You want to lose weight. You want to get in shape. You want to be successful. But you don’t know how to start. Or maybe you’ve started, but you can’t seem to stick with it for more than a few days or weeks.   

When it comes to improving our health and fitness, we all know that forming good habits is the key. But most of the time it can be tough to get started, or to keep on track.  And that’s where habit stacking comes in. Habit stacking is the process of linking together a series of related healthy habits into a single routine. This can make it easier to stick to your goals and can help you see better results overall. 

In this blog post, we will discuss the basics of habit stacking and how you can use it to achieve your own health and fitness goals! 

 

HOW HABIT STACKING WORKS

 

The basic idea behind Habit stacking is that your brain prunes away connections between brain neurons that don’t get used and builds up connections that get used more frequently. Habit stacking is a special form of an implementation intention, which means you pair your new habit with a particular existing habit.  

You have patterns and behaviors that have been strengthened over years, and by linking your new habits to a cycle that is already built into your brain, you’re more likely to stick to them. 

For example, if you want to start going to the gym regularly, try pairing it with another behaviour that’s already ingrained in your routine- like stopping for lunch or your morning shower. Or if you’re used to reading a newspaper in the morning, decide to link that routine with eating a fruit of your choice while doing so.  

 

THE HABIT STACKING FORMULA

 

Habit stacking was made popular by James Clear with his New York Time’s Bestselling book ‘The Atomic Habits’. He introduced a simple yet effective formula on how to habit stack: 

 After/While doing [current habit], I will [new habit]. 

 Simple as that. It’s an effective formula to trick your brain to rewire existing habits with the new ones until it becomes part of your daily life without the need to push yourself to exhaustion or procrastination.   

 

Here are some examples of habit stacking:

  • While I brew coffee, I will do stretching or run in place
  • While brushing teeth, I will walk around the bathroom
  • After dropping my kids to school, I will take my dog for a run 
  • After tying my shoelace, I will do 10 seconds Warrior 1 pose 
  • I will put on my workout clothes after brushing my teeth in the morning 
  • I can do yoga, while watching my favorite Netflix show  

 

In habit stacking, your old habits become your triggers to do the new ones. Your brain has the capacity to automatically tell you to do an action upon a perceived trigger formed overtime, just as how you wash your hands after going to the bathroom or putting on a seatbelt before you drive. So, when you practice habit stacking in the long run, it becomes automatic and not a chore.  

 

HOW TO BUILD SUCCESSFUL HABIT STACKING

 

Habit stacking is known to be effective as it only takes very little effort to complete and does not require much thought. The key here is consistency, so make sure to do it every day for about two weeks before adding on another task. 

You’ll find yourself in the zone of doing both tasks with ease. Remember, it’s important to start small, and gradually add more tasks as you become more comfortable with the process. And don’t forget to have some fun in doing so! Choose habits that you know will make your life a little easier and more enjoyable. After all, if you don’t enjoy doing something, it’s going to be pretty tough to stick with it for the long haul.  

 

Research shows that it takes around 21 days to develop a consistent action into a habit. So get your fitness booklet and start jotting down habits you would like to start stacking. Soon enough, you will have formed some powerful new healthy habits that will help support your success not just in fitness, but in all areas of life!