It’s that time of year again, when thousands of home exercise machines are anxiously waiting to find out whether they’re going to be used as intended, or mainly to keep the laundry off the floor. I’ve broken the hearts of a few exercise machines in my time. Over the years, I’ve had 2 stationary bikes, a treadmill, and a Total Gym, and all of them ended up becoming expensive clothes racks within weeks of purchase. They all seemed like great ideas at the time. I was sure that, if I didn’t have to go through the hassle of getting myself out the door and to the gym, I’d actually spend a lot more time exercising. Wrong. After the initial burst of enthusiasm wore off, it wasn’t any easier to get myself to use this equipment at home than it was to get myself to the gym. It wasn’t always just lack of self-discipline on my part. Ever try to talk a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old into leaving you alone so you can play with your own toys for an hour? Fat chance. And somehow, by the time they were in bed and the chores were done, the idea of exercise just didn’t seem very appealing any more. And then, of course, there was the additional problem of having to put away all those clothes before I could even get to the machine. This is not an uncommon problem. According to this article, consumers spend about $4 billion every year on home exercise equipment, and 40% of us say we don’t use it as much as we expected to. That works out to about $1.6 billion worth of over-qualified laundry racks sold annually—not counting the resale market. And we all know these are just the honest people, right? How many more of us don’t want to admit to some researcher that we spent several hundred dollars or more for a rack to display our laundry on in the middle of the room? Or worse, that we’ve done this not just once, but several times? So, what happens to all the enthusiasm and optimism that leads people to buy this equipment in the first place? Is there something you can do to turn that good intention into a consistent exercise routine that will keep both you and your machine happy? I think so… The first step here is to get real about what an exercise machine can do for you, and what it can’t. It can give you a very convenient, weatherproof way to exercise just as effectively as a serious gym goer. It can’t make you want to exercise, make exercise itself easier to do, or remove any other obstacles to regular exercise you might have to deal with, beyond the transportation and public locker room/gym phobia issues. In fact, as the article linked earlier says, the more you expect having an exercise machine in the house to solve basic motivational problems, the more likely it is you’ll end up not using it much. So, get those kinds of expectations out of your brain right now. The truth is that it’s your job to make your exercise machine feel fulfilled and successful, not the other way around. Take this responsibility as seriously as you would taking care of a pet, and you'll do much better. The second step is to find your own good reasons for exercising. Obviously, if you’re struggling with getting yourself to use a machine you invested money in for the pleasure of having it right in your own home, something’s not right. If your good intentions, the convenience factor, and everything you know about how important exercise is for meeting your goals don't get the job done, an important piece of the motivation puzzle must still be missing. Here’s my theory about what this missing piece could be: In my last blog, I talked about the difference between immediate and delayed gratification, and how we need both to function at our best. For many people, the benefits of exercise, at least initially, definitely go in the delayed gratification column—you don’t really see them until somewhere down the road, when they show up as lost weight, as improved appearance, fitness and functioning, or if you stick with it long enough, as an easy way to get an endorphin high. So, the trick to sticking with it long enough for these delayed benefits to boost your motivation could be to find some ways to get a little instant gratification from each actual exercise session. Here are some things I’ve tried that help me do this: Have you had a hard time in the past, or are you currently struggling to get yourself to actually use your home exercise equipment? What's your plan to get yourself to use it? |
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