This One Change Will Make You More Likely To Work Out—And Enjoy It, Reveals New Study

You know you’re supposed to exercise regularly, but finding the motivation to do it can sometimes be tough. After all, work and general life obligations are really good at getting between you and the gym. Plus, you’re tired and working out is hard.

While there are a ton of hacks on TikTok about increasing your workout motivation, new research suggests that the answer could be as simple as taking up a mindfulness habit. Even better: It could help you actually like and look forward to working out.

Meet the experts: Masha Remskar, PhD, lead study author and researcher at the University of Bath; Albert Matheny, RD, CSCS, co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab

Scientists have already found that meditation and mindfulness are great for your mental health, making this a win-win for your body and mind. But what did the study uncover and why is meditation so helpful for exercise? Here’s the deal.

What did the study find?

Researchers recruited 109 adults in England who didn’t meet their recommended activity levels for the study, which was published in the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity. Over the course of 30 days, the study participants were asked to try to get 8,000 steps a day, which was measured by a simple activity tracker. But half of the participants were asked to also follow a daily mindfulness program with an app, doing short practices that were focused on body awareness, movement, and exercise.

At the end of the study period, both groups were more active than at the start of the study. But the researchers found that the people in the mindfulness group did 373 minutes of moderate exercise per week, while those in the group that only counted their steps did 297 minutes a week.

People who used the mindfulness app also said they felt more determined to keep exercising. As a result, the researchers suggest that doing mindfulness work along with an exercise routine might help keep you motivated.

Why might mindfulness help you stick with an exercise routine?

It’s not entirely clear, but there are some theories.

“We think mindfulness training might actually help equip people with the psychological skills we might need in order to build an exercise habit,” says Masha Remskar, PhD, lead study author and researcher at the University of Bath.

Plenty of people feel motivated to work out for shorter periods of time, she points out. “But we think it’s actually that effortful training through mindfulness that might help people build the psychological resilience to be able to tolerate some discomfort better,” Remskar says.

At the same time, mindfulness also seems to make people more engaged in exercise, she says.

How can you walk or exercise more mindfully?

This particular study had people do mindfulness exercises separately—Remskar says they though it would be too much for people who are new to the practice to do that and exercise more. But Remskar says it’s totally possible to exercise mindfully.

“If you’re already familiar with the type of exercise, or if it’s repetitive, you could try paying attention to your surroundings, your breath, and noticing if anything in the environment has changed,” Remskar says. (Basically, instead of listening to a podcast or music, focus on what you’re doing and what’s happening around you.) Even noticing what the temperature feels like on your skin as you work out is practicing mindfulness, she says.

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While the mindfulness hack can help with exercise motivation, there are some other things you can do to stay in it, according to Albert Matheny, RD, CSCS, co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab. “Accountability with people is good,” he says. That can mean working out with a friend or signing up for a regular class so you have better odds of showing up.

Matheny also suggests making a point to move daily, even if you’re not grinding it out every single day. “If your time has gotten away from you, you can still do something for 15 minutes,” he says. “It’s better than nothing and it’s just building that habit where exercise becomes part of your daily life.”

Finally, Remskar recommends not being so hard on yourself when it comes to workout goals. “As a society, we have pretty set ideas on what ‘counts’ with exercise,” she says. “But every move counts.”

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