Why Accountability is the MVP of Your Fitness Journey
by Jen Ahlberg, PhD
We’ve all been there. It’s January 1st (or a random Monday), and you’re ready to make big changes. You bought the new shoes, prepped the meals, and promised yourself that this time is the time.
Then, life happens. An unexpected meeting, a sick kid, or an evening craving for ice cream—and boom, we’re derailed. That derailment turns into “I’ll try again tomorrow,” and suddenly it’s been another month of putting off your health goals.
If you want to move from the cycle of "starting over" to actually seeing results, there is one non-negotiable ingredient: Accountability.
Why We Can’t Rely on Willpower
We like to think of fitness as a test of character—if we just had enough "grit," we’d never skip a workout. If we were more determined, we’d get to the gym more often. If we only had more willpower, we would stop eating at night. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind.
Law of Conservation of Energy: Our brains and bodies are hardwired to conserve energy. If no one knows you skipped the gym, your brain will rationalize it.
Willpower is Exhausting: Considering we’re hardwired to conserve energy, we can’t rely on willpower, we must make it a habit. In fact people with the "strongest" willpower actually use it the least because they’ve designed their lives to avoid temptation entirely.
Our bodies are governed by the Law of Conservation of Energy. Evolutionarily, your brain is hardwired to keep you alive by avoiding unnecessary effort. In the wild, every calorie saved was a calorie available for survival. When you’re sitting on the couch debating a workout, your brain isn't being "lazy"—it’s performing a survival calculation. It will instinctively rationalize staying still unless there is a compelling external reason to move.
Dr. Daniel Lieberman, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard, notes that "we are psychologically and biologically predisposed to avoid unnecessary physical activity" [1]. To overcome this, we can't just "try harder"—we have to change the environment around us.
The Observer Effect: Why We Perform Better When Watched
In physics, the Observer Effect suggests that the mere act of observing a phenomenon changes that phenomenon. In fitness, this is the "secret sauce."
When you know someone is watching—a coach, a peer or a community—your performance shifts. You stop negotiating with yourself because the "social cost" of quitting becomes higher than the "physical cost" of the workout.
From the Baylor Sidelines to the Astride Community
I saw this play out constantly during my time at Baylor as a Strength Coach. Even at the D1 level, where athletes are incredibly driven, the "Observer Effect" was extremely evident. A player might feel exhausted, but the moment they stepped onto the field under the eyes of the coaching staff, their teammates or a crowd, their intensity shifted. They weren't just playing for themselves; they were performing for the eyes observing them. We all do it.
We apply this same logic at Astride. For example, we have our remote members join a monthly deep-dive call. It’s not just a status update; it’s a space to voice hurdles. There’s a psychological shift that happens when a member says out loud to their coach, "I struggled with my evening snacking this week." By observing and naming the struggle, it loses its power. One of our recent members shared that knowing their coach would see their logged workout in the app was the only thing that got them out of bed on rainy mornings. That isn’t "willpower"—that’s the Observer Effect in action.
Building Your System
Accountability isn't about punishment or guilt; it’s about creating a bridge between knowing what to do and actually doing it. At Astride, we weave this into everything we do—not to "police" our members, but to provide the steady hand that keeps you moving forward when the initial spark of motivation inevitably fades.
Stop trying to fight your biology alone. You’ve got goals; let’s build the system to make them inevitable.
References
Lieberman DE. Is exercise really medicine? An evolutionary perspective. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2015;14(4):313-319. doi:10.1249/jsr.0000000000000168
Adair JG. The Hawthorne effect: a reconsideration of the methodological artifact. J Appl Psychol. 1984;69(2):334-345. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.69.2.334