How To Begin Moving Without Trying Too Hard

Beginning the step towards exercise can feel like bitter medicine. But it doesn’t have to be.

In this post, I will focus on the practical aspects on how you can slowly sneak in small lifestyle changes without trying too hard, particularly on flexibility and coordination.

I have a question for you, and it is a fundamental one:

What are your habits when it comes to physical activity or exercise?

From a psychological perspective, a habit refer to an “automatic reaction to a specific situation”. When we become settled, we slip into these familiar patterns. By the time we get to adulthood, most of our habits are automatic and sub-consciously wired into our system.

Outside of dance, I am very interested in self-improvement and growth. In order for us to begin understanding how to sneak in small lifestyle changes, we must first understand the science behind habit development. Without this awareness, implementing new goals into your routine will never work.

“Every goal is doomed to fail if it goes against the grain of human nature”

James Clear, Author of Atomic Habits (New York Times Bestselling Book)

The Four Stages of Habit Development

Taken From: https://jamesclear.com/three-steps-habit-change

All habits goes through these four stages over time:

Cue - an impetus that triggers the brain to initiate a behaviour.

Craving - the motivational force behind every habit. Without some level of motivation or desire to change, we will have no reason to act. Every craving is linked to a desire to change your internal state.

Response - the actual habit you perform, which can take place as a thought or action.

Reward - End goal of every habit. The reward serves two purposes: to satisfy and to teach.

Why Is This Important For Me To Know?

Answer: They are all inter-related, with 2 variables:

1. Sometimes, what we crave is not the habit itself, but the change in internal state it delivers.

Example: you are not motivated by brushing your teeth, but the feeling of a clean mouth and fresh breath.

2. Our call to response is based on 2 criteria: ability and effort. If a particular action requires more physical and/or mental effort, the craving decreases and you will most likely not do it. On the other hand, if the benefits of the reward is more immediate, it might boost your call to response to try.

Example: getting in shape improves your health and dating prospects. But the more immediate benefits is the gain in status and approval. Therefore, you might feel more motivated to try and get in shape.

To summarise, habits are formed over repeated, consistent patterns of behavioural thoughts & actions. Whether these are good habits, natural habits or bad habits, they all go through the same four stages: cue, craving, response, reward.

To implement a new habit, you need to do it in small increments through customisation. Along with repetition and consistency, the goal will slowly become a habit over time.

Customising New Goals To Your Specifications

With a better understanding on habit development, you can begin customising new goals to your specifications. Here’s my recommendation:

Step 1: Write down your current routine:

8:30am: Wake Up

9am : Brush my teeth & take a shower

Step 2: Write down a new goal that you want to implement into your current routine. For me, this new goal would be meditation. So I will add:

8:30am: Wake Up

Meditate for 1 min before grabbing my phone

9am : Brush my teeth & take a shower

5 Tips To Help Customise Movement To Your Routine

1. Dedicate a space solely for exercise

Whether that means a corner of your room or an entire floor space, dedicate that space to one single purpose: exercise. This will train the feedback loop in your mind to associate exercise with this space.

2. Do something that you enjoy

Why bother doing something that you don’t like? Choose a range of exercise styles that you enjoy: dance classes, fitness classes, choreography classes, cardio, HIIT etc…

3. Pick a class suited to your skill level

Remember that your call to respond to your craving is dependent on your ability and effort. So do make sure to select a level suitable to your ability.

4. Need an accountability buddy? Grab a friend (or two) to join you

Research on accountability has shown “if you have a specific accountability appointment with a person you’ve committed, you will increase your rate of success by 95%”. This refers to hitting the gym with a friend or attending a class to learn a specific skill.

Getting in shape together with your friends is a great motivation! Not only will it strengthen your friendship, it will allow you to expand your interests and network through new connections made on the platform.

5. Organise & plan

The Ministry of Health Singapore advises that an individual should “aim for 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activities (MVPA) every week”. So, if we divide that across 5 days (giving ourselves 2 days of rest), that would be 30 minutes of MVPA per day. That is equivalent to taking 2-3 fitness classes a week, assuming that the duration of the class is 60 minutes long.

So, in order to successfully sneak in these classes to your current routine, get an organiser and start planning!

This is a highly systematic post with lots of little tidbits for you. It will be trying, and you will feel unmotivated at times. I encourage you to remain consistent in your training, for the benefits are rewarding for your health and quality of life.

Customising goals to your current routine based on your ability and effort is the key towards sneaking in lifestyle changes without trying too hard.

Tip: 1% everyday