Three Ways to Help You Find Consistency in the Gym

The gym can be a frustrating topic for a lot of people. For most, this onset of frustration stems from an inability to accomplish tangible results. While there are many different factors that can lead to this lack of results, as someone who has been training clients for over 5 years now, I’ve noticed that the number one and most obvious reason that causes this lack of tangible results stems from inconsistency. 

The concept of staying consistent is easy, the execution of staying consistent is VERY difficult. It takes discipline & determination, especially for the typical gym-goer who doesn’t nerd-out on this stuff like I do. That being said, I’ve found a couple tricks of the trade that can be useful when trying to find consistency. Here are three ideas to help you find consistency in the gym:

1. Set a day & time and stick to it

This genuinely might be the best advice I can give you. Find a day & time that works for you to get to the gym and simply make it part of your weekly routine. Whatever that day/time is, it’s now simply a part of your week. The same way you have to show up to work at a scheduled time, now you have to show up to the gym at a scheduled time. If that’s scary and intimidating to you, start small: one day a week for one hour. Put in on your schedule and stick to it for a couple weeks. Once you’ve found some consistency by starting small, now we can work on starting to add more. 

The casual gym-goer doesn’t have a set schedule, but rather will go here and there whenever he/she has the free time to do so. This is never going to breed consistency. Life gets in the way, work is exhausting, any free time should be spent doing something you like…the list of excuses can go on-and-on. If you don’t have a consistent schedule, you’re never going to find consistency. Simple concept, difficult execution. 

2. Create a workout plan to stick to it

This is another simple concept that people can often struggle with. If you show up to the gym with no plan, chances are you’re not going to accomplish a whole lot. Many folks wander the weight room looking for an open machine that’s easy to figure out, repeat that a couple times over, and then call it a day. After a couple days or even weeks of that, you might get frustrated, say it’s not worth it, and sit down to turn on Netflix instead. That one skipped day turn into a skipped week and yet again we find ourselves lacking consistency. 

Coming up with a good plan can be challenging task for people, so again I would urge you to start small. You don’t need an extravagant workout plan with varying sets & reps or new exercises every week. Find what you like and what works for you and start with that. This isn’t a blog about how to write a program so I’m not going to bore you with the details, but by simply showing up with a plan, you’re setting yourself up for success. When you show up with a plan and execute that plan, you feel a sense of accomplishment. Now we’ve got a positive feedback loop and you’re going to have a greater urge to show up again. 

3. Find an accountability partner

I actually wrote an entire blog about this.  An accountability partner can go a long way in helping you find consistency. This doesn’t require a whole lot of explanation from me. Rather, I want you to put yourself in these two situations: 

Situation one: you are trying to stay consistent in the gym and you’re going by yourself. Your alarm goes off at 5:30AM and it’s time to get up and hit the gym. You take a look outside and it’s raining. The bed looks so comfy. You’ve got no one on the other side waiting for you and no one will know if you skipped. 

Situation two: you are trying to stay consistent in the gym alongside your friend. Your alarm goes off at 5:30AM and it’s time to get up and hit the gym. You take a look outside and it’s raining. The bed looks so comfy. You think about your friend waiting at the gym and how much you don’t want to let him/her down. 

Which situation do you think is more likely to result in your braving the rain to go to the gym? 

I hope this helps you or at least sparks an idea to help you find more consistency in the gym. On the other hand, if everything I wrote above sounds a little too scary to figure out on your own, come check us out at Strength For Today. We’ll take care of all the scary stuff so that all you have to do is walk through the front door.