Some people just can’t wait to hop out of bed and start their day with a workout. For others, exercise doesn’t come as naturally and that’s completely fine. If you’re one of the many people who feel they need to force themselves to get active, you might be glad to hear that it’s actually possible to trick your brain into enjoying sports.
Researchers found that the more effective way to make yourself do something which you deem burdensome is by “temptation bundling”. This means pairing a “want” behavior with a “should” behavior. What does this mean? For example, you want to start a routine of morning walks or runs, but find it hard to get out of bed in the morning. Pair the morning run task with something you truly want and enjoy, like listening to a funny podcast or a gripping audiobook. Or binge your favorite trashy Netflix show while on the treadmill.
By rewarding delayed gratification activities such as going to the gym, healthy eating, or even doing taxes, with an immediate “guilty pleasure”, our brains learn to associate the immediate pleasure with the activity we should be doing.
If you see exercise as something you “should” be doing, and pair it with something you truly love. One tip to make it work is to restrict access to the “want” behavior. Listen to the audiobook only when you’re running and not at any other time. Hopefully, those exercise hours will soon become your favorite part of the day!
