How to Motivate Yourself into
Exercise When You’re Aging

If you ask me, it’s hard to start an exercise habit at any age, but it gets harder the older you get. Most of us have some sort of chronic injury and more body parts hurt. Add to that chronic problems such as heart disease, diabetes, and weight-gain and the thought of going to a gym is akin to an ant thinking about scaling Mount Everest.

So, how are you going to do this? Even seniors who have been exercising regularly for some time have days of fatigue and plenty of valid excuses. And reasons not to exercise increase each year. Is it any wonder that those who need to workout the most—those who don’t go to a gym and who resist fitness programs—struggle to start exercising?

When Rob and I wrote our book, Senior War on Aging, we reported the scientific research that shows that seniors who regularly work out and participate in sports have fewer chronic illnesses, show less aging on a cellular level (they even look younger), and are stronger and live longer.

FACT: Exercise = health and longevity

At 78 and 74, Rob and I are prime examples of what happens when you practice regular exercise and sports. We try to convince many of our friends to workout, but some are just plain resistant. They know they should, but don’t.

The truth is, scientific research and knowledge just don’t spark a sudden rush to the barbells. Even if/when the doctor tells you “If you don’t do something, you will die a slow and painful death.”

As a psychologist, I’ve always been curious about motivation. What makes the difference between those who take up the call for action, and those who know they should but don’t?

Motivation is a tricky thing to master. I’ve spent years studying it. In a minute, I’ll share some of the ways people motivate themselves into a fitness program. But consider this first: Here’s what sports Dr. Jordon Metzl says:

I know the secret to motivation. There’s just one problem. Knowing doesn’t matter.

The secret to motivation is within you. I can give you tips guaranteed to help you start exercising, but ultimately it’s up to you to find your personal triggers that spur you into action. Know what’s crucial to you about keeping healthy. This requires your emotional engagement, not logical superficial thinking about what you “should” be doing.

Take a look at the research on why people continue to smoke. One study showed that the reward system in the brains of chronic smokers lit up while reading the warning label on cigarette packages. For example: “WARNING: the use of this product may cause cancer and premature death.” Yum.

Instead of deterring smokers, the warning label triggers a desire to light up and inhale deeply! Huh?

The Mind Has a Mind of It’s Own

For regular exercisers, the thought of going to the gym triggers reward areas in the brain. They think about how good they’ll feel afterwards. They imagine their bodies looking fit and trim.

When sedentary people think about working out, their minds conjure up aches and pains, the fear of looking fat, and all the times they’ve failed to get fit before. All of a sudden they think about doing something else.

In the battle between comfort and discomfort, comfort always wins. Fit people know how to motivate themselves away from immediate comfort in favor of long term rewards.

Is sedentary behavior addictive? Could be, but it’s more likely a habit, and one that can be broken. You have to know why it’s important to you to break that habit—and I mean on a profoundly emotional level.

Everyone knows someone who has turned their life around—lost weight, quit drinking, become more of who they wanted to be. And we all know others who have tried countless times and regained all the weight, or whatever, and slid back down the slope.

What’s the difference? Is one smarter? Stronger mentally or psychologically? Not necessarily. The successful person makes a serious emotional decision that they’re changing behaviors and never going back to their “rock bottom” experience. They declare, “Enough is enough.”

Something inside gets triggered by an event they can’t ignore. They find themselves in a place they don’t want to be with excuses that no longer work.

What’s Your “Rock?”

I know this because I’ve met the “rock” a couple of times in my life. You don’t have to be a drunk to know you drink too much. You don’t have to be obese to know your eating habits are unhealthy. Personally, I’ve quit drinking, quit smoking, and built up healthy eating and exercise habits that I’ve sustained over the course of 30 years.

It’s up to you to say “No more, I’m done.” You can flip the switch and pull the trigger. See the big red stop sign in time. Knowledge is a tool you can use, but the motivation to use it comes from within.

7 Triggers that Motivate Exercise

Here are seven common emotional triggers that spur people into an exercise program, with contributions from Dr. Jordon Metzle, who wrote the inspiring book, Dr. Metzle’s Workout Prescription.

1. A bad health report becomes a wake-up call. Some people are scared by a prediabetes diagnosis, abnormal blood tests, or some other undeniable health warning. Maybe you experience chest pains, blurry vision, stomach aches, or falls. Something tells you you’d better get to the doctors, stop your bad health habits and start taking care of yourself.
2. A loved one is diagnosed or hospitalized because they ignored the symptoms and are seriously ill. All of a sudden you wonder if those pains in your belly might be cancer, and you get an appointment.
3. It can also be something superficial like seeing your sister’s triceps waving in the wind, and you decide you’d better get to the gym and do something about your own flabby arms. As seniors, we are prone to notice how others our age look much older. We tend to see ourselves as we were when we were younger. It’s healthy to have a good self image, until we realize that we’re in denial. Get real. Get measured—for example with a body scan that tells your body fat, or other health and fitness measures (strength, flexibility, cardio and respiratory fitness).
4. Your body fails an unexpected fitness test. You lift your suitcase to put it into the overhead bin, but fail half-way. In the kitchen, you can’t get the jar of pickles open. You have to run to catch the dog, or jump out of the way of a passing car, and you can’t catch your breath. You realize you can’t do what used to be easy.
5. You see a picture of yourself, or a friend sends you a video of a recent gathering. You can’t find yourself in the picture among all those old ladies… Wait, that’s you. How did that happen?
6. Your kids deliver the news. Maybe the grand-kids make an innocent comment about your body or your age, or how many cookies you eat. You wonder if you’ll be around to see them graduate or get married.
7. You’re happy on the outside, but cover up how bad you feel inside.  No one knows how you sad you feel. You’re disappointed about your looks, your inability to keep up with everyone, how tired you feel, and fed up with your aches and pains. You tell yourself, “Getting old isn’t for sissies, for sure.” Then one day you get mad. You’re not going to take it anymore. You decide to do something about it.

There are hundreds of examples of things that ignite the motivation to exercise. Seniors have plenty. From medical diagnoses, to seeing yourself in a bad mirror, those seniors use those light-bulb moments to turn their lives around. Alcoholics call it their “rock-bottom” stories.

Whatever it is, it can shake you up. Don’t let those moments of clarity slip by. Use them to trigger action. Use the triggers to override your denial, excuses, and reasons to not act. Then make a plan you can stick to and take the first steps.

Doesn’t matter your age, but the younger the better. Never too old or sick. No matter what condition or injury you have, there is always a way to exercise. You may have to use a trainer or physical therapist to begin.

The enemy is not sloth. It’s our tricky brains that will seek out pleasure and comfort over work. But as humans, we hold the ability to override these subconscious desires and become the person we are capable of being.

Your Call to Action

I’ve been collecting excuses people use to not exercise for a few years. Click the comment button and tell me what are your favorite or unique excuses that stop you from healthy behaviors?

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Remember, stay healthy, be stronger, live longer.