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[00:00.70] A woman in Portland, Oregon started her daily exercise habit with one activity – walking her dog.

[00:10.80] Lindsay Kee then added movements to this daily activity.

[00:19.44] Before leaving on the walk, she did some standing stretches.

[00:22.09] On her return, she did other exercises such as jumping jacks.

[00:28.47] Over time, Kee added more exercises around the dog walk.

[00:34.58] She said adding exercises to an existing activity took the pressure off of creating a whole new daily exercise.

[00:46.53] And now more than a year later, she consistently exercises around the dog walk.

[00:55.83] Kee said, “I’ve found it to be really effective in helping me be consistent with things that I really do want to do.”

[01:06.45] What Kee did is called habit stacking. Writer S.J. Scott created this term for his 2014 book of the same name.

[01:20.00] The idea behind habit stacking is to attach something you want to start doing to something you already do every day.

[01:31.95] A common example is flossing your teeth after brushing them. However, you can use habit stacking in many areas of your daily life.

[01:45.24] Kee, for example, places her vitamins next to the coffee machine.

[01:51.61] This helps her remember to take them every morning.

[01:56.66] Exercise experts say habit stacking is especially helpful if you are trying to increase exercise time.

[02:06.75] Dana Santas is a movement expert who has trained more than 50 professional sports teams.

[02:15.52] She combines exercise habits with personal health care. For example, Santas does push-ups before every shower.

[02:29.60] And she does leg exercises while brushing her teeth.

[02:35.97] She says that her electric toothbrush makes a sound every 30 seconds to remind her to brush different teeth.

[02:45.53] But she uses the reminder to change her exercises.

[02:50.84] “It’s perfect,” she added.

[02:54.03] Two minutes of exercise may not get you in shape.

[02:58.28] But, experts say every little bit helps.

[03:04.13] Experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest getting 150 minutes of moderate activity, like a fast walk, every week.

[03:17.70] Or you could also get 75 minutes of very energetic activity, like jogging, every week.

[03:30.81] The health experts also suggest two days a week of strength training.

[03:35.06] Most people find keeping new habits difficult.

[03:45.02] And while habit stacking is not a perfect solution, it does help with one barrier -- decision-making.

[03:50.59] Gretchen Rubin is the writer of Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives.

[03:59.91] She said habit stacking is one of the best ways to start and keep new habits.

[04:10.67] The technique helps to remove the barrier of deciding when or if to do something.

[04:19.21] Rubin shared a story of her college days.

[04:21.07] To help her stay active, she would only shower if she had exercised that day.

[04:28.89] She suggested combining the new, or what she calls “shaky,” behavior with something you have to do or deeply want to do.

[04:44.16] “So you have to do the shaky habit before you get to the strong habit,” Rubin said.

[04:48.41] If she wants to listen to a podcast, her strong habit, she must do it while exercising on a running machine.

[04:57.44] For her, this will strengthen her shaky habit.