The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Imagine you’ve set your alarm to go for an early-morning run before work. But when it goes off at 6, the embrace of your warm, cozy bed is too enticing and you never make it out the door. Or perhaps you’ve packed exercise clothes with plans to hit a spin class after work. But then the allure of happy hour, or even your couch, persuades you to skip it.

Even those with the best of intentions often struggle to motivate themselves to work out. There’s almost always a powerful temptation to do something, or anything, else.

This can feel like a personal failing, as though the decision not t...