Getting into a workout routine is rarely easy. It can be hard to find the motivation. Sometimes, it can even feel uncomfortable or embarrassing.
Just ask Kelly McGonigal, a health psychologist at Stanford University and the author of the book “The Joy of Movement.”
“Not being an athlete growing up, my experience with movement was mostly humiliation,” Dr. McGonigal said onstage at The New York Times’s Well Festival on Wednesday.
Dr. McGonigal was speaking with Danielle Friedman, a Well contributor, and Robin Arzón, the head instructor at Peloton, about the challenge of enjoying exercise.
To help people struggling to get going, Dr. McGonigal and Ms. Arzón shared three specific strategies to turn exercise into a vehicle to experience joy.
Don’t try to love every moment.
Many people think they should reach a point where they love each and every second of exercise.
But Dr. McGonigal said that is not realistic. Even during the most rewarding workouts, there can be moments of pain, difficulty or frustration.
So shift your expectations. Dr. McGonigal shared that her sister, a runner, had come to view the hardest moments of her runs as her favorite parts, since those were the moments when she felt toughest.
Ms. Arzón said she had come to find joy in the simple act of showing up to a workout, rather than focusing on how her body felt during it. Dr. McGonigal agreed: “Sometimes the ‘feeling good’ is how you feel about yourself afterward because you persisted — and you’re exhausted.”
Strive for momentum, not motivation.
Ms. Arzón said she makes her living by motivating people to work out. But consistency and routine are more important, she added.
“Motivation is fleeting,” Ms. Arzón said. “It’s ephemeral.” Instead, she said, try to focus on gaining “momentum.”
“It’s habit,” Ms. Arzón said. “It’s process. It’s schedule.”
And don’t worry if you’re not an expert in whatever exercise you’re doing. Just give it your best shot, and then give it a shot again.
“I would rather be bad at running than good at couch,” she said.
Find a community.
One reason that exercise makes us happy is that it can help foster connection to others. So try joining a run club or attending a Zumba class, even if the idea makes you self-conscious.
“When we move in sync with other people, our bodies enter a state — our brains enter a state that neuroscientists call ‘we mode,’” Dr. McGonigal said. “We enter a state of togetherness that is biologically real, and we can sense it as a kind of trust and closeness and belonging.”
Katie Mogg is a reporter covering health and wellness and a member of the 2024-25 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
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