Establishing Consistency and Maintaining Exercise Habits

When it comes to fitness routines, getting started can often be the hardest part. Once we do get going, the next challenge becomes the long-term maintenance of regular physical activity. While the solution may seem to boil down to “just doing it”, it’s not always going to be that simple. Creating new habits can be hard because we are creatures …

Eyes on Which Prize? How Goal Orientation Can Influence Our Exercise Habits

For many, the practice of a fitness routine involves goal setting, with two main orientations:  outcome goal orientation (also known as a competitive goal orientation) and task goal orientation (aka. mastery goal orientation).   An outcome orientation is based on social comparison and outperforming others, whereas task orientation emphasizes improvement relative to one’s former self. People can be simultaneously outcome …