Beginner's Fitness Programs

We all have some sort of self-talk, and many motivational speakers tell us that we must talk positively about ourselves to overcome a “challenge”. They also tell us that we need to set our goals high enough; otherwise they won’t excite us and we won’t achieve those goals. This is the dogma of most motivational literature, but is it true? Psychologists have found that it is true – for people who are already motivated, outgoing, and goal-oriented. For people not in this category, this may actually lower their motivation!

One study done at the University of Illinois is interesting: Before starting a task, researchers asked students to write down a sentence which contains either “I will” or “will I.” Amazingly, the “will I” group did much better than the the “I will” group. Similarly, other participants were asked to write down “I will” or “will I” sentences several times, then were asked how much they wanted to work out the next week. Based on psychological tests administered, again the latter “will I” group had more elevated levels of motivation.

As for the second problem, researchers found that if people set their goals too high, they become demoralized by feelings of inadequacy and then cannot motivate themselves. They also found that if a goal is not “tangible”, most people have difficulty motivating themselves.

Another study at the University of Illinois shows that if a person values excellence and hard work, tasks that mirror these values motivate her most. If the tasks are labeled as “fun”, she will actually under-achieve compared to less motivated people. The reverse is also true. Less motivated people do better with “fun” tasks and goals.

Do you know when most people give up their workouts? After less than two months! Researchers at the University of Kentucky looked into a weight loss program and found that if people can get over this hump, they can keep their motivational level high and they tend to achieve their goal weight.

So what should we do? Let’s assume that you are a fun-loving person and your goal is weight loss. First, set a goal which is tangible, achievable, and measurable. The goal could be to keep working out and dieting for two months. Then ask yourself: will you achieve this goal, and how will you do it? Since the goal must be a fun one, think about what kinds of fun activities you can include as part of a workout, and what kinds of fun can you have after achieving this goal.

This is achievable, isn’t it?

Source:
Will we succeed? The science of self-motivation: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2010, June
The effects of chronic achievement motivation and achievement primes on the activation of achievement and fun goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2009; 97
Prevalence and Trends in Obesity Among US Adults, 1999-2008. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2010
Motivation and Its Relationship to Adherence to Self-monitoring and Weight Loss in a 16-week Internet Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 2010

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