Why Do You Fail to Exercise Regularly for More Than One Week in a Row?

We have an inherent mechanism of pay-off expectation, certain immediate reward. When we start training, we grow in our own estimation, we get pleasure from exercises and the realization of how cool and great we are! In such moments, dopamine is released the so-called “pleasure hormone”.

Then the first wave of delight subsides, the pleasure “weakens” and there are no longer such vivid emotions. Dopamine levels decrease.

In addition, training is always stressful - the body leaves its comfort zone. Muscles hurt, fatigue sets in, and gains are not noticed. Our brain whispers - “Just quit, you see - there is no point in continuing this. It’s painful, it’s hard, and it’s uncomfortable - you see, everyone in the gym is slim, fit and in shape, but not you…”

And here the body begins to rapidly produce cortisol - the “stress hormone”. As a result, your mood drops, disappointment grows, and you start to exercise less and less. At first you start skipping workouts occasionally (there is always a very important reason not to go to training), and then you quit the sport entirely.

Some hints about physiology

Dopamine is not just a hormone of pleasure and health. The addiction to pleasure makes us strive to repeat the pleasant sensations we have experienced. When we get some positive result, dopamine helps us achieve our goal, consolidate success, and desire even more.

This is precisely the secret of famous people, athletes, businessmen, and other successful people. They are “hooked” on the pleasure hormone and the vivid emotions that overwhelm them after a job well done. Dopamin encourages them to move forward and achieve new intoxicating success.

Failure, frustration, and damaged plans - all these situations are always followed by negative emotions due to the increased release of cortisol in the blood. It is important to get over this situation and move further towards a long-term goal. Moving forward causes more dopamine release. Inaction leads to increased cortisol levels and you risk remaining at the bottom of the social ladder as successful people around you climb to the top.

How does it work with workouts?

By training without inspiration, painfully kicking yourself around the gym, you will not achieve long-term results. Unmotivated activity leads to depression. To be motivated you need dopamine. And to get it, you need to succeed. But how? At the beginning of any trip, it is very difficult to achieve significant achievements. Is it a dead end?!

It is necessary to purposely create conditions in which dopamine can be produced.

Girl boxing with a punching bag — *When you become successful, your brain starts to work for you Source: Freepik*

Long-term prospects are not achieved at once. Therefore, you need to break them down into short-term ones and reward yourself for every, even tiny, achievement. But not with cakes and cola, but a good movie, a book, a pleasant vacation, healthy delicious food. And then dopamine will be produced, even despite temporary difficulties - after all, you still enjoy the training, you find joy in every correctly performed exercise. Plus, you will be rewarded for even a small step forward.

Praise yourself more often for your successes, even if they were minor. Connect your brain to positive sports experiences. Try to feel happy. Find your own way, do more exercises that you enjoy, notice how great you feel after a good workout.

Be optimistic, but avoid unrealistic expectations. Remember that building a body is a long process that requires persistence, patience and self-love. At the same time excessive optimism and inflated expectations can deceive you. So, with more perseverance and consistency, nothing can stop you from achieving your goal.