The Key to Gym Consistency
Too many times have we started saying we will use that gym membership and go every day at 5am… except it doesn’t work that way. If you are struggling staying consistent in the gym and with your workouts, you are exactly at the right spot. My ultimate goal is to help you find and set up a schedule in which you can CONSISTENTLY show up for your workout. During the beginning of your fitness journey, the two major questions you may be struggling with are “HOW” and “WHEN”. Meaning: “How do I do this workout/ how can I reach __ goal” or “WHEN can I make time in my schedule to go this week.” Both extremely important questions that will help you know what you are looking for and be able to properly lay out the foundation of a healthy lifestyle or reaching your goals, whatever they may be.
How do I do this?
In order to set yourself up for success in the gym, you have to know at least a foundation of knowledge about what you are doing. This means understanding how to do certain exercises, what they are for, and their proper form.
There are a multitude of ways you can get started with this. One of them is to wing it. Show up one day on the gym and pick 3-4 machines of your choice. Stick to these machines for weeks and make sure you really get them nailed down. When you are comfortable with them, move on to a different set. This does two things: it gets you comfortable in the gym and gets you consistent.
Another way you can understand and develop your foundation of a gym routine is by searching up 3-4 exercises. The temptation to go down a rabbit hole of exercises for every muscle fiber in your body is strong, but that can very easily overwhelm and confuse you even further (the opposite of the goal here: simplicity and understanding). Search up the proper form of the exercises, what muscle group they target, and the Do’s and Dont’s when performing it.
2. When can I go?
This requires some organization and a little bit of planning, but for those not a big fan of either, don’t freak out and run away just yet. This is the key to not quitting again so stay with me.
Open google calendar or take out a sheet of paper (whatever you can list out your day within blocks by the hour). This activity is called time blocking, and is the ultimate game changer if you want to get anything done, because if you try to wing this one, there is a 99.99% chance it will not get done. Planning is KEY…. with action.
If you are using paper, start out by sorting your paper through time slots starting at the earliest time possible and ending as late as you wish (google calendar already has this available).
Block out the time of non-negotiable (7-8 hours of sleep, work, school, etc.). Then, block out time for other necessary activities or things you need to get done that day respective to the hour they will get done at (consider driving time/ meals, etc.)
Lastly, look at the open time slots. Unless you are packed the 24 hours of the day, you have time to go to the gym or get in some form of movement. In these slots, you will block that time out respectively and follow this schedule like your life depends on it. It might suck for the first couple of weeks but the body eventually gets used to anything as long as you stick it out for the sucky part.
Pro Tip: If you absolutely cannot stand waking up early, try working out in the evenings unless you are willing to make that sacrifice.
Whatever your goal is, if you do not make a plan for it, it will not happen (period). There is no wishing it into reality or talking about how you will do it into reality, you either do it or you do not. But it is hell of a lot harder to do it if you have no clue how or when you will do it. These two questions will be your mother and father of your fitness journey and help shape you into the individual you need to be to reach your goals.
