The Fall Fitness Reset: Building Healthy Habits That Actually Stick

It’s expected to find that daily scheduling becomes more predictable and fitness goals are attainable with summer coming to an end. This makes autumn a great time to focus on your health and wellbeing. The Canadian 24-hour physical activity guidelines suggest that adults should accumulate 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise a week and perform muscle strengthening activities at least twice a week. This seems like a lot but certainly isn’t meant to scare you away from attempting to improve your health. Instead, think of these guidelines as a long-term goal rather than something you need to achieve overnight. Small, consistent changes to your daily routine can help you build momentum and make physical activity a sustainable part of your lifestyle.

Consistency

September often brings high expectations. You may decide to exercise every day, completely change eating habits, or commit to a demanding routine. While that motivation is admirable, these changes can be difficult to maintain. Since the most successful habits are often the simplest ones, incorporating small actions that fit into your day are far more likely to become part of a routine. You might decide to visit the fitness centre once each week, take a short walk during lunch, or drink more water throughout the day. Aim for persistence over performance and the results will follow.

Lunch Walks

Many of us spend a large portion of the day working at a desk, which is followed by a seated lunch that’s accompanied by additional screen time. One of the simplest ways to reduce sedentary time is to take a short walk after lunch. Even a 10-minute walk can add more movement to your day, give you a chance to get some fresh air, and provide a mental reset before getting back to work. The journal of Physical Activity and Health examined the efficacy of lunchtime walking intervention programs for physically inactive employees and found that completing three 30-minute walks a week resulted in improved enthusiasm and motivation while reducing nervousness at work. If you can’t dedicate the time, even a few minutes of movement between meetings can help break up long sedentary periods. These walks and dynamic movements may not feel significant on their own as they won’t exert you, but the results are surprising. More movement throughout the day can improve energy levels, support overall health, and help you feel your best at work. Setting a long-term goal, even if it isn’t quantifiable, can help retention of a program. An example being: a few walks a week will get my legs ready hitting the slopes this season.   

Rebuilding Your Exercise Routine

If you’re already active and the workouts have become less consistent throughout the summer, consider integrating yourself back into an existing routine rather than starting from scratch. Enjoyment is critical in program retention, so its best return to groups of exercises that can be completed with proper form and guaranteed stimulus. An appropriate program load should follow the 24-hour movement guidelines, with two resistance-based workouts being completed weekly that focus on rebuilding a base that the rest of your progress can piggyback from. Make sure to listen to your body as challenging strength sessions may be appropriate at times, while yoga or meditation may be exactly what your body needs at others. The goal is not to train perfectly, but to create a routine that you can maintain over the long term.

Set Yourself Up for Success

Healthy habits are easier to maintain when they are convenient. Keeping a pair of athletic shoes at work can remove a common barrier to exercise and scheduling workouts in your calendar can help reserve time for your health. Integrating a health tracker provides extrinsic motivation and helps you stay accountable. Adjustments to your environment can make the healthy choices feel easier and automatic, reducing the amount of effort that’s dedicated to decision making and preparation. Physical activity is an important part of overall health, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle. Quality sleep, proper hydration, regular breaks, and time to recharge all play an important role in the equation. Improvement simply requires paying attention to the habits that support your health. A fall fitness reset is not about making dramatic changes overnight. It’s about creating small habits that you can repeat consistently.