Improve your Consistency to Achieve your Goals

The main reason most fitness journeys get derailed is because they are too extreme or too complicated. Once a person makes the decision to make changes in their life they get excited about it and often start far too aggressively.

Extreme changes often never work out in the long-term for several reasons. First, building habits is a slow gradual process and the targets need to be sustainable in order to take hold and be built upon. Second, it can be overwhelming implementing an entire new exercise program and dietary strategies while keeping up with them daily. It can be easy for a few days or weeks, but inevitably life throws a curveball and we revert back to our old habits. This is why many people end up in a cycle of working out hard for a few weeks and then taking months off at a time, or trying every crazy fad diet there is, seeing some initial success, only to gain the weight all back when they can no longer follow it.

Instead of switching to an extreme diet (like Keto etc), start by making mindful food choices each day for a week or two. When I say mindful, what I mean is actively think about the choices you are making for what foods to include at each meal. Think about the benefits and the negatives to each choice. How will you feel physically after the meal? How will you feel mentally? Think about your portion sizes. Are you eating until you're full? Or are you eating until your plate is empty? Why are you snacking? Was it a habit that you built or did you actually need those calories? The more you get used to auditing yourself, the more likely you will be to make positive food choices at each meal. When you get good at these things, then you can set about more advanced strategies like calorie and macro nutrient targets along with food logging, meal timing, and others. You will be much more likely to sustain these choices over the long-term than making extreme changes.

The same can be said about your exercise program. Many people often go from not working out or hap-hazardly doing cardio a few times per week to a 5 day per week lifting split. Even worse, is trying to add in too many new and advanced exercises when you haven't mastered the basics. This will ultimately lead to fatigue, injury and burnout.

Stick with fundamental movement patterns, learn proper form from a qualified professional and strive to master it. You will get more bang for your buck by performing 5 sets of 5 reps of proper squats with adequate rest, than you will with a circuit of 3-4 exercises for time using a weight that isn't properly suited for you.

Build up your repertoire with the following foundational movement patterns:

1. Squat

2. Hinge (Deadlift, Bridges, swings etc)

3. Pull (Horizontal: Rows, Vertical: Pull-ups, lat pull-downs)

4. Push (Horizontal: Pushups, Bench Vertical: Overhead Press)

5. Locomotion (Carries and Drags)

6. Rotation, Anti-Rotation, and Anti- Extension Patterns

5 Tips to improve your consistency

1. Workout early in the day. By getting it done early, you will eliminate any excuses or anxiety that can pop up throughout the day. This will also help you start the day with a win and feel more successful.

2. Start simple, eliminate complex. Take out exercises that are too elaborate. Don't make an overhaul to you diet (for the sake of fitness); Keto, Carnivore, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Whole 30, Intermittent Fasting all lead with extreme (Complex) changes which isn't sustainable.

3. Doing something, is better than nothing. There will be days that you feel like skipping. In these moments you start to build your resolve. By instead, choosing to do something (even just going for a walk) you start to become more mentally strong, and build a connection to being the person that overcomes adversity. Each time you make that decision, the easier it becomes.

4. Compete with yourself, not with others. Comparing what you are doing with what someone else is doing can be a massive roadblock. Often the circumstances aren't the same and we aren't even comparing apples to apples. Your own accomplishments may not feel as empowering as they should and you will likely be too distracted to stay the course. By competing with yourself, you are keeping focus and you will be able to see each win as they come. It's easier to stay motivated when you can see your success each step of the way.

5. Start with small changes. You don't need to workout every single day. If you haven't been in the gym 3-4 times per week consistently for the past 6 months, this is not a feasible goal. If you are used to eating dessert 5 times per week, eliminating it completely from your diet is more likely to sabotage your results down the road. Start slow and build to a place that is more sustainable.

Consistency is the key to seeing success at many things in life and is the ultimate indicator of such, on your fitness journey. Keep it simple, start slow and with small manageable changes. Fancy exercises and diets are worthless if you can't stay motivated to to do them.

If you've been struggling with your consistency in your exercises and nutrition program. It's time to start over and build your foundation. I have a select few spots open in my coaching program, which you can apply for on the homepage.