Habits – 21 Days to break, make and reinforce.

Habits are hard to break and often just as hard to make…we all know that. However, have you heard of the rough formula attached to successful making and breaking of habits? I find it both interesting and motivating whenever I want to start or stop doing something. This is how it goes:

• 21 days to break (an old) habit.
• 21 days to make a (new) habit.
• 21 days to reinforce (the new) habit.

So roughly 60 days or 2 months to go from ‘I’m going to do it’ to ‘If I don’t do it (my new habit) I’m going to miss it’.

60 days to make the change stick.

If we apply this to exercise and the oft talked up, ‘I’m going to get fit after Christmas’ pledge, it means that unless you are still fulfilling your New Years resolution by the end of February, you’re new regime won’t be anywhere near hardwired into your sub-conscious. It’s not that long, but how many of you have lasted till now with an exercise based (or any) New Years resolution?

If we apply this to the school year and getting kids into good exercise habits, this means roughly that it’s the end of Term 1 before they’re ‘in the groove’ (of course we know this applies to getting them into a class routine as well).

So how to build these good habits? Referring to last weeks post (‘Show Some Ticker’ – Read here), do a little more often so that the idea of exercise is not so daunting. 15-20 minutes with your heart-rate high enough to make the kids short of breath is spot on. In addition, make it fun (again, see last week’s post). It’s like hiding fruit in a smoothie – if it’s fun (or taste’s good) they won’t realise they’re working.

Have a great day!

The Year Ahead – Show Some Ticker

Welcome to 2012! Here’s hoping you had an excellent break. We have all returned to nothing close to Swimming Carnival quality weather that’s for sure!

Let’s take this opportunity at the start of the year to talk a little medium to long-term re the fitness and health of your students (and you).

I once heard tennis great Martina Navratilova say, that a bit of exercise several times a week is way better than one, intense hit out a week. With this simple, yet very effective piece of advice in mind, how about setting a goal to raise you student’s heart rate for a 15 minute period, 3 times a week (in addition to their PE Lessons)?

We're not talking marathons - just 15 minutes a few times a week.

There are a million different ways that you can achieve this and despite the jam-packed schedule of the average student and teacher, surely 15 minutes can be found.

For me, it’s all about heart rate. You’re not trying to build muscle on kids except the big one inside their chest, so getting the beats up and keeping them there for a sustained (this means games with no down time) 10-15 minutes is the best quality of exercise. Try these:

• Individual Skipping (not the big rope where a lot of waiting occurs).
• An extended game of Swim Fishy Swim, Stuck In The Mud or Octopus Tag (with limited time waiting at each end).
• Pac-man with a couple of  ‘angels’ (to release those who have been tagged).
• Everybody’s In.
• Relays with short laps (20 metres) and small teams (again, to reduce waiting and a slowing down of heart rates).

If the majority of the class is at least a little short of breath from about 5 minutes in until the end of 15 minutes, then you’ve set a great task. Remember, repetition of this style of exercise will have remarkable effects on their metabolism, fitness and overall health.

If you would like an explanation of any of the games above, please get in touch. If you have others you know of, how about leaving a comment?

Enjoy!