Some people have it easy when it comes to fitness: they actively enjoy exercise and look forward to their next workout. For others, each workout session is a grueling ordeal and preceded by hours of dread and excuse-seeking. Behavior modification is one way to turn yourself from the latter to the former. Although it might not ever make you love exercise, it can set up processes you enjoy that you associate with exercising.
Behavior Modification Basics
Behavior modification is a psychological process by which an individual changes his habits in response to a systematic system of rewards and punishments. Rewards can include giving the individual something he wants or taking away something he finds unpleasant. The reverse is true for punishments: they are defined as removing something pleasant or inflicting something undesirable.
Self-help guru Tony Robbins notes that different kinds of people respond better to different strategies. "Pushers" work harder to avoid unpleasant things, and respond best to punishment. "Pullers" are motivated best by moving toward what they want. They respond best to rewards.
Reinforcement
These terms are often misused in common usage. "Positive" reinforcement refers to the presence of something, and "negative" reinforcement refers to its absence. Positive reinforcement can be positive or negative: adding a treat or a smack upside the head are both "positive": one is positive-pleasant and the other is positive-unpleasant. Examples of negative reinforcement are withholding a reward or removing an unpleasant situation. Both are key concepts in rewards and punishment, and thus to behavior modification.
Goal Setting
One of the strongest ways to stay motivated to exercise is by holding yourself -- or having somebody hold you -- accountable to fitness goals. A good fitness goal is measurable and timed. "Be in better shape" is not a good fitness goal. "Lose 10 lbs. in one month" or "increase by bench press by 20 lbs. in two weeks" are good goals. Once you've set your goals, set up a system of rewards or punishments to help push you to attain those goals.
Getting Help
It can be hard to stick to your schedule of reinforcement over the long term, especially if you're the type of person who needs behavior modification in order to exercise. One solution is to recruit assistance. A personal trainer is an effective, if expensive solution -- these professionals are trained to help people modify their exercise behaviors. A more accessible solution is to find a workout buddy. The social interaction of spending time with your friend can make each workout session a reward on its own, and gentle ribbing from a buddy is a very effective punishment for failure.
References
- ExRx: Exercise and Behavior Modification
- "Unlimited Power"; Anthony Robbins; 1997
