Why you probably SHOULDN'T join a gym this January
This probably seems an odd title for a blog coming from an organisation which has its sights set on getting more people active, no matter what their background, ability or level of fitness. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against the gym. I have been known to frequent one myself on occasion and for some people a regular gym workout is exactly what they're looking for.
For a lot of us however, they represent one thing and one thing only - they are something we think we SHOULD do.
Doing what we SHOULD do
What's wrong with that you might ask? Most of us do things that we SHOULD do all of the time. We show up for work on time, we pay our taxes, we put our litter in the bin. The world is full of things we SHOULD do. So what's the problem? Going to the gym is good for us, right? So we really SHOULD do it, right? We'll just add it to the list of all the other stuff we SHOULD do.
The difference of course is that if we don't show up for work on time we could soon find ourselves without a job to show up for at all. If we decide to go to the gym only because we think we SHOULD, what actually happens if we don't? Well nothing really...at least not in the short term (1,2).
Vicious Cycle of Failure
There is a great academic in Michigan by the name of Michelle Segar (3) who talks about a Vicious Cycle of Failure (4) which can exist when people are trying to get more active. It basically goes a bit like this:
Something happens that makes us stop and think
You're going about your business, living your life, not worrying about much when something happens. It could be that a friend looks great after shifting a few pounds; or you find yourself out of breath at the top of the stairs; maybe a family member makes a 'joke' about you being a bit cuddlier; or perhaps it's something as simple as catching a glimpse of yourself in a rather unflattering mirror.
Whatever it is, that something gets us thinking that we really SHOULD do something to get in better shape.
Fully committed to doing it 'properly'
So we choose ourselves an activity, usually one of a universally approved but unwritten set which count as 'proper' ways to get fit, like running or joining a gym. For the first week it's all going well, we did 5 sessions in 7 days and, even though everything hurts because we went all guns blazing, we're feeling pretty smug.
Life stuff happens
But then week two comes around and life stuff happens - kids, family, work or whatever - and we only made it to one session. But it's okay because 'next week will definitely be better', we tell ourselves as we pour a large glass of wine and flop on the sofa.
It's all over...until next time
Only next week is full of life stuff too and this time we don't make it to any sessions. But nobody is going to fire us, so the only short-term consequences are the ones where we feel guilty; we feel like a failure and we'd quite like to forget about the whole thing. So that's it, we're off the wagon until the next something comes along.
In reality, we often set ourselves up to fail before we've even started in situations like this because we don't actually LIKE doing the thing we've decided to do. We're only doing it because we think we SHOULD. Most people have plenty in our lives that we SHOULD do and a lot of it we really MUST do.
So what are the odds that, when all that is done, we're going to gather up the energy to spend our free time doing something we don't actually enjoy and manage to keep doing so week in week out?
Is joining a gym really the way to go?
Let's come back to the New Year fitness resolutions - 'Commit to be Fit this January' 'New Year, New You' or whichever other cheesy line your local gym happens to be pedalling this year. Here are a few key questions to ask yourself when deciding if joining a gym really is the way to go:
What is the change you actually want to make in your life and why? Yes, we know you want to get fit, but what does that actually mean to you? What's important here is to try and avoid the word SHOULD. It's fine if it's a bonus answer, but if it's the main reason you're doing this you are probably limiting your chances of success. Let's say for example your answer is 'I want to look better because I'm worried about what other people think' or 'I want to be healthier so I can be around for my kids when they're older'. These fall firmly in the SHOULD category. That's not to say they aren't legitimate reasons, of course they are, but they aren't getting you off the sofa after a crappy day. So instead of thinking about why you SHOULD do it, try to focus on a change that you actually WANT to make - one you can actually see yourself doing but which also moves you towards your long-term goals too.
Do you actually like the gym? Which brings us to the activity you're going to do. Do you actually enjoy working out in a gym? If the answer is a resounding no - no amount of 'but I like the sauna' or 'but I'm glad I've done it afterwards' will be enough to drag you through. The good news however is that there are loads of other things you can do which don't have to be conventional and don't have to be done in a gym. Get a dog, borrow a neighbours dog, do some active volunteering, find out about activities at your local park, join the National Trust, try something new like Quidditch or Dodgeball. Perhaps ask about parent activities at your kid's sports club or find some dance lessons on YouTube. The list is endless as long as you embrace the idea that all movement counts and don't let traditional images of people on treadmills in Lycra constrain your idea of what 'active' has to look like.
Why January 1st? In the UK at any rate, this is one of the darkest, coldest and dreariest times of the year. If you've figured out the answers to the first two questions you can do this any time you like. If you happen to be reading this at a later date and it isn't January, then so what - you don't have to wait for calendar based permission.
Proper Active are advocates getting active however and whenever suits you. So forget New Year's resolutions and open yourself up to new possibilities whenever they happen to come along. Try as many things as you like and, rather than seeing stopping something as failure, see it as time created to try something else new.
If you'd like to discuss getting more people active in your community or organisation, get in touch with Proper Active on info@properactive.co.uk.
(1) Temporal discounting is the tendency people have to focus on short-term outcomes over long-term. Since many of the rewards associated with why we SHOULD do exercise are focused on long-term outcomes, such as losing weight, being healthy and living longer, the long-term effects of NOT exercising do not really affect us in the short-term.
(2) Hariri, A. R., Brown, S. M., Williamson, D. E., Flory, J. D., de Wit, H., & Manuck, S. B. (2006). Preference for immediate over delayed rewards is associated with magnitude of ventral striatal activity. The Journal of Neuroscience : The Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 26(51), 13213.
(3) https://michellesegar.com/
(4) Segar, M. L. (2015). No Sweat: How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness. AMACOM.
