Welcome to Start TODAY. Sign up for our Start TODAY newsletter to receive daily inspiration sent to your inbox — and join us on Instagram!
Last week, the Start TODAY team packed up our sneakers and headed south to celebrate the conclusion of our February Balance Challenge in South Carolina.
Hundreds of walkers joined Al Roker in Hilton Head and Stephanie Mansour in Greenville to cross the finish line, sponsored by Discover South Carolina, VisitGreenvilleSC and Hilton Head Health. In true Start TODAY fashion it was a morning full of community support and a genuine love for walking and moving in a way that feels good.
If you need a nudge to find enjoyment in exercise, we have good news. We asked people who have made walking and running a consistent part of their routine — that they actually enjoy — how they did it. Their answer was surprisingly simple.
The No. 1 way to make fitness a habit: Find a tribe and don't do it alone
From couples with newborn babies, to grandmothers and their grandchildren, to friends and co-workers, there was no shortage of workout buddies who joined us at the finish line. In fact, enlisting a friend or family member as a workout buddy was the number one tip we heard for making fitness an enjoyable habit you can stick with and staying motivated to keep moving.
Rebecca Surett, of Greenville, SC, and her aunt, 70-year-old Debbie Presnell, walk together multiple times a week on the Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville, SC. They also do a 5K a month and are signed up for a 6-miler and half marathon this year.
“My aunt helps me step out my comfort zone. Sometimes I let social anxiety get to me; I call her my security blanket. She’s up for whatever. We just jump in with both feet,” says Surett, adding that they recently saw a local Pilates studio on Instagram and tried a free class together. Her aunt also keeps her accountable: “I’m not a morning person. Sometimes she has to text me and say, ‘alright, that’s it, get out of bed. We’re going.’”
Presnell says they are a part of a group of four that walk together, and she also has walking and biking dates with her husband. “We had been going to the gym three days a week, and that just suddenly stopped during the pandemic so I had to find something to get out and do. So I would leave my house, run a mile, hit the trail and pick up another 2 miles, and then my husband meets me at the café and we have a cup of coffee and a scone.”
Annaliese White, of Charlotte, North Carolina, has walked with her grandmother, Suzanne Capobianco, who is almost 80 years old, for decades — from the time she was just learning how to walk to present day, as a recent college grad who ran cross-country. “We’ve always walked together since I was a little girl,” she says. We used to collect acorns along the sidewalk in the fall and jump on them to crush them. That was my favorite thing. We’d always catch up when we were walking together and that was my favorite part of the day.”
If you don’t have a close friend or family member to walk with, finding a local group can serve as a similar support system.
“Having a group, for me, is very important. It keeps me accountable. I run in a group of very close friends and it’s very supportive. They’re expecting you to show up and they’re going to wait on you so you don’t sleep in," says Dorothy Dowe of Greenville, SC. "Running in a group is motivation; you’ve got a built-in group of cheerleaders. If you have a group to be with, that’s going to really hold you accountable and make it a little less tortuous in the beginning.”
If you can’t find a local group or are too intimidated to join one in person, consider an online forum with like-minded people, like our Start TODAY Facebook group. “Life comes at all of us and we all have those hard days. The motivation that I get from within the Start TODAY family keeps me going even on my hard days,” says member Pam Dorsey.
And simply taking your workouts outdoors can help you feed off the energy of others. “It's inspiration. One of the best things is to see someone else who is also running or walking because it inspires you," says Dr. Cedreck McFadden, a board-certified surgeon who resides in Greenville, SC. "It’s a little fist bump. It’s that community, that connectiveness that keeps you going.”