How To Never Miss A Workout

One of the main reasons we don’t reach our goals in fitness is because we lack consistency.  Two weeks of great workouts will not profit us if we sleep in the following week, it’s sad but true – the only way it works is if you make it a consistent part of your life, like brushing your teeth (not that you need to do it that much though)!
Why is consistency so hard?

I’ve strugled with making my workouts consistent for many years and it wasn’t really until this year that I finally managed to make to make working out a consistent part of my life.  It’s not that I had more time, if anything I had less time with the birth of our first child earlier this year.

Do you like cleaning the toilet, or taking out the rubbish?

Previously, when it came to working out, I saw it the same as I viewed garden work – satisfying because of the end product, but laborious and repetitive when it comes down to the work itself.  With garden work you can afford to slack off some weeks, but with working out we don’t have that luxury.  Give it much more than a week and your progress will start heading backwards.
Needless to say, it doesn’t take long before you subconsciously prioritize other things ahead of working out.  Thus begins the vicious circle:

1. Realize you’ve gotten weak and/or flabby
2. Become enthused to get back into a workout routine (you promise yourself you’ll truly embrace self discipline this time)
3. Hyped by your new enthusiasm you don’t miss a single workout for the next week or so, maybe more if you’re lucky.
4. Things start to dwindle, workouts are getting repetitive and the only reason you’re doing them is because you want to get to the end result.
5. Start skipping workouts here and there until lo and behold, it’s been a week and a half since you last worked out – you feel guilty about it but hey, life’s just a bit too busy right now.

You start to realise you’ve gotten weak and/or flabby… which then takes us right back to number 1 again.
When I put that cycle down in words, it really makes you think. Why do we do this to ourselves?  We’re on this earth for a limited time, why waste a few hours each week doing something you hate?

Can you get lean and muscular without working out?  No, you can get lean with proper dieting, but for muscle you really need to be using those muscles (and hitting keys and moving a computer mouse doesn’t count).

Is the answer to play sport?  No, although it’s great to participate in a sport such as basketball, volleyball or football, these sports don’t build muscle, to do that you need to start lifting heavy things.

So what did I do?

I guess to put it simply, I changed the reason I was working out.

Question: Is it hard to spend 30 minutes a day watching TV, on the Internet or working on a hobby you love?

Sometime last year I was thinking about this while I was up late one night.  I was sitting at my computer using StumbleUpon.  I should have been in bed but the thought came to me, if surfing the Internet was equivalent to having a workout, I would be the fittest man alive!

Even in the midst of our very busy live days, we still seem to find time to check personal email, go on Facebook and check out our favourite websites.  Why?  Because we enjoy it, it’s not a chore but rather something we look forward to and because of that we find ourselves drawn to it.

The premise of course is simple, if we don’t enjoy working out (and I mean the actual workout itself) then we’re never going to stick at it in the long run.  Look at guys who have been in the Army all their lives, when they retire, most of them get a pot belly and put on weight.

Assuming we all want to live long, fulflling and healthy lives, we need to find methods of fitness that we’ll be doing not just for the next 40 days, but for the next 40 years.

1. It’s a war!

Always view exercises as a challenge, or better, an ongoing battle.
If you can do 10 push ups in a row, keep at it until you can do 20 or 50.  It’s a battle to get there and each day you should be of the mindset to better your previous workout session.
Increase your previous weights, decrease your previous times, do more reps, just make sure you’re moving forward and you’re keeping things a challenge.  If all you’re doing is maintaining your current level of fitness, then very quickly workouts will become a chore, another daily task to add to your burden of busyness.

Chores are boring, a battle you need to win – that’s exciting!

2. Simplfy

Simply your workouts, simplify your dieting, use less numbers and definitely no calculations – keep it simple, stupid!  Unless you’re planning to become a bodybuilder, you don’t need to have your workouts scientifically optimised.
My workouts are divided into 3 sections and each section has has 2 exercises which are done antagonistically (one set of the first exercise, followed by one set of the second exercise, then back to the first exercise until 3 sets of both exercises are complete).  This essentially translates to a very simple 3 part workout.  I’ll also have a finishing exercise to cap it off.
Keeping workouts simple means they’re shorter and much less work in your mind when your anticipating your next workout.  Of course that doesn’t mean your workouts should be easy, but rather uncomplicated.

3. Don’t do it alone

I’m all for working out alone, but if your fitness goals remain private then not only is there no accountability, but there’s less fun too!  Challenge a work colleague or friend to get to 50 push ups in a row, first one there gets a free drink.
Or what about challenging your partner?  Bodyweight exercies are great for these challenges because each one is working with their own bodyweight – females may be lighter, but males have more muscle creating the perfect balance to start your next pull up challenge!

4. Don’t overdo it

Lifting heavy things is fantastic for increasing muscle and keeping the flab away.  But if, after a workout, you feel like slumping on a couch for the next hour, you’ve overdone it.  A workout should get the muscles working, spark your hormones into gear and get the blood flowing – how should this make you feel?  Energised, rejuvenated, even sexy!
Keep workouts half an hour long or less and don’t try and fit one in every day of the week.

5. Creativity & Variety

First of all, there is no perfect routine – so don’t try and find one.  Just do a set of exercises that you know work, and when you master them, move on to some different ones.  Personally I like to rotate between free weights (namely kettlebells) and body weight exercises (pull ups, push ups, dips etc).
Hand in hand with this is creativity.  Don’t just do squats and pull downs, do pistol squats and one arm pull ups, or clapping handstand pullups (don’t try that one straight away)!  In other words, learn come cool tricks and you’ll start to find things a lot more fun.

Do you find your workouts addictively fun?

If the answer is ‘no’, then I’m also guessing their not consistent either.  And if they are, just stop and think, can you imagine doing these workouts for the next 40 years?
The time to change things is now.  Take the above steps to make your workouts the unmissable part of your day.

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