我的一个朋友Scott Young最近写了一篇文章《New to exercise? Make workouts daily》。这篇文章很不错，我最近也在试着养成每天锻炼的习惯，文中有不少观点和我的一些想法不谋而合。

http://zenhabits.net/fotos/taichi.jpg        Recently my friend and fellow blogger Scott Young did a great post entitled, “New to exercise? Make workouts daily“. It was an excellent post, and perfectly timed as it mirrors my own recent efforts at making exercise a daily habit.

        很多人都想养成锻炼身体的好习惯，但是他们都存在着一个问题，那就是每周只是计划锻炼3、4次……只是这一点就足以导致新习惯的难产。原因就是只有你坚持某一行动的时间越久，这一行动成为你习惯的可能性也就越大。

        The problem with trying to make exercise a habit, and it’s something that we’ve all faced, is that you usually try to exercise 3 or 4 times a week … and that makes creating a new exercise habit difficult. The reason is that the more consistent an action is, the more likely it is to be a habit.

         所以就像 Scott指出的那样，当然我也很同意这一点 — 只有坚持每天锻炼才有可能养成锻炼的习惯。让锻炼成为无意识的，自发的，这样子下来事情就会简单的多。

        Therefore, as Scott points out, and it’s something I fully agree with, exercising every day is more likely to result in a habit — something that becomes almost automatic, and much easier, instead of a constant struggle.

        我已经开始在最近的生活中执行这个理念了，每天坚持做不同的运动——跑步、游泳、自行车和肌肉锻炼，为了在今年能够达到奥林匹克标准的铁人三项水平。去年我养成了每天跑步的习惯，当时是为了我第一次参加马拉松比赛，但是后来由于生病计划中止了，所以我现在要重新养成这个习惯。

        I've been implementing this idea in my daily life recently, alternating every day between different exercises: running, swimming, biking and strength workouts, as a way of reaching my goal of completing an Olympic-distance triathlon this year. I’m going to continue this habit change into the month of May (read below for the Zen Habits May Challenge). I made daily running a habit last year, when I was training for my first marathon, but this year I stopped when I got sick, so I’m re-starting the habit formation.

        如果你正计划养成每天锻炼的习惯，那么就先来一个为其30天的自我挑战，30天过后你将会有惊喜的发现。下面有一些比较实用的建议：

        If you’re going to make this a habit, do a 30-day Challenge, and by the end of the challenge your habit should be pretty well ingrained. Here are some practical suggestions I’ve learned along the way to help make exercise a daily habit:

1、确定每天锻炼的时间。

    想好哪个时间段对你来说最适合，清晨或者午饭后或者晚上？我给自己定下的时间是早上5：30.每天都是这个时间，并且尽可能的不去改变。如果你没有定下一个确切的时间，那么你很可能会找借口把锻炼推迟到你有更多时间或者更多精力的时候，然后拖到了第二天，拖来拖去这个习惯就没了。

1、Set a time. Decide whether you’re more likely to stick with it in the morning or lunchtime or evening, and stick with that time. I’ve set the time of 5:30 a.m. every day, and I’m trying my best not to vary from that time. If you don’t set a time, you’re more likely to put it off until you have more time or energy, and then put it off until the next day. Soon, it’s not a habit at all.

2、给自己设置一个提醒

    我使用的是Memo to Me。当然，还有很多种方式你可以获得email或者文字提醒。当你接收到提醒之后，马上开始做。不要找任何借口拖延。

2、Send yourself a reminder. I use Memo to Me, but there are a number of ways to send yourself an email or text reminder, so you’ll never forget. Then, when you get the reminder, do it right away. Don’t brook any delays.

3、开始时运动量不要过大

         这条建议也许是最有用的。我刚开始锻炼时，每次都怀着雄心壮志，觉得自己一定能做的更多。但是，开始阶段如果做的太多的话可能会对你的整个锻炼计划带来不良的影响。当你第一次试着去养成每天锻炼的习惯时，你的身体也许还不能适应那种程度的压力。关键在这里：最开始时每天锻炼20分钟，并且不要做强度太大的运动。这并不困难吧？甚至刚开始时你只需要锻炼10-15分钟。关键在于迈出第一步，让你的身体逐渐适应每天锻炼，然后慢慢的养成这个习惯。

3、Start small. This is perhaps the most useful suggestion of all. When I start exercising, I always start with lots of energy, enthusiasm and ambition. I think I can do more than I can. However, doing too much in the beginning leads to burnout, which leads to quitting your habit. When you first try to make exercise a daily habit, chances are, your body won’t be used to that kind of stress. The key: only do 20 minutes in the beginning, and do it nice and easy. Nothing hard. Even 10-15 minutes is fine at first, if you’re just starting out. The key is to get out there, get your body slowly used to daily exercise, and form that habit.

4、然后逐步加大运动量

         一旦你的身体开始适应了日常锻炼，你可以慢慢的加大运动量和运动强度。至少在两周之后再试着这样做——因为你的身体至少需要这么久的调整。当20分钟的锻炼时间已经让你觉得很轻松时，你就可以试着30、40分钟，甚至逐渐的增加到1个小时。当你做到这些之后你就可以逐渐的提高运动强度了——譬如跑的更快一些。不要试着同时加大运动量和运动强度。

4、Progress later. Once your body is used to daily exercise, you can slowly start to increase the amount and intensity of your exercise. Wait at least two weeks before starting to increase — that’s the minimum your body needs to adjust. Once it begins to feel way too easy, you can start increasing the length of your workouts, to 30 and then 40 minutes, and eventually up to an hour. Once you do that, you can gradually increase the intensity — running faster or harder, for example. Try not to increase both distance and intensity at the same time.

5、让锻炼变得快乐起来

        如果你把一个习惯和痛苦联系在了一起，那么潜意识里你肯定想远离它。但是如果这个习惯能让你联想到快乐呢？你当然会很乐意去做。这就是为什么在我刚开始锻炼的时候，我总是把焦点放在锻炼的乐趣上。我一边慢跑一边欣赏路边的风景，呼吸早晨清新的空气，日出时美丽的天空，一个人的安静……这些都是我喜欢的。锻炼时带上一个MP3也会有很大帮助。

 5、Make it pleasurable. If you associate a habit with pain, you will shy away from it. But if it’s fun, you’ll look forward to doing it. That’s why, in this beginning stage of my new habit, I’ve been focusing on pleasure. I go slowly, enjoying the scenery, the fresh morning air, the beautiful sky as the sun rises, the quiet time of solitude and contemplation. It’s actually something I enjoy doing. An mp3 player with some great music helps.

6、事先把运动装备准备好

         在你养成一个习惯的过程中，你遇到的障碍和阻力越小，你成功的可能性就越大。试着想一想，大清早你睡的迷迷糊糊的，想到锻炼之前还要一堆运动装备要整理，你很可能一郁闷就继续睡下了……但是如果你之前就把运动服、运动鞋、手表、MP3等等这些都已经摆放好，随时可以开始锻炼，也许事情会更顺利一些。

6、Lay out your gear. The fewer obstacles and less friction there is in forming your new habit, the more likely you are to be successful. If you have to not only wake up early but get a bunch of gear together while half awake, you might just want to go back into bed. But if you lay out your workout clothes and shoes and watch and mp3 player, or whatever you need for your exercise, you’ll be ready to go with no friction at all.  

7、别磨叽，迅速开门出去

        我的规则就是一穿上跑鞋就马上出门。我不去想我今天要跑多久跑多远。我要做的只是打开门走出去。然后开始锻炼。一旦你做到了这一点，接下来的事情就是小菜一碟。

7、Just head out the door. My rule is just to get my running shoes on and get out the door. I don’t worry about how long I have to go or how hard it will be. Just get out and get started. Once I’ve done that, it’s a piece of cake.

8、各种锻炼项目穿插进行

        我喜欢铁人三项训练的原因之一就是它能让我的日常锻炼不那么枯燥——我可以游泳，或者骑自行车，而不单单只是每天跑步，这就让锻炼显得更有趣了。不同的运动锻炼了我身体不同部位的肌肉，尤其是游泳。当然，有些部位的肌肉会经常被用到，但是不同的运动项目对它们有着不同的锻炼。我举这个例子是想说，我并不是每天都在锻炼同一处肌肉。我会给它们机会让它们休息恢复，因为只锻炼不恢复的话，会对你的肌肉造成损伤。

8、Mix it up. One thing I like about triathlon training is that daily exercise isn’t boring — instead of running every single day, now I’ve got a variety of sports to do, and that makes it much more interesting. But perhaps just as important is that with each sport, I’m using different muscles, especially with swimming. Sure, some of the same muscles are used, but they’re used differently with different stresses on them. What that means is that I’m not pounding the same muscles, every day. That gives them a chance to recover, because without recovery, you’re just breaking your muscles down over and over.

9、一周“休息”一天

         再次提醒你，恢复是非常重要的。如果你只是每天做少量的运动，只锻炼20分钟，那么也许不用专门休息你也没有什么问题。但是，最好每周你能抽出一天做些与另外六天所不相同的运动。你不能直接跳过这一天，什么都不做，那样子的话你锻炼的持续性就被打破了，这对习惯的养成来说不是一个好消息。如果你需要更多的休息，不妨去散步20分钟，或者冥想一会儿。

 9、Have a relative rest day. Again, recovery is very important. Which is why you need to give your body a chance to rest. If you’re taking it easy, and only doing 20 minutes, you should be OK without rest days. But it’s still good to have one day of rest, where you’re not doing the same exercises as the other six days. You don’t want to skip the day completely, because then you’re not being consistent with your habit. That’s why I do one day of strength training, where I don’t use the same muscles as swimming, biking and running. If you need more rest, you could just do 20 minutes of walking, or even just a session of meditation. The key is to do something every day, preferably something that gets you moving (meditation isn’t the best example, but at least you’d be doing something) and keeps your habit formation going.

10、一天都不要间断

    “没问题，我已经连续做了5天了……今天就不做了吧~”很多人会这么说。但是这只会让你的习惯更难养成。坚持，这是关键中的关键。一天都不要间断。如果你哪天偷懒不做了，不要责备自己——每个人都会有这样的问题，并且习惯的养成是一个需要练习的技能。你要做的只是重新开始一个30天计划，明确自己的目标和障碍，然后加油！

10、Don’t skip a day. It’s easy to say, “No problem, I’ve been doing it for five days … I’ll just skip today!” But that will make your habit formation harder. Consistency is key, so try not to skip a single day. If you do, don’t beat yourself up, don’t judge, don’t feel bad — everyone messes up sometimes, and habit formation is a skill that requires practice. Just start your 30-day challenge over again, and try to identify the obstacle that led to your skipping a day and prepare for it this time.