There is More to Habits then What You Think

I was doing my reading this week and ran across some interesting research.  This is from a book called “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg (yes I spelled it correctly!).  They found some interesting effects of starting a habit of exercising.  Below is the excerpt from the book in regards to what happens with new habits.

“Take, for instance, studies from the past decade examining the impacts of exercise on daily routines.  When people start habitually exercising, even as infrequently as once a week, they start changing other, unrelated patterns in their lives, often unknowingly.  Typically, people who exercise start eating better and becoming more productive at work.  They smoke less and show more patience with colleagues and family.  They use their credit cards less frequently and say they feel less stressed.  It’s not completely clear why.  But for many people, exercise is a keystone habit that triggers widespread change.  “Exercise spills over” said James Prochaska, a University of Rhode Island researcher.  ” There’s something about it that makes other good habits easier.”

Studies have documented that families who habitually eat dinner together seem to raise children with better homework skills, higher grades, greater emotional control, and more confidence.  Making your bed every morning is correlated with better productivity, a greater sense of well-being and stronger skills at sticking with a budget.  It’s not that a family meal or a tidy bed causes  better grades or less frivolous spending.  But somehow those initial shifts start chain reactions that help other good habits take hold.

If you focus on changing or cultivating keystone habits, you can cause widespread shifts.  However, identifying keystone habits is tricky.  To find them, you have to know where to look.  Detecting keystone habits means searching out certain characteristics.  Keystone habits offer what is known within academic literature as “small wins.”  They help other habits to flourish by creating new structures, and they establish cultures where change becomes contagious.”

So keep those good habits going.  You are getting more benefit from it then you or I ever knew.  So many underlying positive things happen with exercise it’s encouraging to know that for every burpee I do I may be helping myself pay down that credit card.  How’s that for some incentive?

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HOME WORKOUTS THIS WEEK- Situp/Squat, Run/Burpee/Tuck jump, TABATA Squats, Death By Pushup, POKER, supermom/situp/DB curls

GYM WORKOUTS THIS WEEK-  Shoulder to Overhead 10K/7K, Filthy Fifty(37), Death By Pushup, POKER, run/kbell sw/pushup,  jump rope/pushup

SCHEDULE- MONDAY – FRIDAY 5 AM, 6 AM, 4:30 PM, SATURDAY AT 7 A

Baked Apples- For a nice snack or dessert