7 Strategies to Increase Consistency

For most people, the hardest part of working out is… working out. That is working out consistently. Whether it be getting to the gym on a consistent basis or heading downstairs for an at-home workout, the hardest part is simply working out consistently.

How many of us think we need more time when what we really need is to learn how to be consistent?

That’s the most common excuse, being “too busy.” There is no denying that life makes it tough at times to make time for your workouts.

Especially after a long day and all you feel like doing is relaxing. But whether you have time constraints or not, you still have to work out. You still have to be consistent.

So how do you find the motivation and desire to work out consistently when it’s hard enough just to get started?

Well, it’s about building the habit into your routine. It’s about learning how to be consistent.

The good news is, there are proven strategies to build this habit and increase your motivation to consistently stick to your plan and reach your goals. Whether you’re making a new years resolution to work out more consistently, or just want to get in shape, these 7 strategies will help you stick to the plan through the cold winter months ahead!

Don’t Over Commit

In other words, make a smaller commitment. Many people struggle to stay consistent because they over commit. They commit to working out 6 days a week for life when they aren’t exercising at all right now. You might love it at first, but most people end up hating it. That’s because it can be overwhelming as you try to work it into your busy schedule.

That isn’t the only type of over-commitment. The other type is over-committing to how long or how hard each workout is going to be.

If you’re not working out now, committing to working out an hour a day sounds great but can be very challenging to follow through with.

Instead of committing to working out “x” amount of time, change your mindset and commit to working out in some way “x” amount of days in the week.

So if you planned on working out at the gym for an hour, but you got hung up at work and can’t make it to the gym, don’t worry… just head home and do a 20-minute workout at home (or whatever you have time for). After all, consistency is more important than anything else you could be focusing on.

Remember, we are building habits and consistency, so the most important thing is working out consistently.

Make it a lifestyle

Reaching your goals, and more importantly maintaining your goals, is a life-long process. You can not just hit it hard for a month or two and expect to achieve the results you want and keep them forever.

No, fitness is a lifestyle. And just like everything else in life, you will have ups… you will have downs… there will be times you really hit it hard and make a lot of progress… and there will be times that you are taking it a little easier.

Having the mindset out of the gate helps with consistency and longevity of sticking to the plan because it alleviates a lot of pressure. Just like from point number 1, if you can’t make every workout the best workout of your life... that’s ok.

A small step forward is better than doing nothing that day. Do the best you can in each situation and understand that one workout isn’t going to make or break your results.

Put it on your schedule

Yes, physically put your workout into your schedule.

By putting your daily exercise time into your schedule (no matter how short or long), you prioritize the workout in your day. This simple action makes it a little commitment to yourself and will show you that you do have time in your day for it.

Trust us, small steps like this help a lot.

Try your best to not move the time around and definitely avoid skipping it altogether.

If you do have to move your workout time though, re-schedule it for sometime in the week, don’t just tell yourself you’ll fit it in somewhere else because let’s be honest… that won’t happen.

Speak it into existence

What we say matters. It matters a hell of a lot more than you think.

What we say shapes our mindset and our reality.

Without getting into a metaphysical discussion, just look at these examples and see how you FEEL after saying them…

I can’t do it.
I can never lose weight.
I suck at this.
It’s too hard.
I don’t have time.

Now, say these phrases and notice how you FEEL.

I can do it.
I can lose weight.
I’ll get better.
It’s getting easier and easier every time.
I will reach my goals.

The last list of phrases made you FEEL better… didn’t it?

Now, this goes even deeper than just what you say. It also matters what you THINK!

Unfortunately, those negative phrases (and others you might be telling yourself) can limit your results and become self-fulfilling statements. Therefore, I highly encourage you to be very careful and intentional with what you say and think.

When you change your thoughts and words…. you’ll change your mindset and results.

Reflect and Reward

We’ve already covered 4 great tips and this one amplifies the impact of those 4. Remember, we are building new life habits here so you want to reinforce the positive actions you take to help solidify them as long-term actions.

Unfortunately, most people only think about when they mess up. They don’t take the time to stop and think about when they have done a good job.

For example, being hung up at work and instead of skipping the gym all together going home and doing that 20-minute circuit workout. That would be a great time to take a second to reflect and pat yourself on the back for sticking to the commitment to work out.

Then, as you reach smaller goals, say, consistently working out 5 times in the week as you committed to, reward yourself for sticking to it, or at a bare minimum acknowledge it. 

This reward doesn’t have to be big (and you should try not to make the reward one that undoes your progress), but by rewarding yourself for reaching that smaller goal you are reinforcing the positive actions that it took to accomplish it.

Rewards make fitness more fun and help make the transition into a fitness lifestyle. Plus, the right reward might be all you need for extra motivation when life gets tough.

Now, keep in mind, as you reach smaller goals and build consistency... what you reward yourself for or celebrate has to get more challenging.

For example if you start with acknowledging/rewarding getting to the gym 5 times a week, you can't reward for that every week, and it would need to progress to say hitting the gym 20 times in a month ... or so forth. 

Basically, you have to be honest with yourself and decided what is reward worthy, and what is not. If you celebrate or reward for too little of an accomplishment you'll never advance. 

Recruit an accountability partner

Having a trusted friend, loved one, or co-worker join you in your fitness journey can make a huge difference in your success.

We spend the majority of our day around these individuals anyway so having daily support from them makes sticking to the plan easier.

You can help one another work through excuses and give each other a kick in the ass when needed.

Don’t have an accountability partner?

No worries. It’s not mandatory.

If you would like one though you can try joining workout classes at your gym, CrossFit, bootcamps or running groups. Shoot, even if you don’t find one main person to be your accountability partner, joining those groups along will help you stay more accountable because of the little community those groups have.

Actually Prepare

The simple truth is that by preparing, you eliminate a lot of excuses.

For example, by simply taking your gym bag with you for the day it eliminates the excuse of not having your stuff with you… not having time to run home and change… or if your workout time changes, you are prepared to workout at any time.

Most people fail because they don’t take the few minutes needed to prepare.

Because they aren’t prepared, they feel stressed and anxious, which leads to them wanting to eliminate the stress so they just cancel their workout plans. This stress can very well be eliminated by preparing ahead of time.

Take away point

You might have read all of these and thought, “Well that sounds simple enough.” That’s because they are simple. What works is not complicated or hard.

What is hard, is consistently utilizing these seven strategies day in and day out as you build the habit of working out.

If you want to have success, workout consistently, and set yourself up to actually reach your goals in 2020… then implement those seven strategies for sticking to your workout plan.