January 1st: Your motivation is high, you were completely committed to changing your life. Gym membership ““ check! Workout plan ““ check! Diet plan ““ check! New, improved you ““ gonna happen this time!
February 1st: For the second week in a row you’ve decided to sleep in instead of getting up early to get to the gym. You woke up starving and running late for work so instead of a solid, well balanced breakfast, you stop by McDonalds to pick up breakfast and coffee. You’re too busy at work to take the time to prepare a proper meal, so you hit up the nearest fast food restaurant yet again. You get home late from work, you’re exhausted, not in the mood for cooking or working out. You heat up a frozen pizza, telling yourself you’ll only have a few slices and you’ll keep the rest for lunch and maybe a snack the next day. You end up devouring the entire pizza. Workout gone, diet gone, motivation gone. Welcome back to square one!
Ok, so maybe it didn’t happen exactly like that. Chances are, you were hung over on January 1st and the motivation didn’t start until the 2nd. But I’m pretty close, right? This has happened at some point has it not?
A student of mine recently had this same problem and asked me for advice. After writing up an email to give him some ideas, I figured I’d just pass along the same information to everyone as most everyone has the exact same troubles when it comes to sticking to a fitness plan. I assure you, no one is immune to this, not even myself.
So here is a list I compiled that may help you out with sticking to your fitness goals:
1. Set up something for yourself that would cause a bit of a backlash if you didn’t make it to the gym. The easiest way is to just plan to meet with a friend to workout with. It helps you, it helps them. If you don’t make it, you’ll know that their workout wasn’t as good and the risk of them not making it at some point goes up which leads to both of you not making it and it all failing. Maybe even have a plan set up that if one of you doesn’t show, they owe the other person $20. For myself, I set up clients before my scheduled workout time. It forces me to be in the gym, even if I’m not feeling great. If I’m already there, the chances of me leaving without a workout are virtually nonexistent. Also note that hiring a trainer creates this same motivation to get to the gym. Knowing that you are paying for him/her whether you show up or not can be the motivation you need to get there!
2. Treat yourself. This isn’t the best advice, but if it gets you to the gym, it’s better than nothing! Give yourself a treat for going to the gym. Just make sure it’s not something that is going to completely negate your workout. Do your best not to use this approach every time you go, but when you need it the most. For myself, it’s a pre-workout supplement drink. One in particular that I love the taste of and loaded with massive amounts of caffeine and vitamins to wake me up from a late night/early morning combination that may happen! Not the healthiest thing in the world, but also not the worst if used properly.
3. While it’s best to start with a proper workout routine that slowly eases you into a safe workout (typically core and full body functional workouts), its ok to jump ahead or switch gears and do a different workout plan that will keep you motivated and excited. If it gets you to the gym and working out, it’s worth it. Just make sure you are careful when starting out and work in some core techniques to help avoid injury.
4. If you’re the type that hates not finishing something, or is a little OCD and needs things to be balanced and equal, I highly suggest a split workout routine. A split routine involves doing one or two muscle groups each day. Such as, chest and biceps on Monday, core on Tuesdays, legs and shoulders on Wednesdays and back and triceps on Fridays. If you miss just one day, you’re whole routine gets upset. It may be the motivation you need to get into the gym! It definitely works for my OCD self. If I miss a workout I find a way into the gym to get it done, even if it’s at a weird time or on a day I normally do active rest.
5. Set small goals. I suggest lifting goals, such as increasing your bench press. Keep track of the weight and reps you do. If you slack off, you’ll see it and it should upset you and make you want to go more often. If you constantly see the weight and/or reps going up, then you’ll be a little more excited to keep going. Running and weight goals are good too. Be careful with weight goals though, make sure you are looking at body fat % and not total weight. Looking at total weight alone can be very deceiving and may frustrate you. Any goals are good though, something you can attain from week to week. Not something you have to wait a year to notice.
6. Lastly, make it your routine no matter what. Before I trained clients I still woke up at 6:30am every morning to get to the gym before work. I hated waking up that early with a passion, but I didn’t give myself a chance to think about it. The alarm went off, I got up, ate, left. There was no time to stop and think, “Maybe I’ll just sleep in today”. It was my routine, and on the rare occasion I didn’t go, I felt like crap all day, like something was missing.
Hopefully there is a suggestion or two in here that helps you out. This is one of, if not the biggest reason why people fail at fitness plans. Understand that the body constantly searches for homeostasis (balance). If you’re not going to the gym and eating badly, then that’s what your body wants to keep doing and it will fight you if you attempt to change it. However, if you are successful in changing it, then going to the gym and eating healthy will become the norm and it will fight you when you don’t go to the gym or eat something bad. It takes time though. For some it may take 6 months to make that change and flip homeostasis around, for others it may take over a year. It will eventually change though with a consistent routine, and when it does, life and fitness become a hell of a lot easier! Fight for the change and don’t give up!
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