The Psychology of Fitness
Physical fitness and psychology aren't always thought to go hand in hand; however, as explored in this article, one can see that they are truly synonymous. In order to achieve any aspirations you have in fitness, you must have a better understanding of your psychology to manifest any image of how you would like to see yourself.
Goals
It starts precisely there: an ideal image of yourself. If you want to be any different from how you are now, you need to imagine yourself as better than who you are in the present. This looks different for everyone as we all have varying starting positions. Fitness journeys are not one size fits all, which is a vital tenet to remind oneself of as comparing yourself to others can motivate and increase competitiveness for some; however, it will create obstacles of self-doubt for others. More on this later.
Imagining yourself as being better may look like an ideal body type, someone who can conquer significant feats of strength, eating different and more nutritious varieties of foods, or could involve incorporating various novel activities. Usually, you will think of your fitness journey as being predominantly dictated by one of these fantasies more than the other; however, as will be further explored in this article, incorporating all of them will further increase optimization as being a fit and healthy person.
Once you've picked at least one of these aspirations, you must create goals surrounding it. I recommend goals be S.M.A.R.T., meaning that they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Once your goal(s) have been determined, you are now ready to implement them. The action phase of implementation has its own unique challenges.
Consistency
Consistency is one of the most considerable obstacles you will have to face on your fitness journey. Being consistent involves resisting temptation.
No one's fitness journey is overnight, and everyone starts from different places, therefore having drastically different goals. Something key to keeping yourself on track is comparing yourself to who you were yesterday as opposed to others who you're likely surrounded by if you're going to your gym. Measuring your progress is a better way to keep yourself on track and more efficient than measuring the progress of others.
If you're comparing yourself to others persistently, particularly those where it is quite obvious they've started their fitness journey long before you, you will want to throw in the proverbial towel. However, understanding that comparison to others is a naturally occurring phenomenon amongst our species, I also appreciate that interpersonal comparison will occur. When this happens, and you cannot reframe by looking at yourself, look instead to someone in a similar position, particularly someone with a comparable body type.
If interpersonal comparison continues, you may want to monitor your self-talk. It's very likely that you're shaming yourself for not looking or having the same abilities as someone else.
Shame certainly can help you stay motivated, but it also has dangerous limitations. Relying upon shame too much will lead to feeling utterly hopeless, which at this precise moment, you may be saying to yourself, "what's the point anyway?"
Part of consistency is motivation, and encouragement is a better tool to help you stay motivated instead of shame. Encouragement means providing yourself with positive affirmation that you're well on your way to a better you, even if you cannot immediately see the results.
Encouragement can also assist you with better self-discipline and staving off the temptation of instant gratification. Giving in to instant gratification can look like eating on a calorie surplus/indulging in sweets, hitting the snooze on your alarm, taking the escalator instead of the stairs, parking closer to a facility as opposed to further away (every step counts), or avoiding a dreaded intense workout.
We all need to feel a sense of reward and accomplishment, and satisfying that sense of reward too quickly can, unfortunately, set us off course. Neurochemically, this becomes challenging, particularly when dopaminergic pathways are being satiated.
Dopamine is the feel-good neurotransmitter in the brain that sends a chemical signal that provokes the psyche to feel a sense of bliss and accomplishment. Dopamine is released when we orgasm, eat unhealthy foods and sugar, and take hard drugs, prompting issues with addiction in many individuals.
It's not all bad news, though. When you exercise, dopamine and serotonin (serving many functions but most commonly known for mood regulation) are released in the brain. If you've ever heard someone describe their "runner's high," this chemical release is precisely what they are describing, albeit in a more colloquial sense.
The feelings of happiness and satisfaction you receive from exercising become something you will gradually seek to re-experience or even increase over time. Gradually you will increase your activity level.
Living an active lifestyle
As you feel more enthused and lively from increasing your activity level, you will want to be even more active. Living an active lifestyle will open up many opportunities, but it is not without restrictions.
Sacrifice is part of what it means to be someone attempting to increase their fitness. You will likely see dormant time as something to occupy with some form of activity, whether going to the gym, taking a walk, increasing productivity at work, or finding general excuses to get out of the house.
Depending on how your fitness goals shift, you will either be in a maintenance, bulking, or cutting phase of activity. With maintenance, you are actively attempting to sustain your current activity level and caloric intake. Bulking involves gradually lowering cardiovascular activity and/or increasing caloric intake. Lastly, cutting is likely when you will be progressively increasing cardiovascular activity and decreasing caloric intake.
All of these phases require varying levels of activity, sacrifice, and discipline. Some phases may be shorter or last longer than others.
For the phases that last longer, boredom can very easily infiltrate the psyche and sabotage your goals. When we are bored, we disregard the parameters we set for ourselves. For example, if you are cutting, you may tire of taking the same route on your daily walk or be fed up with the activity altogether. This could result in you opting to be stationary or even increasing your activity levels, which can alter the pace at which you are cutting. Slowing down cutting can push back your goal target date, and dramatically increasing cutting can result in accelerating muscle loss.
To quell boredom, or at least to be able to increase your tolerance of boredom, I recommend reminding yourself of how consistency will help you meet your goals. You may have to build patience in this arena. Habitual pendulum shifts in your activity levels or eating habits will either lead you nowhere or off course more quickly than you'd likely prefer. Slow and steady wins the race.
No pain, no gain
If you are not yet seeing results and are tolerating your boredom, it may be time to switch things up depending on your goals. The phrase "no pain, no gain" is a staple of gym culture and actually carries a significant amount of merit.
Nietzche was right when he proclaimed that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger as it promotes antifragility and growth, not only psychologically but physically as well. Believing in this mindset has the power to transform how you engage in your fitness.
Results come from applied effort; showing up 3-7 times a week isn't enough; you must be willing to do what's uncomfortable in order to meet your goals, as opposed to telling yourself that the goal itself is a hopeless pursuit. This may mean eating more of the types of food you dislike, eating less of the foods you like, increasing or decreasing cardiovascular exercise, or progressively overloading weight and repetitions until your muscles are fatigued.
Exertion on a semi- to regular basis can be useful to assist the body in getting into better shape. The "no pain, no gain" mindset has its limitations, though.
Recovery
If the "no pain, no gain" mindset is starting to wear thin on you physically and psychologically, it can be helpful to remind yourself that you're allowed to have recovery days. Recovery can look different for everyone depending on where they are at in their fitness journey but will usually involve decreasing physical activity, enjoying a cheat meal of food that's perhaps not as healthy but that you crave, or both.
You've been consistent and disciplined with yourself; recovery assists in continuing on this trajectory. If you are exhausted and deprived of planned breaks from your present routine, you are increasing the likelihood of burnout, self-sabotage, or injury. All of which makes it more challenging to get back onto the proverbial horse.
Intermittent breaks, let's say 1-3 rest days a week (or 1-4 cheat meals), will allow you to continue to have skin in the game without the guilt of feeling like you're actively moving against progressing toward your goals. Progress can be difficult to witness in the present. For that, you will have to look backward.
Recognizing progress
In your fitness journey, it's essential to document your progress. If you cannot reflect on where you have come from, then you will not be able to recognize where you are or even believe in where you are going.
One way to document your progress is by utilizing a scale. A scale can indicate whether you're on track with your goals. Weighing yourself daily can give you a weekly average, as inconsistently weighing yourself will likely bring frustration in seeing variation. With a weekly average, you can track whether your weight is increasing, decreasing, or remaining stagnant and then adjust your behaviors from there.
Another way to document progress is to journal. Keep track of increases in strength, monitor caloric intake, and check off goals as you achieve them.
Lastly, take photos. It helps to know if you look different in the mirror compared to where you were, say, six months prior. Change doesn't occur overnight, and how you see yourself may not feel so different if you don't have evidence of what you looked like before beginning your fitness journey. Allow yourself the opportunity to give yourself some credit.
Final thoughts
In giving yourself credit, it's important to be realistic. Lately, there has been a media focus on body positivity.
While I think shaming yourself to stay motivated is likely a limited solution, I also don't think it's a good idea to engage in the delusion that unhealthy habits are subjective and acceptable. One can do a significant amount of damage that will likely result in health issues, perhaps sooner than later, by believing in such blatant falsehoods. Some will utilize body positivity as a method of staying in denial about psychological problems they are fearful of facing.
Body positivity needs to be redefined to mean that you can feel a sense of pride for striving toward and maintaining healthier habits and meeting fitness-related goals. The priority is that it is an earned process; you should feel positive about your body, particularly if you actively attempt to take better care of yourself, regardless of where you are compared to others. Doing little to improve your well-being isn't something you should feel rewarded for; feeling positive about yourself is something you gain, not something inherent in doing nothing; that's called arrogance.
In conclusion, much like self-improvement, fitness is a journey that doesn't really have an end; however, it has a very clear starting point. In many instances, you will likely face psychological barriers that can deter you from being successful. Remember that all the mental hurdles you encounter begin and end with you, and encouragement will help motivate you when you're fearful that you cannot overcome them.