Motivating people in the middle

Interesting study that demonstrates that people might retain motivation better if their progress is framed in certain ways. Basically, if they're just starting out on something, measure their progress in terms of how far they've come. If they're nearing the end of a task, measure their progress in terms of how much work remains. From Psychology Today:

In a final study, the authors looked at people's motivation to do a boring proofreading task.  They had to proofread 9 documents.  Some people got a progress bar showing how many they had done so far.  Some got a progress bar showing how many documents were yet to be completed.  A third group knew that they were going to do 9 essays, but they just had a marker showing where they were in the task.

 The group that had a progress bar showing how far they had come from the start was most effective at proofreading (as measured by the number of typos they found per second) when they were near the beginning of the task than as they progressed.  The group that had a progess bar showing how much remained to be done was most effective as they neared the end of the task. 

 And in the middle? 

 Of interest, the group that did not have a frame of reference that focused on either the beginning or the end of the task was effective on the first few and last few documents, but performed worst in the middle.

Give them regular feedback at smaller intervals to keep them motivated.

Lots of implications for fitness clients, weight-loss goals, and everyday life in general.


I remember talking to a friend who said that he'd come up with an idea for a gym that would function essentially like Chuck E. Cheese -- where clients would earn tickets or tokens for completing their workouts (or for running a certain number of miles, say), and then they would be able to cash in those tickets for prizes (like shirts and water bottles). 


I think there are some problems with this model, since I want my clients to be intrinsically motivated (mostly), but I think the larger concept is useful. People like frequent feedback; they like milestones and landmarks; they do better with concrete rather than abstract goals. 


If you can only do 1 pull-up, setting a goal of being able to do 40 is daunting. It would be better to set a goal of doing 5, then 10, then 15, and so on... -- and celebrate those milestones in some tangible way. We need an adult equivalent of getting a gold star next to your name in kindergarten. Sounds silly, but it can be powerful. 

Priorities

With food, the most important things to do in (approximate) order, no matter what your goals are:

1. Stop eating toxins. In rough order of importance from high to low: 
• junk food, processed food, and trans fats (usually these are a package deal)
• seed/vegetable oils
• sugar
• wheat and soy
• other grains and legumes
• dairy (for some people)
2. Sleep adequately. This means 8+ hours a day for most people.
• Most people will put this lower on their list or leave it off altogether, since sleep isn't directly linked to nutrition -- or is it? 
• Chronic sleep deprivation has a greater impact on long-term health, fat loss, and cancer prevention than any of the items that follow. 
3. Improve the quality of the food you do eat (switch to pastured meats, wild-caught fish, local/organic produce, add or increase intake of organ meats).
4. Supplement minimally and only as necessary (magnesium, vitamin D3, possibly zinc, selenium, vitamin K2, small doses of cod liver oil, etc.)
5. If and only if 1-4 are satisfied, then you can move on to tinkering with macronutrient ratios, macronutrient timing, intermittent fasting, more supplements, and so on. 

This can basically be distilled down to "Eat Real Food Only (and get lots of sleep)."

With exercise, the most important things to do in order, from the perspective of long-term health, longevity, and quality of life:

1. Stop being sedentary. Even the worst, most poorly designed exercise program is better than sitting on the couch watching TV. Daily walks are an excellent place to start.
2. Stop sitting all day. This is a corollary to #1. Basically, sitting all day is the equivalent of not sleeping enough. It seems harmless, but it is a huge cause of chronic pain, muscle loss, and fat gain. 
3. Rehabilitate any chronic injuries and resolve chronic pain through mobility/stability/posture training. 
• A good physical therapist is invaluable, but hard to find. In my experience, most PTs are a waste of time and money, and good PTs are rare. If you find a good PT, you should see him or her as often as you can afford it. 
• Daily mobility work is a must. MobilityWod.com is one of the best places to start for beginners who don't know what they are looking for (and it's free!). 
• If you have serious joint issues or chronic pain/injuries, and are serious about resolving them, I would highly recommend visiting a gym like IFAST or Cressey Performance and getting a personalized assessment and program. Do this even if you have to fly across the country to get there. 
4. Develop some basic strength. 
• Starting Strength alone will be better than 90% of fitness programs out there. (Yes, it's better than P90X and CrossFit.) Buy the book. It will be the best $30 you've ever spent on fitness. 
• Any reasonably healthy adult male under the age of 50 should, at minimum, be able to 
• back squat 1.5x his bodyweight, 
• deadlift 2x his bodyweight, and 
• do 5-10 dead-hang chin-ups, 10-20 push-ups -- all with perfect form.* 
• This should take around 1-6 months to develop for most people, with exceptions for morbid obesity and orthopedic issues. These will arguably be the most important 6 months of your training career, in terms of potential impact on long-term health and quality of life. If you can squat 1.5x your body weight at the age of 75, you are not going die in a nursing home. 
5. Do some conditioning ("cardio") that doesn't interfere with #3. 
• Short intervals of skipping rope, hill sprints, rowing, prowler/car pushing, etc. 
• CrossFit-type workouts can be useful here, but only if they are intelligently programmed and kept short (under 10 minutes, preferably under 7 minutes). The majority of random CF workouts that you'll find on the web do not fit this pattern, so do not go this route if you do not know what you are doing.
6. If and only if 1-5 have been satisfied, move on to more specific goals (sport-specific goals, competition, body composition**).

*These are conservative benchmarks. For adult women, I'm guessing:

• BS 1xBW, 
• DL 1.5xBW, 
• 1-3 DH chin-ups, 5-10 push-ups (not on knees). 

**For most people, body composition is their #1 priority when they sign up for a gym. As a trainer, my job is to figure out how I can accomplish this enough to make you keep coming back, without sacrificing too much of the more important items above (mobility, stability, strength). Luckily, strength training actually does a great job of improving body composition anyway, if you can get your client to just shut up and do it.