5 Steps to Staying Consistent in the Gym
So you’re 4 months away from 2020, and you’re still not where you thought you would be at by now.
Well, 92% of Americans don’t reach their New Years goals! But, the biggest pitfalls are often poor planning and having unrealistic expectations.
Here you’ll find 5 steps outlined and DETAILED of how you can reach your health and fitness goals (like going to the gym on a regular basis).
Step 1: Be Realistic
You know what your schedule looks like and who you are. If you hate running and have knee pain, planning to run for an hour a day every day probably won't happen. Nor will it be enjoyable.
Step 2: Take Baby Steps
You can’t go from being a couch potato to a gym bunny overnight. The key to consistency is to have attainable goals that build upwards.
Start with 30 minutes of intentional exercise once a week, then twice, then three times, move up to an hour, etc…
Step 3: Be Specific. Insanely Specific
So you have your game changer(s), but it’s probably too broad.
“Lose 10 lbs”
“Learn to weight lift”
“Do group fitness”
Time to dive deep- think back to writing 101 in elementary school where they have you answer: who, what, when, where, and why.
Who: Who is this goal for? Are you doing it for yourself or someone else? Be honest here. You’re going to get the greatest results from goals that are driven by you.
What: What’s your goal? What do you need to accomplish this? What does the process look like?
When: Set deadlines for yourself! Is this something that you need to take in steps like going to bed half an hour early for a week and then progress to an hour earlier? Or is it time bound as in working out 4x a week?
Where: Where are all these tasks going to be accomplished? Are you going to go to Ralphs, Whole Foods, or Trader Joe’s to pick up your groceries? Are you going to cook at home? Where are you going to microwave your meals? What gym are you going to get a membership at?
Why: Take a look inward and ask yourself truly why you’re doing what you’re doing. If you’re trying to lose weight or look good because someone else said you should, how motivated is that going to make you? How happy are you going to be throughout the process? My guess is, probably not very. This is also a crucial factor that is going to make or break your process.
Step 4: Set a Timeline
Figure out how many weeks you’re going to give yourself to accomplish your goals. Maybe if you have more than one you can split them up into different blocks (ex: first 4 weeks focus on being consistent at the gym, next 4 weeks focus on drinking 64 oz of water a day while keeping the first accomplishment intact).
Depending on your goal, it might help to have a daily timeline written out to- schedule in your workout and time to meal prep or meditate! Make it an appointment for yourself, which leads me to the final step.
Step 5: Do It. Just Seriously Do It.
Chances are you’ve probably had these goals for a while now and perhaps you’ve even tried to accomplish them in the past, but it didn’t work. Or maybe you reached your goals in the past and you want to continue making progress! Either way, these goals aren’t going to move towards you, YOU need to MOVE TOWARDS YOUR GOALS!!!
Believe you can and grind through the work. When you schedule in your self-care session, make it a critical meeting with yourself because it in fact is. It’s a meeting with your ideal future self. The vision that you created. So don’t miss that meeting just as you wouldn’t miss a meeting with your professor or your boss.
You still have another 4 months before 2020 hits! Go out there and crush your goals, now that you know exactly where to start.