Beyond Motivation: Sustaining Your Fitness Journey
Did you know that statistics show a significant dropout rate by the end of February for those who started new training routines? But what if the key to long-term consistency isn't just motivation, but something more profound?
The Elusive Nature of Motivation
Motivation is often defined as the process that initiates you towards a goal. We all feel it at the start, especially when embarking on a new exercise routine. However, as with other regular commitments, such as work or childcare, it's not motivation that consistently gets us through. These examples have deeper drivers – financial necessity for work, and strong emotional connections for family. So, what's the driving force behind exercise? It can't solely be motivation, as it will inevitably drop off.
Why Focusing on Weight and Body Composition Can Demotivate
A common trap is to focus your entire exercise routine solely on weight loss and body composition changes. The problem? Scale weight fluctuates due to many factors (muscle, stored sugar, water, and even digestive content) and isn't a reliable indicator of actual fat loss. Measuring lean muscle mass or body fat accurately without expensive equipment, such as DEXA scanners, is incredibly challenging for the general population. If you're putting in time and effort but not seeing the "results" you're looking for on the scale, it's easy to get demotivated. Often, you're just looking in the wrong place for change.
Smart Strategies for Lasting Consistency
So, how can you build a sustainable fitness routine?
Start Small: Forget trying to overhaul everything at once. Don't aim for three to four gym sessions, 10,000 steps, and a complete dietary change from day one. Each of these elements adds layers of complexity. Instead, pick one basic thing you can definitely stick to – perhaps two gym sessions a week. Lock that in. Building one small habit creates momentum, a much more powerful long-term driver than fleeting motivation. Even if you only manage one session in a tough week, that one session maintains momentum and prevents a complete halt.
Embrace Momentum Over Motivation: Life is chaotic. Sickness, holidays, late work, injuries – countless factors will disrupt a rigid training schedule. True consistency isn't about hitting every planned session perfectly; it's about learning to pivot and manoeuvre around life's challenges. If you miss a session, don't dwell on it. Just move it to the next available slot. Your body doesn't know what a seven-day week is. This flexibility can be incredibly liberating and reduces the pressure of perfection.
Shift Your Mindset to Performance: A powerful driver for consistent training is focusing on performance rather than just aesthetics. Are you aiming to shave time off your 5K run? Achieve a personal best on a deadlift? These tangible goals provide a much stronger reason to get up and go. The gym is an honest place: consistent effort (even if it's one session one week and three the next) will lead to improvements in strength, fitness, and other performance-based metrics. This allows you to feel proud of your achievements, unlike the often unpredictable numbers on a scale.
Organise Your Training: If exercise is going to be a permanent fixture in your life, you need to treat it with importance. This means being organised. Consider scheduling your workouts as recurring events in your calendar, perhaps in a distinct colour. Review your week, ideally on a Friday, and conduct a quick check on Sunday to adjust sessions based on your schedule. This proactive planning helps prevent missed sessions and allows you to start the week with a positive intention around your fitness. While spontaneity works for some, a plan is crucial if you're struggling to be consistent.
Be Flexible, But Not Too Flexible: It's great to have a plan, but don't be so rigid that life's inevitable disruptions derail you entirely. Allow yourself to adjust and cut yourself some slack if you genuinely can't train. However, be honest with yourself. Are you genuinely unable to exercise, or are you just wasting time scrolling on your phone when you could be training? It's about finding that balance between understanding life's demands and holding yourself accountable.
January can be a challenging time to start a fitness journey – it's cold, dark, gyms are busy, and illness is common. But by adopting these strategies – starting small, focusing on momentum and performance, and staying organised and flexible – you can move beyond fleeting motivation and build a truly sustainable fitness habit that will serve you year-round.
If you need help implementing these tips, get in touch to find out more about my Online Training Programme.
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