There are 4 key Pillars for staying active for life:
1. Convenience
2. Variety
3. Movement
4. Life
In this series we will look at each pillar in depth - today we're talking about the pillar of 'convenience'.
We all know the importance of staying active however, we also know that life is busy and that as important as it is to stay active, sometimes it can feel like an impossible task. That's why it's so important to find a workout routine that works for you, and where convenience is such an important factor when building a workout routine.
Image courtesy of http://www.behaviormodel.org/
The above graph explains the Fogg Behaviour Model, designed by Dr. BJ Fogg which supports this way of thinking. This shows that there are three elements that must converge at the same moment for a behavior to occur: Motivation, Ability, and Trigger.
As the graph shows, when something is easier to do (ie more convenient) the activation threshold is much lower - meaning that the desired behaviour is much more likely to occur. Interestingly, according to this graph the level of motivation doesn't even need to be super high in order for the behaviour to occur, it's all about convenience.
Many other studies have shown the importance of convenience when it comes to creating a behaviour - after all its much easier to do something when its convenient for us. As Nir Eyal, a bestselling author and behaviour designer explains:
"To increase the odds of a user taking the intended action, the behavior designer makes the action as easy as possible, while simultaneously boosting the user’s motivation."
How to add convenience
When applying convenience specifically to a gym or fitness facility this could be:
- Can you find classes and workouts easily from your phone or on the web?
- Can you easily visit it work or home? A variety of available locations is key
- Can you can easily take a friend along with you to workout together so you can combine social activity with a workout?
- Can you turn up and workout when you like? Or if you like classes is the there a large range of start times?
Flexible memberships like MoveGB are ticking many of these boxes and making your workout routine score highly on the 'ease' level. Never underestimate the power of convenience when trying to create behaviour - it's a key part of creating a habit you can keep for life. If you found this article helpful then keep an eye out for the rest of our 4 Pillars series!
