From Desk to Fitness
The key to building healthy habits in a remote work environment
Everything is an eco system.
Nothing exists in a vacuum. We see it in the applications and websites we create, we see it in the teams and clients we work with. We also see it in the mind + body connection.
I always ALWAYS ask developers I am coaching about their physical health. Not because I’m a health fanatic, but because it matters. It matters to their cognitive sharpness, it matters to their ability to handle stress, it matters to their happiness and enjoyment of life, it matters to how much pain they may be experiencing in their back, neck and shoulders.
The more studies we see about exercise and its impact on the body, the more convinced I am that rather than being an: “I really should get to the gym every so often.” kind of thing - it should be a “this is as non-negotiable to me as taking a break to eat lunch or get to sleep.”
I won’t go into all the studies (you can dig into them on your own) but a few of my favorites are:
The HUNT Study (2009): This Norwegian study, involving over 23,000 participants, provided evidence that physical activity can protect against depression and enhance mental well-being.
The EPIC Study (2015): This European study involving over 334,000 participants provided evidence that physical activity is associated with a lower risk of various types of cancer, emphasizing the role of exercise in cancer prevention.
A 2018 study published in the American Journal of Medicine, "Muscle Mass Index as a Predictor of Longevity in Older Adults," reported that muscle mass index was inversely associated with all-cause mortality in older adults.
The Copenhagen City Heart Study (2003): Investigating the relationship between leisure-time physical activity and mortality, this study concluded that even a modest amount of exercise can extend life expectancy.
As with most things when working remote - in order to succeed in this venture of exercising more, no one is going to come and tell you to move your body - you will have to be responsible to take the action on your own.
So, how do we create this healthy habit? Here are a few suggestions.
Believe that showing up for yourself is just as important as showing up for others.
When I tell someone I will show up for an event, or a meeting, or just to meet up and have coffee, it’s a done deal. I will be there. It goes in my calendar, if at a later date, someone else needs me to do something at that time, I will decline and let them know I have a previous engagement. See your time of exercise as the same thing.
Put it in your calendar, imagine you are meeting someone who matters very much to you and you would never let them down - that person is YOU and you deserve to be prioritized just as much as anyone else.
Believe that you are capable of making this a habit, because you have made other things a habit.
One of the most powerful concepts around habit building is: we will stick with habits that agree with our identity. Meaning, if I believe I am a video gamer, I will make a habit out of playing video games. If I believe I am a great cook, I will make a habit out of cooking regularly. I do the things that agree with my identity.
So often, I hear people tell me they just aren’t “athletic” or they’ve never been a “gym person”. This is the belief I would challenge. You are whatever you say you are. You can be a gym person, or athletic, or whatever you like, as long as you can get over the story you tell yourself about all the things you are “not”.
About 2 years ago, I decided to become a tennis player. I had never picked up a racquet and I had no skill (I missed the ball more often than I hit it), but I DECIDED I was a tennis player. So I did the things a tennis player did. I bought a racquet and balls, I got a coach, I showed up at the court every week and I practiced tennis.
Guess what? I am a tennis player. I play regularly, I play well, and I absolutely love it. Just because I wasn’t a tennis player in the past, just because I had no skill when I started, didn’t stop me from acting in alignment with the identity I chose for myself.
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Understand the trigger-response-reward cycle and use it to establish a new habit.
In the book The Power of Habits, one of the most impactful ideas is the fact that our brains create habits when we experience three things:
Trigger - something that signals to our brains “It’s time to take a certain action.”
Response - we take the action
Reward - we experience some positive stimulus that tells our brains “Yes, good!”
When these three steps are repeated, a habit is formed. Find a consistent trigger (an alarm, the block in your calendar, etc.), move STRAIGHT into action, without second guessing or talking yourself out of it, and then REWARD yourself!! If you feel good from validation - tell a friend who you know will celebrate you, if you feel good seeing check marks in a box, buy a habit tracker and mark off each day you workout, if you are a sensory person, drink a delicious protein shake afterward, even taking a hot shower can be a “reward” that feels good to our bodies.
Start small and sustainable rather than going big and burning out.
I am notorious for going big or going home. Unfortunately I have learned, going too big, means I go home and give up far too often. I am learning (slowly) that consistency over time is more effective than massive effort done sporadically. One of my favorite quotes is: “We overestimate what we can do in a day, and we underestimate what we can do in a year.”
Be relentless in your pursuit of the goal and flexible in your approach.
I am stubborn, and I don’t give up easily. In fact, the more times I fail, the more aggressively I want to keep trying. Being relentless is a wonderful skill, especially when we are convinced (and I hope we all are when it comes to exercise) that the goal is worthy of pursuit. However, it is also a skill to be flexible in our approach. Exercise - yes. Gym?? - maybe?? Workout at home? - maybe? Lift weights? - maybe? Cardio? - maybe?
Letting ourselves be flexible in our approach allows for us to find what works, because what works is what we will be able to sustain over time.
This pursuit of health will not only impact your body, but your mind and your emotional strength as well! It is a powerful practice to get up and do something hard every morning. Everything is an ecosystem.
Showing up and working hard in the gym, creates a resilience that I can pull upon when things are getting difficult at work.
The benefits of this practice are endless and as long as I coach, it will be something I recommend and support my clients to pursue.