Making exercise simple without it becoming a boring task you have to just get through and without losing its effectiveness solves our struggle with exercising.
There is a sweet spot where knowing what to do for your health, turns into action, and that action becomes a lasting habit for your health.
It lies between that action being boring and being overwhelming.
This is the Stress Performance Curve based on the Yerkes-Dodson law. It's also called the Goldilocks Principle.
This is when something is not so challenging that you have confidence you can do it, but also not so boring you lose your motivation. When you find the right balance between importance and doability, you are in the sweet spot of motivation.
One of the most powerful health actions we can apply this to is exercising. Despite overwhelming evidence, most people are not getting enough. New research only 33% are not meeting the recommended amounts. But that is based on self-report, so the actual numbers are probably less!
Clearly, we have not found this sweet spot with exercise yet!
Most people say "I don't have time" or "exercise is boring, or "its too overwhelming, expensive, and exhausting"
Science has tried to make it simple. We know that getting just 150 minutes of physical activity a week provides many important health benefits. We've even broadened what ‘counts” as an exercise to any movement. We've tried encouraging people to just 'move more", but it's still not working!
The problem is, in simplifying it, we have lost the effectiveness. We are missing out on the skill of moving well. Moving more makes us miss out on the benefits of specific movements that restore and keep our ability to function well and feel well in daily life and as we age.
These facts give us clues as to why many people are not exercising. By getting to the root cause of the problem with exercise, we simplify finding a solution that works.
This month I will be sharing tips on how to simplify exercising without losing its effectiveness. As you will see, finding this balance between simplicity and effectiveness unleashes your natural motivation and ability to use exercise to feel and function your best. The best part is, that it works to eliminate the barriers of pain, stress, and motivation.
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