Sticking with Your Fitness Routine

Fitness goals are popular for New Year’s resolutions. About 45% of people creating a New Year’s resolution say they want to get in shape or lose weight. It’s springtime and a few months have passed since New Year’s. How are the resolutions going? Are you sticking with it?

It’s not easy sticking with a new fitness routine. About 75% of people drop out of their fitness program within three years. Currently only 30% of the United States population is meeting or exceeding recommended exercise levels.

The minimum amount of recommended aerobic activity is a minimum of 30 minutes five days a week.  The recommended minimum for resistance activity is twice a week for 8 to 10 exercises. The minimum for flexibility is stretching at least 3 days per week.

These minimums should be doable for most people. Most people start and stop their fitness regimens. Their intentions are good. They really want results and are willing to start the work. However, the daily grind catches up to most people.  There’s a realization that a consistent fitness regimen requires hard work.

It’s not just the exercise.  It’s getting to the gym. It’s making exercise a priority. Is it a sacrifice? It depends on how you see it.

Working out is a state of mind. You can choose to see it as a “necessary evil” or you can see it as an investment in yourself. It’s time that’s just for you. When you exercise you focus on what’s important to you. Your needs come first when you exercise. And there’s nothing wrong with putting yourself first.

Changing your thoughts about fitness takes practice.  It’s repetition, repetition, repetition. Going to the gym can be challenging, but you always feel better when you leave.  When you’re doing with your workout, think about how good you feel.  Remember that feeling. Use it the next day to get yourself to the gym. Think about how good it feels when you’re done versus how hard it is to get there. Change your mindset about going to the gym. Repeat these positive thoughts every time you go to the gym. Eventually you change your paradigm and you only think positive thoughts when it comes to working out.

It also helps to have a workout buddy.  Find a training partner you can work out with. Or, find someone simply to go to the gym with.  You and your workout buddy can hold each other accountable. Your partner can pick you up when you’re down. You do the same. Work with each other to get to the gym.

Lastly, think about how good exercise is for you. Think about the positive results you get from doing the work.  Visualize yourself looking and feeling they way you want.  Repeat this thought process 20 times a day.  Just like you exercise your body, exercise your mind. Feed positive thoughts to your brain about your exercise program and the results begin to happen!