Do your exercise habits cycle through highs and lows? Bruce Lee has some advice for you.

My experience is that there are basically three sorts of ‘exercisers’.

1. Those who prioritise exercise and have a consistent exercise habit that pretty much survives whatever else is going on in their lives.

2. Those who are chronically inactive (I’m honestly not judging).

3. Those who vacillate between periods of activity and inactivity, with the spells lasting from a few weeks to a few months.

My experience also tells me that the last group is the biggest one. What’s going on?

One factor at play is that many of us ‘set the bar high’ when it comes to exercise. We may believe, for example, that anything less than a 45-minute run, 30 minutes in the pool or an hour in the gym does not constitute exercise or a ‘proper workout’. So, when time (or energy) is short, something less than the ‘prescribed amount’ seems like a useless endeavour.

The problem is, as the days, weeks or months tick by, the idea of getting back to our former regime can seem increasingly like a mountain to climb. For some at least, this can feel particularly dispiriting.

Another factor I see quite commonly is people who take exercise in order to work towards a goal, be it a half- or full marathon, triathlon or momentous cycle ride. Often, once the goal has been achieved, the motivation to exercise drains from them, and this can lead to an extended period of inactivity until another goal is set.

One way out of this cycle is to find a regime that can be applied even when time is short, and there is no particular goal in mind — something that keeps us ticking over nicely and satisfies us that we have not spent the whole day ossified at our desk.

In my case, I have a stretching and bodyweight-based resistance regime that I do (almost) every day. It takes 10-15 minutes, tops. It stretches me (excuse the pun), but is not so arduous that I view it with trepidation. Put simply, it’s something where the investment feels small, but the payoff is big. That’s why I find it easy to be consistent with it.

I do take other forms of exercise at other times. For example, about every other day, I do some backwards walking on a treadmill (it’s for my knees) and a 10-minute ‘high-intensity intermittent exercise’ blast. The latter is a bit more of a mental and physical challenge, but not enough to present a barrier for me. Again, it’s something I personally feel I can be consistent with.

Basically, these ‘bite-sized’ bits of exercise bring me benefits, and also satisfy that part of my ego that identifies as someone who is ‘active’. It’s a firm foundation on which I can build other activities on top of when the opportunity and motivation arise.

For many years, I have been mindful of a quote attributed to Bruce Lee:

Long term consistency trumps short term intensity.

I actually think this is good advice for healthy habits in general. But, I think it’s particularly good advice for those of us who recognise our exercise highs are punctuated with extended lows.