How I (Finally) Built a Lasting Exercise Habit to Tackle Stress

4 strategies to help you do the exercise you need to keep sane

Photo by Brian Erickson

For years, I struggled to build an exercise habit.

I knew exercise was essential for boosting productivity and lowering stress. But I struggled to build the consistency needed for meaningful results.

Last year, I finally cracked the code. By making four simple changes to my approach, everything clicked into place. I’ve been exercising regularly ever since.

Here are the four strategies that helped me finally build the habit:

1. Prioritising Injury Prevention

I realised I was carrying a lot of mental baggage about exercise.

After reading hundreds of forums and books on exercise, I had loads of exercise rules stuck in my brain:

• Deadlifts are the ultimate strength exercise.
• Squats must be below parallel, or they don’t count.
• Barefoot running is the ultimate approach.
• Bench-pressing less than your body weight means you’re weak.

Because of this baggage, I kept designing workout routines that were “pure” and “correct”. And then I’d get…