Last Updated on October 10, 2021 by Andrew Blakey
How To Stay Consistent With Exercise
How many times have you started a workout program only to quit a couple of days, weeks, or months later? How many times have you thought “how can I stay consistent with exercise”?
We’ve all been there and you’re not alone. We’ve all started workout programs or healthy habits with good intentions, only to give in to one of the many excuses we tell ourselves for why we can’t do something.
You may be familiar with the following:
I don’t have time
I’m too busy
I don’t feel like it
I’m too tired from work
I would but I’m going out with “Insert Name Here”…(bf, gf, friend, family, etc).
So what’s the problem? Well, making exercise a part of your life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for everyone. We all know someone who out of nowhere completely changes there life and becomes a workout junkie but for many of us, this isn’t the case.
So what can you do TODAY, to help make this change into a healthy lifestyle sustainable one? Well reading and following our 3 tips on how to stay consistent with exercise is definitely a great first step! Let’s get into it!
1. Schedule Your Fitness Activities
If you’re going to learn how to stay consistent with exercise, it’s important to make it a priority. Workouts are something that you need to make time for.
They’re not something you can just fit in ‘when you feel like’. Sure, you can do it that way… but you are much less likely to get the results you want if you only do them when you want to.
Schedule regular times throughout the week into your favourite calendar app, or input them into your physical calendar if you’re a bit more old fashioned that way. Whatever way works, DO IT! Check out this article to learn how to build a balanced workout schedule!
By inputting them into your calendar and making it a priority in your day you are less likely to get distracted by other things that happen to come up at the same time as your workout. You wouldn’t skip a business meeting so don’t skip your workout.
2. Join Some Sort Of Fitness Community
The next step on how to stay consistent with exercise is by joining some sort of fitness community.
This doesn’t mean you have to go all crazy and join every single workout challenge, boot camp, and fitness class that you can find (unless you want to).
Whether this means going to the gym or doing workouts with your spouse, or joining an online Facebook fitness group; find something that allows you to share your successes and concerns with people who care about your progress.
Here’s an awesome site that helps you figure out a plan to find a fitness community, alternatively reach out to us here and we can connect you with our awesome community!
If you’re looking for some ideas to help find your fitness community, check out the strava app. This app is especially useful if you’re looking to get involved in running, walking, or biking. On Strava you’re able to join public fitness groups that allow you to share your workouts and encourage each other. Get started!
3. Find Out Your ‘Why?”
This is one that I struggled to figure out how to explain in writing why this is absolutely pivotal in determining your success to stick with making exercise a lasting part of your life.
It is so important to figure out why making exercise a part of your life is something that you value.
This ‘why’, is what is going to motivate you to get up off the couch after a long day of work and you just don’t want to workout. It is also what is going to motivate you to go get your workout in, instead of sitting on the couch and spending the night watching Netflix.
I’ll give you a personal example of what my ‘why is and you can find your own!
My “Why”
Back in high school (which seems like forever ago now), I wasn’t always athletic. I was about 30 lbs overweight and as a 16 or 17 year old kid that made me lack the confidence both in myself and my abilities. I struggled to really flourish and it wasn’t until I adopted healthy habits such as working out and eating right that I really started to become my true self. If I was going to learn how to stay consistent with exercise, I had to find my “why.
My ‘why’ in this circumstance was because I didn’t like the way I looked in the mirror, I wanted to be healthy and like what I see when I looked in the mirror.
This isn’t to say that every ‘why’ has to be appearance-based because that is NOT the case at all. If you’re going to make meaningful change on how to stay consistent with exercise, you need to find YOUR why.
I believe that you should be able to enjoy your body as it is your vehicle through life from the time you’re born to the time we all die at some point.
Examples of “whys”
If you’re going to learn how to stay consistent with exercise, it isimportant to find out why exercise and fitness are important to you so that you can motivate yourself to do your workouts, eat healthy and in turn… be able enjoy your vehicle from now until the end of our time. Below are some common ‘whys’.
I want to be able to keep my independence as I enter old age
I want to be able to keep up with my kids
I want to be able to hike mountains and all that earth has to offer.
I hope you’re able to use these three tips to help make exercise a lasting part of your life. Fitness is fun and I believe that by making it a part of your life you will be able to enjoy all that life has to offer.
