adminIn the past I was also frustrated by my results and lack of consistency in my fitness. In the first week or so I would be motivated to workout 3 – 5 times a week. My motivation pushed me to show up and put in the work. Eventually, my motivation would run out and I stopped working out in the end. The cycle repeated itself over and over again.
Fitness experts and successful. long -term exercise alike, agree to succeed you need a daily workout plan. Looking back at my own journey, I never had a plan that gave me direction and structure in meeting my ultimate goal.
My breakthrough came by with installing a daily workout routine with a plan. The reason is that the more consistent an action is, the more likely it is to be a habit.
The first step in making daily exercise a habit, do a 21 day workout plan. By the end of the challenge the new habit will be well ingrained.
Here are 5 tips to make fitness a daily habit:
1. Start with what you have: In my situation, I had a difficult time finding the time to carve out time to go to the gym and workout. This was always a hindrance as I was also being pulled from every direction with my family obligations and work commitments. I had received several workouts in home equipment from my family over the years. The equipment was collecting dirty and had been unused for quite some time.
When I started creating my daily workout plan, I was able to find time in the morning and space in my basement. I was able to create a workout plan around the dumbbells and treadmill that I previously owned. Starting with what I had kept the workout simple without the excuse of not having the time or the equipment
2 . Setting realistic goals: Forget perfection and don’t strive for achieving an unrealistic goal in a short amount of time. Focus on adopting one healthy behavior at a time until it is a habit, and then focus on adopting another one until it is a habit.
3. Start Small: When I started exercising, I always started with a lot of enthusiasm and energy. However, by doing too much at the beginning leads to burnout and serious doubts on sticking with my new habit.
Starting out your body will try to adjust to the daily stress. Start off with a 20 minute workout and build from here. The plan is to build slowly and grow to longer lasting habits.
4. Lay out your equipment and outfit: The fewer obstacles and less friction there is in forming your new habit, the more likely you are to be successful. If you have to not only wake up early but get a bunch of gear together while half awake, you might just want to go back into bed.But if you lay out your workout clothes and shoes and watch or whatever you need for your exercise, you’ll be ready to go with no friction at all.
5 . Make the workouts fun: If you associate a habit with pain, you will shy away from it. But if it’s fun, you’ll look forward to doing it. Plan your workout around the things you enjoy doing. Planning your workouts in different locations keeps the workout enjoyable and looking forward to the start of a new week of workouts.
