Enjoyment-Based Habit Stack
Pair necessary cardio with an activity you already value
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 96%
Enjoyment-Based Habit Stack increases adherence by pairing a necessary but disliked activity with something the person already wants to do. Coates's example is reading an interesting book while using a recumbent bike or walking on a treadmill. The equipment and exercise intensity are chosen so the valued activity remains possible and safe. This changes the experience from time spent enduring cardio into time that also feels personally useful. Intensity can still vary: resistance may rise for a shorter session or fall for a longer one, provided the pairing remains workable. The mechanism is reduced friction and immediate reward. Instead of waiting for exercise motivation, the person begins to anticipate the combined routine because it reliably includes an enjoyable activity.
Origin
Andrew Coates explained that he made boring cardio repeatable by reading books on a recumbent bike or treadmill, which the host identified as habit stacking.
Core principles
- 01Reduce friction instead of relying on motivation
- 02Pair a disliked task with a valued activity
- 03Choose a setup where both activities can coexist
- 04Enjoyment makes repetition more likely
How to run it
- 1
Identify the friction
Choose a beneficial activity you avoid because it feels boring or unrewarding.
- 2
Find a compatible reward
Select an activity you genuinely value, such as reading, that can occur at the same time.
Pro tip Use something you already look forward to rather than inventing a reward you think you should enjoy.
- 3
Design the setup
Choose equipment and a pace that let you perform both activities comfortably and safely.
Pro tip A recumbent bike can provide more stability for reading than equipment requiring active balance.
Watch out Do not add a distraction to exercise that requires full attention.
- 4
Tune the workload
Vary resistance, intensity or duration while preserving the enjoyable pairing.
- 5
Repeat the combined habit
Keep using the pairing until anticipation of the valued activity helps trigger the exercise routine.
In the wild
Coates sits on a recumbent bike and reads a book he is interested in. Some sessions use more resistance for less time; others use lower intensity for longer. Because the session combines cardio with reading, he enjoys it and looks forward to returning.
→ A previously boring cardio task becomes a repeatable habit.
Common mistakes
Pairing incompatible activities
The stack fails if the exercise intensity or equipment makes the enjoyable activity impractical or unsafe.
Choosing a weak reward
An activity you do not genuinely value will not meaningfully reduce friction.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for people who avoid steady cardio because it feels boring or unproductive.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for high-intensity or technically demanding exercise that requires full attention.
From the transcript
“I'll sit on a recumbent bike that the upright bikes or I can walk on a tread it works and I read a book I'm…”
“I actually have created this habit that I like and look forward to and because I like it look forward to I'm willing to do…”
“that is habit stacking right like there's like you're you're compounding The Habit so you actually will do the thing”
From the episode
Episode 394: Andrew Coates on Simplifying Strength Training and Cardio + Avoiding Overcomplication