How to make exercise a regular habit in 6 steps

Starting a workout routine is usually the easy part. You feel motivated, make a plan and tell yourself that this time you are going to stick with it. For a few days, maybe even a few weeks, everything goes well. Then you miss one workout, life gets busy and suddenly the routine you were so excited about has disappeared.

I know that pattern well. I have started routines with the best intentions, stopped when the excitement wore off and later tried to begin again from scratch. The problem was not that I did not care about exercising. The problem was that I was relying too much on motivation.

Motivation is useful for getting started, but it is not reliable enough to carry a habit. Some days you will feel ready to work out. Other days you will be tired, busy or simply not interested. A lasting routine has to work on those days too.

Here are six practical ways to make exercise a regular part of your life.

1. Start with a goal you can actually keep

One of the easiest ways to lose a new habit is to make it too demanding from the beginning.

You decide you will work out every day, run five kilometres before work or spend an hour in the gym five times a week. The plan sounds impressive, but it also leaves very little room for real life.

Start with something you can still do on a bad day.

That could be a 15-minute walk, a short home workout or two gym sessions a week. The goal is not to prove how serious you are. The goal is to build something you can repeat.¹

You can always increase the time or intensity later. It is much easier to build from a small habit than to recover from a plan that exhausts you after one week.

2. Decide when the workout will happen

“Exercise more” is not a plan.

A habit becomes easier to follow when you decide exactly when and where it will happen². Instead of saying, “I will work out tomorrow,” decide that you will walk for 20 minutes after work or go to the gym on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.

The more specific the plan is, the less negotiating you have to do with yourself.

You can also connect the workout to something you already do. For example:

• After I finish work, I will change into my workout clothes.
• After breakfast, I will go for a walk.
• After I drop the children off, I will go to the gym.
• Before I shower in the evening, I will stretch for ten minutes.

You are giving the habit a place in your day instead of hoping you will remember when the mood is right.

3. Make it easy to begin

Sometimes the hardest part of a workout is starting it.

If your shoes are hidden in a cupboard, your clothes are not ready and you still have to decide which workout to do, it becomes much easier to give up before you begin.

Remove as many small obstacles as you can³.

Lay out your clothes the night before. Keep your shoes somewhere visible. Choose the workout in advance. Pack your gym bag before work. Save the video you plan to follow instead of searching for one when it is already time to exercise.

You are not trying to remove every excuse. You are making it easier to act before your brain has time to create one.

4. Keep a record of what you do

It is easy to feel like you are making no progress when you are only paying attention to physical changes.

Your body may take time to change, but your consistency is something you can see immediately.

Keep a simple record of your workouts. You can use a calendar, notebook, spreadsheet or an app. Mark each day you complete what you planned.⁴

This is not about tracking every calorie or turning your life into a report. It is about being able to look back and see that you showed up three times this week, then four times the next.

That visible progress gives you something to build on. It also makes the habit feel real instead of like another promise you made to yourself and forgot.

5. Let someone else know what you are doing

A goal is much easier to ignore when nobody else knows about it.

Tell a friend what you are trying to do. Join a group challenge. Find someone who can check in with you or exercise alongside you. You do not need someone to shout at you or make you feel guilty. You just need someone who will notice whether you showed up.

This was one of the biggest lessons behind ChallengersFit. In The Original Challengers Snapchat group, we worked out for 30 minutes a day, five days a week, posted proof and kept score. Seeing other people complete their workouts made it harder to keep postponing mine.

Accountability gives the habit another reason to survive on the days when motivation is missing⁵.

Sometimes knowing that your friend will ask about your workout is enough to make you do it.

6. Learn how to return after missing a day

Missing one workout is normal. Turning one missed workout into three weeks is where the habit usually disappears.

A lasting routine does not depend on never missing a day. It depends on how quickly you return.

Do not punish yourself by planning an extra-hard workout. Do not decide that the whole week is ruined. Just continue with the next workout you had planned.

It can help to make a simple rule: never miss twice when you can avoid it.⁶

You may miss Monday because you were tired or work ran late. That is fine. Try not to let Tuesday disappear for the same reason.

The habit is not broken because you missed one day. It only becomes harder to return when you treat that day as proof that you have failed again.

Build something you can return to

Making exercise a regular habit is not about becoming the kind of person who is motivated every morning. It is about creating a routine that still makes sense when you are tired, busy or not in the mood.

Start small. Give the workout a place in your day. Make it easy to begin. Keep track of what you complete. Let someone else into the process and do not let one missed day become the end of the routine.

You do not need a perfect streak.

You need a habit you can keep returning to.

References:

1. McEwan, Desmond, et al. “The Effectiveness of Multi-Component Goal Setting Interventions for Changing Physical Activity Behaviour: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Health Psychology Review, vol. 10, no. 1, 2016, pp. 67–88.
   Read the study ↩︎
2. Robinson, Stephanie A., et al. “Time for Change: Using Implementation Intentions to Promote Physical Activity in a Randomised Pilot Trial.” Psychology & Health, vol. 34, no. 2, 2019, pp. 232–254. Read the study ↩︎
3. Ebert, Jane E. J., and Xin Yao Lin. “Confirming the Causal Role of Consistent Contexts in Developing a Walking Habit: A Randomized Comparison With Varied Contexts.” Annals of Behavioral Medicine, vol. 58, no. 11, 2024, pp. 741–751. Read the study ↩︎
4. Larsen, Rasmus Tolstrup, et al. “Effectiveness of Physical Activity Monitors in Adults: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” BMJ, vol. 376, 2022, e068047.
   Read the full study ↩︎
5. Prestwich, Andrew, et al. “Randomized Controlled Trial of Collaborative Implementation Intentions Targeting Working Adults’ Physical Activity.” Health Psychology, vol. 31, no. 4, 2012, pp. 486–495.
   Read the study ↩︎
6. Roordink, Eline M., et al. “Predictors of Lapse and Relapse in Physical Activity and Dietary Behaviour: A Systematic Search and Review on Prospective Studies.” Psychology & Health, vol. 38, no. 5, 2023, pp. 623–646.
   Read the study ↩︎