The lockdown has completely turned your fitness mindset upside down. Lack of activity, a little too much “comfort food” and irregular sleeping patterns may have turned back whatever fitness gains you had managed in the last few years. But the world is slowly returning to normalcy and so should you. In post-lockdown situation, it is going to be even more difficult to survive without healthy habits and practices.

HOW TO DEVELOP A FITNESS MINDSET

James Prochaska, author of Changing For Good, wrote many years ago that any change to your lifestyle — whether starting (or restarting) a fitness regimen, quitting the sticks or trying to eat better — requires one to go through six stages if success is to be enjoyed. He spent years studying how people change habits and maintains that the secret to success is to master each of these stages, without trying to skip ahead.

No matter where you are on the scale — a confirmed couch potato, a guy who has been thinking about getting into shape, someone who had just started a fitness programme or a workout veteran — there’s something for all of you in this plan.

Stage 1: The Put Off-er

Where you are: You don’t work out and your diet is not up to scratch. However, if you were not considering making a change, you would not be reading this article. The lockdown has got you worried about your health at several points and you have been wondering what to do. Still, without a new way of thinking, you are not likely to do anything about it.

What to do: The most likely problem at this point, according to Prochaska, is that you underestimate the benefits (value) of exercising and overestimate costs. “If you asked the couch potato to list the benefits of exercise, he might come up with five or six, when actually there are 10 times those many,” says Prochaska. If we can just get that person to understand and acknowledge that there are double the number of benefits, it’s usually enough to get him or her to think about making the change. Many people tend to assess the effectiveness of an exercise programme from an appearance-based perspective, like for instance, sporting a six-pack (a huge infamous exercise myth) or achieving a ‘goal weight’. This may at times prove to be self-sabotaging. At our clinic, we have enjoyed some success with first-timers by making them concentrate on benefits that may have nothing to do with physical appearance but more to do with internal measures like blood markers, life risk, organ health and emotional well-being.

Stage 2: The Procrastinator

Where you are: You have considered joining a gym many times and saying goodbye to those cigarettes, endless cups of coffee and that fast-food habit. However, due to some reason or the other, you haven’t really come around to doing it yet. “What happens at this stage is that perceived costs must come down for someone to progress to action,” Prochaska says. We have to lower the “cons”. And the major barrier or barrier to commitment to an exercise programme comes from lack of time.

What to do: Of course, working out does take time but once you realise how much better your life would get as a result of that time, you can’t help thinking that it is worth putting aside that time. “We as a people love bargaining. Nothing pleases us more than a good bargain where we feel we have been able to get the better of the other party. Well, exercise is the bargain basement of behaviours — there is nothing you can do for 60 minutes with more benefits,” says Prochaska. If a person is aware that he is getting 30 benefits for 60 minutes of his time, then time goes down as a barrier.

Stage 3: Primed and ready

Where you are: You have made a promise to yourself to take action. You are ready to start exercising and following a healthier diet. Unfortunately, Prochaska says, good intentions are not enough. It is still possible to get stuck at this point as well. “One of the greatest concerns at this stage is that the person will take action but ultimately fail, rather than maintaining the new behaviours.” Thoughts remain at intention stage and never really see the light of action.

What to do: The more you plan and prepare, the better your chance of succeeding. The first step is to ascertain the following parameters of the plan:

• Where you will work out.
• How you will set aside blocks of time.
• What kind of equipment you will need.
• Determine some short-term goals, for instance more energy, better quality of sleep, participating in the parents’ race at your daughter’s annual school sports and so on.
• Determine some long-term goals, like an outdoor trek organised by your office that you wish to go next year, lower blood pressure, more strength to lift heavy objects, reducing or eliminating mechanical knee or back pain and so on.

At times, at this stage it helps to make your resolution to keep fit, public. Share it with family members or friends in order to put some pressure on yourself to adhere to the programme. “We encourage people to share their commitment with others because it strengthens their willpower.” Declare to your friends that you are about to join a health club or knock off 10 kilos by the end of the year. Such proclamations, behaviour research has shown, tend to improve adherence. Once you have demonstrated your resolve, the next step becomes simple.

Stage 4: Action Stations

Where you are: You are doing it — before the lockdown you were visiting a gym and regularly lifting weights, getting in some cardio and mobility work and eating your lean protein, wholegrains, fruits and vegetables. Throughout the lockdown, you have tried to keep up the good work and eat and sleep sensibly. Bravo! This means that you will quickly jump back to pre-lockdown lifestyle and activity and have a healthy lifestyle forever, right? Uh, wrong.

I have seen a few burnouts in my time. The fear at this stage is that your zest and enthusiasm may decrease over time. There will come a time when each successive block of improvement and benefit will take disproportionate effort from your side. You will reach a stage of diminishing returns. Many years back, Hungarian-Canadian endocrinologist Hans Selye, called it the Habituation Phase — a stage where the human adaptation windows tend to shut and further gains become hard to achieve. You tend to throw in the towel at this stage.

What to do: “It’s important to keep the benefits in mind and realise the rewards you are getting,” says Prochaska. It helps to think of each new benefit you are working towards: this week I am working for my heart; this week I am working on my insulin sensitivity; this week I am working on my self-esteem. If you can constantly strive for goals, you can motivate yourself indefinitely.

Stage 5: Keeping it going

Where you are: You are an absolute pro at it. You have said goodbye to bad habits many years back and dedicated your whole life to being fit and healthy. You have a good idea of what works and does not work and don’t have to physiologically drain yourself to maintain the good work. You enjoy the good things in life in moderation and feel you can keep it that way. You are practically on autopilot.

But, even now, you have to be aware of a possible relapse. Something terrible or untoward can happen that can hit you hard and derail your life’s engine totally. A death of a near or dear one, bad news at work or even the emotional and physical turmoil of this dreaded pandemic can leave you devastated and depressed. “A person is most in danger of losing his fitness programme during particularly stressful times. When he is depressed or not feeling well,” Prochaska says. “He may fall into old ways of coping with emotional distress such as consuming junk food or alcohol.”

What to do: If this happens, you need to understand that exercise is the number one drug of choice for doctors all over the world for managing symptoms of depression and stress. You have to remind yourself how much better you feel after a good run, swim, yoga or weightlifting session and you won’t be tempted to reach out for less healthy modes of coping. You should have other strategies in place for coping with stress. Prochaska recommends getting social support from a friend, spouse, therapist or counsellor and trying some form of relaxation like meditation or chanting. “You need to teach yourself that you can cope with difficult times without going back to bad habits.”

Stage 6: Avoiding relapse

Where you are: You have finally reached the ideal stage, where you have been through the storm and healthy behaviour has become an integral part of your life. While it’s easier to keep going, you still have to be aware of slacking off. Personally, I find that I am in this stage. All of us are guilty of missing a workout here and there but we have to be aware of heading down the slippery slope towards a relapse.

What to do: To keep from backtracking even the slightest bit, it helps to maintain some discipline. People whose behaviours are under “rule control” are less likely to falter than those under “decision control”, says Prochaska. In other words, if you say to yourself: “I am going to exercise 45 minutes, three times a week, no matter what,” you are more likely to do better than someone who says: “Hmm, do I feel like exercising today?”

Next, focus on how fitness improves the quality of your life. The more you can internalise these benefits, the better it is for you. If you think you are exercising solely for weight loss, you are likely to stop once you have achieved your “weight goal”. But if you are exercising to take on life’s unforeseen dangers and challenges (such as this pandemic) that may be heaped upon you without warning, you are likely to be a lifetime warrior.

The author is a strength and conditioning specialist and corrective exercise coach

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