Train Smart

10 Tips 2 Stick 2 Your Workout Routine!

By Scott Poston

Beginning or getting back to an exercise routine involves more than just joining a gym.  Sticking to it requires a few tricks to help keep you moving, focused, and motivated.  Here are 10 ideas I came up with to help:

1.  Who are you? Determine what kind of workouts you dread the least and do them.  Forget about ROI, calorie burn, etc.  Whatever gets you to the gym is good enough.  Once you’ve established the habit, then, and only then, should you start critically looking at your routine.

2. Sign up for an organized event.  The DAC hosts 5k runs, free squash lessons, indoor rock climbing events, and more.  You can find something interesting in The Club!   Grab a friend and commit to one.  It’s a great motivator!

3. Planning, Planning, Planning.  There is more to working out than getting on the Elliptical and pressing the Quickstart button.  Do you have your workout clothes, shoes, water bottle, and pre-workout snack planned the day before?  What time are you going?  What time are you finishing?  Preparing ahead of time will help prevent you from falling off your routine.

4. Set daily goals. You might find it is easier to stay in the moment if you have specific daily goals (instead of just relying on a long-term goal to lose weight).  Make a list of what you want to accomplish today (e.g., eat fruit with every meal, a 30-minute workout, getting at least 8,000 steps on your pedometer, etc.) and check off each thing you accomplish. Makes you feel good, doesn’t it?

5. Relapse happens.  Not many people have iron wills, so you have to plan on and forgive yourself if you don’t reach one of your interim goals. Forgive yourself and get back on the horse.

6. Make a date. Make an appointment to workout with a friend, or call me to set up a free consultation with a personal trainer. Getting back into the exercise environment can be just the nudge you need.

7. Take it easy!  If you are just starting out in an exercise program, it is very easy to work too hard. Overtraining the first few days until you are so sore you can’t exercise is a great way to discourage yourself. A lot of people quit working the first time they can’t roll our of bed without groaning — figuring the pain isn’t worth it. Overtraining can also lead to real injury. So start slow!

8. Reward yourself. After setting and meeting your daily goals, plan a little something nice for yourself. Having something to look forward to always makes it easier to do the hard things (like exercise).

9. Keep it FUN! Boredom is the quickest and most common way to kill your goal of getting fit. So you may want to mix resistance training with walking and yoga, or racquetball with jogging and swimming. Choose a combination that will hold your interest and vary what you do periodically.

10. Change your workouts! Everyone likes a routine. We all want to feel comfortable in our workouts and have a sense of accomplishment afterwards.  If you feel as if you are not experiencing the changes that you expect, you probably have reached a physical or even mental plateau. The best way to avoid reaching or staying at a plateau is to change, change, change your routine.

Staying on track with your exercise program probably requires more mental work than physical work. It means checking in with yourself to see how you’re doing, how the routine is working and making whatever changes necessary to keep you moving. It means finding inspiration wherever you can and being willing to try new ideas if the old ones aren’t working. Most of all, it means not giving up.  Never give up!