How To Make Exercise Your Routine And To Maintain Consistency
‘Good intentions’ are a prerequisite to what shapes our behaviours and actions. It is great if you have good intentions to attend a gym and you then buy a gym membership. That is step 1 complete. However, where many people often fail is that they buy the membership with ‘good intentions’, but ‘there’s not enough hours in the day’ to incorporate it as a routine. They don’t have time for the gym. They don’t turn those good intentions into action. That right there, is the biggest excuse that I hear too often. Match your good intentions with actions.
Say you’re awake between 10am and 10pm. That is 12 hours... and you’re telling me that you can’t fit a workout in amongst 12 hours of being awake? Yes, I get it. Everyone has jobs that takes up their time, but maybe it’s just a case of getting up earlier than 10am and getting some exercise done before work, or take your gym kit to work and fit in your workout just after work. Make the gym your routine. Find a form of training that YOU enjoy.
If you’re new to exercise, then maybe get yourself a PT to teach you the basics so that you can come to the gym with a plan. Also, don’t beat yourself up about the fact that you may have been away for the weekend and not been able to work out. Just get back at it on the Monday.
Maintaining consistency
Consistency is key. However, it is easier said than done. Here are my 5 top tips to remaining consistent with your training:
Schedule training into your daily routine and adhere to it.
Track your progress (there is an app I use called ‘Fitnotes’ which is great for this). When you see progress with your training, it will motivate you more.
Don’t be too harsh on yourself- not every training session will be your best, but don’t give up because of one bad session!
Don’t compare yourself to others- comparison is the thief of joy. Focus on improving yourself.
Attend classes- classes bring a social aspect to your training. They are also good for if you are indecisive of what to do for your own training session and to ease you back into the gym after a few days out.
Finally, if you are unsure on what sort of training to begin to undertake, then perhaps it is a good idea for you to seek the help of a personal trainer. Enquire about personal training by sending me an email at hannahburgonpt@gmail.com or if you just want to send me a message about this blog post.
Hannah x