5 Ways to Get Consistent with Your Workouts
Your overall health and fitness is only as good as your consistency in your workout habits. Whether you are notorious for doing hundreds of crunches the week before a beach vacation or just can’t seem to make it to the gym regularly for whatever reason, here are 5 tips to help you gain consistency in your fitness routine.
1. Schedule your workouts as appointments to yourself. When you schedule a hair appointment or a doctor appointment that doesn’t have availability for the next few weeks or months, you show up, right? Think of your workouts the same way because truthfully, if exercising is not a habit for you yet, you’re not going to do this for yourself until the next time your stylist can squeeze you in to touch up your roots. Block out your calendar and make it non-negotiable.
2. Have an Accountability Buddy. Whether you hire a personal trainer to provide a program and check in on you on non-training days or plan to meet up with your running/walking buddy every Sunday morning, the natural human feeling of not wanting to let others down can be a great motivator. If your friend is counting on you to meet at the park in the cold, it would be rude to leave them hanging, so you put on another layer and get out there to analyze the characters of your latest favorite show. You don’t have to be alone in your fitness journey; kill two birds with one stone and hang out with your friends.
3. Work out in the morning. Many of the most successful people in their respective fields complete the most important tasks first thing in the morning, including their workouts. These are the quiet hours (maybe without kids in the picture) before you’re inundated with requests from coworkers and other life energy-suckers. Get your workout done before you’re too tired to even start and get a nice endorphin boost at the same time! You’ll set yourself up for a day of success in your workout, food choices, and better sleep later.
4. Make your workout clothes visible the night before. Even as a retired professional soccer player, David Beckham organizes his entire week of outfits on a rack so that he knows exactly what he’s wearing each day and doesn’t have to think about it. Rather than get analysis paralysis over what pair of leggings coordinates with what tank top before your planned workout time, if you lay out your “uniform” the night before just like marathoners have “Flat Cynthia”, you’ll be ready to go even if you’re running late.
5. Don’t make a “perfect” workout schedule. It might sound counterintuitive to being consistent in your training, but having rest days built in is important in so many ways. Having a “run streak” going on 14 days or more is great for a short-term challenge, but that all-or-nothing approach is unsustainable if you get sick or injured and think that just because the streak is over that you should stop altogether. Start with smaller consistency goals such as going to the gym 2 times per week. When you master that after a few weeks, add a third day to your schedule. Your body is like a bank and every deposit you make builds compound interest. It’s a better investment than the current financial economy!
If you’re looking for personalized guidance and consistency in your fitness journey to join the #spontaneouslystrong, contact me to get started.