motivation to what’s happening on the inside of your body like reduced pressure on your cardiovascular system, improved oxygen distribution, better bone density and hormonal support.
Many people quit their New Years resolutions by mid-January. Do you have any advice for people to maintain their new habits?
Are you quitting or discovering? There is a reason for why the habit isn’t sticking for you, and it often comes down to unsustainability of the goal. My guess is that if you ask yourself those same three questions from above, chances are that one or more of your answers didn’t align with the goal. Maybe you ended up not liking the class you signed up for because the movement doesn’t feel good for your body. Maybe the gym you joined is just too far from your house or work. Maybe you didn’t get the emotional support from your trainer that you needed to build your confidence. Whatever you learn from your reflection, apply it to getting back into the habit, or maybe change it all together to be more aligned with what you want.
Why is January a tough time to start a habit?
So many reasons! Energetically, it is just not the right time. We are in the depths of winter, so nature is inviting us to rest and recharge. This is counterintuitive to forcing yourself to wake up an hour earlier than you normally do, likely in the dark, and force yourself to move your body in a new way. There is a false sense of newness that comes with January 1. Please release yourself from the idea that you can only start something new at the top of the year. You can start whenever you want, and you can begin again and again. Your heart and lungs don’t care if you start helping them on New Years Day or in June, they’ll just be happy you did. Finally, a great deal of New Years Resolution marketing is shame-fueled. Brands and influencers are capitalizing on the fact that we’ve just gone through the holiday season and perhaps haven’t kept up with some of our healthy habits. We’re told to get ready for swimsuit season. These reasons to get started aren’t going to sustain the behavior because they’re not guided by internal motivation.
As a physical therapist and professor of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, are there any exercises you recommend for beginners?
Number one is a mental exercise. From my experience as a clinician and rehabilitation scientist, what stops most beginners is fear and negative past experiences. Tell yourself that you deserve to move your body in a way that supports your health, and it is OK to be new at something – until you believe it! Finding a good match when it comes to a gym, trainer or exercise style can take time and research. Trial and error, while discouraging, is sometimes part of the process to find the best fit for you. Depending on your interest and availability, there are many in-person and online options these days. Take a look at websites that feature inclusive trainers that are considerate of every body and life experience – and decide from there.
As for exercise recommendations for a brand-new beginner, one of our favorite phrases in physical therapy is “it depends.” That certainly applies here. Every person has different goals and starting points, but here are some general recommendations. Go back to the national guidelines for physical activity which include aerobic and strength-based training. If you’re a beginner looking to improve your heart and lung health, throw on your favorite podcast or playlist and get moving (walking, rolling, etc.). The trick with aerobic activity is to prolong the activity so that it challenges your endurance – think 5-10 minutes of continuous moving and build from there. For strength activities, I would try to include at least one lower and upper body movement at the beginning. If you haven’t done strength training before or it’s been a while, start with bodyweight exercises. I might start with sit-to-stands (literally standing and sitting repeatedly) during a commercial break while you’re watching TV. If you’re microwaving a snack or waiting for your hot water to boil, use your counter to do as many modified push-ups as you can. If you feel comfortable with bodyweight exercises, progress to adding a load like weights or a medicine ball.
If you’re living with a chronic health condition (ex: long covid) and/or a disability, physical therapists are an excellent resource to help you decide on specific recommendations and modifications to support your exercise journey.
Media interested in speaking with Baehr should contact Annie Korp, assistant director, News and Media Relations, at 215-571-4244 or amk522@drexel.edu.
