Do this for three months and transform your fitness for years

People tend to start exercising and expect immediate results. There are several benefits that take root within days, but you’re unlikely to see these reflected in the mirror or on the bathroom scales, as many might hope.

As experienced coach Ed Haynes puts it: “If you walk 10 kilometres into the woods, you've got to walk 10 kilometres out of it.”

In other words, years of unhealthy habits cannot be undone by one week of workouts and nourishing food. It’s a great start, but it’s the first step of many.

Through this lens, becoming fitter and healthier can feel like a Sisyphean task. But there is light at the end of this particular tunnel.

Getting in shape is undeniably difficult, but from my experience staying in shape is significantly easier. If you can forge a select few healthy habits over the course of three months, you’ll be amazed by the changes you see.

Think of getting in shape like riding a bike uphill. Every time you press down on the pedals, it’s a struggle.

Men exercise in a gym as the sun sets in Spain. AP. This image is used for illustrative purpose.

Likewise, when aiming to become healthier, every new inclusion in your routine creates untold friction. You’ll see results, but there’s a clunkiness to cramming workouts into already busy mornings, or replacing your autonomous bolognese with an unfamiliar veg-heavy recipe.

However, once these changes are in place, there comes a point a few months in where you reach the top of the hill.

Accessible home workouts become as much a part of your morning as brushing your teeth; you fill your shopping basket with fruits and vegetables without a second thought; if something is a 20-minute walk away, public transport isn't even a consideration.

You’re freewheeling your way to better health because your baseline behaviours are now beneficial. You can enjoy more flexibility in your routine too – a dessert with friends is inconsequential when the rest of your week is filled with regular movement and nutritious food.

The only caveat is that these behaviours have to be sustainable – no crash diets or six-week “summer shred” workout plans. As alternatives, I’ve seen people combine a few of the options below and be incredibly successful:

Setting an achievable daily step goal; time-savvy home workouts every other day rather than wishful plans to go to the gym; exercise snacks; squats while brushing your teeth; keeping your favourite fruits at your desk rather than a bag of crisps or a chocolate bar; drinking an extra glass of water each day; hitting your five-a-day; eating a lean protein source with each meal.

If something is easy, we are far more likely to opt into it. If something is ingrained, we don’t even have to waste energy doing that.

The Independent