Morning exercise is a good thing. Exercising at this time creates a cascade effect on the brain (a continuous flow of influences). Physical activity like walking, cycling, and jogging is good for you. These active movements are not only enjoyable but are also known to increase focus and motivation. Yet, despite these benefits, many people still haven’t made exercise a habit. Why?
You decide to switch from lazing around watching TV to taking walks or jogging. However, it seems difficult for humans to break the inertia of doing something. To break inertia, starting something requires an initial effort called “activation energy.” In physics, this energy is the initial energy needed to set a reaction in motion. In a sense, it’s like a priming agent. Knowing something is good and actually doing something you know is different. To break inertia and start a good habit, you need activation energy.
There’s a trick to using activation energy. To practice healthy lifestyle habits like exercise, we need to use as little of this energy as possible. For example, consider the habit of waking up in the morning and exercising. Waking up, finding your clothes, putting on socks and shoes, and then wondering that to go all wastes your active energy. To make exercise a habit, all you have to do is wake up, get out of bed, put your shoes on, and head out the door. Of course, you can sleep in your workout clothes and socks. Before you go to bed, decide where you’ll go for a walk the next morning and write down which parts of your body you want to focus on training. When you wake up, you’ll be ready to exercise naturally. This is the secret to minimizing active energy.
As an aside, if people realize that morning workouts are good for their health and more people start practicing them, it will create business opportunities. Those in the apparel industry could come up with ideas for combining pajamas with sportswear. Shoe makers could combine shoes with clothing, and insurance companies could come up with new services that combine exercise habits with insurance.
Finally, it comes down to children’s studies. It takes a surprisingly long time for children to get started on their studies right away. When they start working, they need “activation energy.” When they decide to study and sit down at their desk, if they have everything they need – pencils, notebooks, textbooks – they will have little “activation energy” and will be able to get started smoothly. However, when they decide to study and then sharpen their pencils or get out their notebooks and textbooks, they will use a lot of activation energy. The less this energy they use, the smoother they will be able to get started on their studies. When they want to start studying, it’s best if they can start with their notebooks and textbooks ready. If their children can create this kind of situation, parents will refrain from telling them to “hurry up.”
