When I tell people how often I train (5-6 times a week), they usually tell me I must have good willpower. But there’s more to it than that and that is learning how to stay consistent.

Here’s the thing…

Willpower is what gets you started but habit and routine are what keep you going. In the beginning, you will need a certain amount of willpower to start anything. Whether that’s a new training routine or a healthy eating plan. But over time willpower fades away. That’s totally normal.

When in this highly motivated state of doing something it’s important to get a routine in place. A routine which works for you, week-in, week-out. If you don’t get one set up, it’s likely that you’ll stop doing your new workout after a short time. Maybe even just a few weeks.

And these routines need to be specific to you. It’s unlikely that you can copy and paste a routine from someone else’s life because, well, that’s their life and yours is probably different.

You can apply the same concept of what they’re doing which is the important point. The concept of training 3-4 times a week and eating healthily 80-90% of the time.

How you implement that in your life is the tricky part…

The key to a successful routine…

There’s a skill in creating a good routine. It can’t be too hard or unrealistic. If you’re not used to training and you try to set up a routine of going to the gym 5 days a week at 5 am that’s not going to last…

So it needs to be more manageable. A routine that you feel you could stick to for a long time. Maybe it’s training twice a week at 6 pm straight from work. Be careful of planning to do things when you know you’re likely to have other commitments at those times.

For example, if you know you often go out on a Friday night for drinks don’t make part of your schedule to train at 8 am on a Saturday morning. It’s just not going to happen. Better to plan for a weekday when you know you’re more likely to feel up to it on a regular basis and when there are no regular events that might get in your way.

Accountability…

Another key component to staying consistent is to have someone who is going to hold you accountable.

This could be a training partner or a personal trainer. But it needs to be someone who is motivated and likely to stick to the plan that you agree.

Another option here is to go to a boot-camp or class at your gym. These are great because they are always on at the same time and day. You can book into them in advance and they’re not too expensive.

Setting up for success…

It’s important to schedule out your training times in your diary. So make sure that you block out time for it.

An easy way to do this is set-up a repeating event for every time your training session or class is on.

Then make sure to put a reminder in your phone the night before to pack your gym kit or whatever you need to take with you.

In conclusion…

Creating new habits are not easy, but with some planning and motivation, in the beginning, it is definitely possible.

They say it takes 21 days to form a new habit so if you’re able to stick to your new plan for a month that should be enough to hopefully make it stick.

If you need any help with this, feel free to contact me on Facebook or through my website.