For most guys it’s the difference between keeping fit and falling out of shape, but staying motivated is easier than you think — with the right incentives.
by Charles Bethea
We’ve all been here: after a month or so, going to your swell new gym has become not just a chore, but a thrice-weekly Bataan death march. Free towels and well-lit elliptical trainers aren’t enough motivation to exercise. “When it comes to working out, there are intrinsic motivators — a belief in staying healthy — and extrinsic motivators — being spurred by competition,” says Sam Zizzi, a professor of sport and exercise psychology at West Virginia University. “A lot of guys prefer to be pushed.” To that end Zizzi has helped us compile four of the best methods for getting you back into your gym shorts
COLD, HARD CASH
You can’t buy big muscles. Even if you inject hormones like HGH you still have to do some actual heavy lifting. But economics can help you get fit. What we’ve learned from that fashionable branch of the dismal science known as behavioral economics is this: People don’t always do what they claim they want to do, and incentives can often get them to do things they might otherwise shirk.
So why not just wager your way to better gym results? Office bets and simple stakes between gym partners — do 20 consecutive pull-ups by May 1, or buy your buddy dugout seats at a Yankees game — are two approaches.
Why It Works: Zizzi says all of this office, gym, and online betting can kick-start good habits: “This arrangement would work well if you have a good friend [to wager against] who you trust and you need the extra edge of competition to get you started on a new goal or health behavior. This technique probably would increase motivation, at least in the short term, because of the increased social support, accountability, and the forced priority the money places on the goal — assuming the amount wagered is meaningful to you.”
Put It Into Action: In 2008 two professors and a grad student from Yale started stickK (the second K is legal shorthand for “contract”), which creates “commitment contracts” that allow you to risk money to achieve a goal. Go to stickK.com, register for free in the “exercise & fitness community,” and then select a goal and an amount you’ll risk to reach it (say, run 15 miles a week or lose $250). Then safely surrender your credit card info. Each week you’ll report, on the site, whether you’ve kept your commitment (prone cheaters should use a “Referee” who can go online and report for them). If you can’t fulfill the contract, your cash will go to a charity of your choice (good), an anti-charity — like a political issue you oppose (better), or a sworn enemy (best). Research by stickK.com suggests that this scenario makes you three times more likely to succeed.
MAKE IT QUICK: Keep your workouts short. One study suggests that short bursts once or twice a day — half an hour at the most — have the same benefits as longer workouts. The longer the exercise routine, according to Zizzi, the more you’ll dread having to do it, and the harder it’ll be to keep at it week after week.
TEAMWORK
It’s one of those obvious truths that we often forget: Play is not work. It follows, for many hardworking guys, that the best way to stay fit is to do something fun. When you’ve been in an office all day, the thought of running around a basketball court or a soccer field is simply more appealing than doing virtual hill climbs on a treadmill or mile after mile on an exercise bike.
Why It Works: “Lots of guys dislike the structure and perceived purposelessness of using equipment in a gym that goes nowhere,” says Zizzi. “Many of us are more motivated by engaging in purposeful activities, like team sports, which also don’t seem like work. The drawback is that as we age, it’s more difficult to make these sports a ‘regular’ activity. We need three to five of these sorts of sessions a week to really get fit. An effective plan is using your gym time during each sport’s ‘season’ to focus on being prepared for your competition. This strategy gives meaning to the purposeless bench press or leg press, and it will help increase your on-field speed and strength, while helping prevent injury in the valued recreational activity that you choose.”
Put It Into Action: If you’re a serious athlete, there are plenty of city club teams — from Ultimate Frisbee to indoor soccer — attuned to your highly competitive needs. But for the middle- to lower-intensity workout crowd, there are progressive places like ZogSports ($85–$165; zogsports.org), in New York City and New Jersey, which epitomizes the modern social sports club. Its dual goals are sports and charity through fun, community-building competition. Since 2002 the club has created a coed network of 60,000 “young professionals” and has raised more than $525,000 for charities chosen by the winners of touch football, soccer, floor hockey, volleyball, kickball, touch rugby, dodgeball, basketball, softball, and whiffle ball leagues.
DO IT FIRST THING: Zizzi cautions against making exercise the last thing on your to-do list. He says you’re more likely to stay motivated if you prioritize workouts. That means that you should hit the gym as often as possible in the mornings — or at least before that five o’clock fatigue sets in and you really just want a beer.
COMPETITION
Everyone knows that distance sports like running, cycling, and swimming are great forms of exercise, but many men find sticking with them difficult due to the monotony of pounding pavement. There’s a cure: Sign up for a race. Performing well at a competition — or at least not embarrassing ourselves — can be a powerful motivator for those of us with any remaining pride in our physical abilities.
Why It Works: “Creating a realistic long-term goal, like competing in a race six months from now, gives purpose to otherwise arbitrary-seeming machines and weights at the gym,” says Zizzi. “But a long-term goal needs to be approached in small steps that won’t overwhelm you. So break up the period before a race or competition with realistic weekly or biweekly goals that work within your daily schedule — say, running 12 miles this week and 15 the next. Be sure that you allow yourself some flexibility here. Too many constraints may lead to frustration at the difficulty — both physical and logistical — of the training regime, which will undermine or even destroy your motivation.”
Put It Into Action: Dr. Jon Woo’s one-week Camp Marafiki ($1,000; kenyausa.com), which takes place every August in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is the top distance-running camp in the Western Hemisphere and a great introduction to goal-setting and learning the strategies involved in racing. Amid the sagebrush and desert landscape, you’ll learn from at least five world-class instructors, including two-time U.S. marathon champion Mbarak Hussein.
HUMILITATION
Few of us have ever had to experience a real, honest-to-goodness military boot camp (or real combat, for that matter). But if you have, you can vouch for the high level of motivation that basic survival exercises provide. As it turns out, however, the relatively relaxed, civilian versions of these training grounds — fitness boot camps — are effective exercise motivators for regular guys, too.
Why It Works: “Boot camps,” says Zizzi, “are really good at jump-starting guys — particularly competitive guys who have a history of playing high school or recreational sports — whose exercise routines have grown stale. They provide a novel approach and a structure that’s geared toward accountability — both to the group and the instructor. It’s tough to make this approach a permanent solution to an active lifestyle.” Many people find the overtly aggressive, often humiliating militaristic approach tiresome, frustrating, or just plain silly after a little while, and cease to be sufficiently motivated by it. But if a boot camp has been effective, it will have programmed you with regular exercise habits.
Put It Into Action: Jay Johnson’s Boot Camp Fitness, which operates in 14 Texas locations, including Dallas and Fort Worth, is typical of the boot camp experience: Logs, tractor tires, sandbags, and firehoses, as well as an innovative drill he calls the “SUV push,” are all incorporated into Johnson’s camp, which you’re supposed to attend at least three times a week, for 60 minutes, over the course of a month. No workout is repeated, all are tailored to your fitness level, and, apparently, the bellowing is gentle.
Not surprisingly, Johnson spent three years as an army drill instructor, and at his camp, according to the website, they “only yell motivating, positive affirmations, uplifting quotes, and we convince, not confront.”
As more and more boot camps open across the nation, finding one close to you shouldn’t be too tough. Just Google “fitness boot camp,” and that should do the trick.
This article originally appeared in the May 2009 issue of Men’s Journal
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