Just 'redo' it: Exercisers can make health a habit
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Want to start exercising again?
Making a resolution is easier than making a habit, as some New Year's exercisers already are finding out.
Surveys indicate that half of American adults are fits-and-starts exercisers, according to researcher Rod K. Dishman. About another third are never-starts, and the rest are active enough to get some health benefits, he said.
The American Heart Association recognizes physical inactivity as one of the top risk factors for heart disease.
"About two in four people start an exercise program during any year, and one of those two will stop in six months or less," said Dishman, an exercise physiologist at the University of Georgia.
But Dishman goes further: "A good scientific argument can be made that physical inactivity is the number one health problem facing the United States."
Compared with people who work out at least 20 minutes three times a week, inactive people have twice the likelihood of heart disease,Dishman said.
That's better than the 2.5 times higher risk that smokers have over nonsmokers, Dishman said. But there are almost three times as many sedentary Americans as there are smokers, so the overall impact of inactivity is greater, he said.
Researchers like Dishman know of ways
Dishman considers it important to recognize that exercise is not just an act, but a group of acts. You have to decide to exercise, choose a particular form of exercise, plan how, start, make it a habit and recommit after any backsliding.
to help you get restarted after your initial attempt at exercising fails.
Dishman considers inactivity more than a failure of willpower. His research found many reasons for failure, including wrong ideas about how exercise works and how quickly it can get results. But he also has found causes of success.
"Confidence is best increased by a successful exercise history — the Catch-22 of exercise adherence." Dishman said.
So the trick to get people on the right track is to help them believe in their own success.
Dishman suggests building exercise into your schedule and giving it priority, so you don't drop it in favor of something else for that time period. To make it harder to talk yourself out of exercising, make sure you already have whatever equipment you need where you need it to exercise.
Do things you like, at least to start, Dishman said. And choose an intensity that lets you feel at least as good when you end as you did when you started, he said — you don't have to burn yourself up to get a healthful workout.
"Your exercise program should make you feel better," Dishman said. "If it doesn't, change it until it does."